I have a sedan
2007-11-08 07:57:04 · 11 answers · asked by Filthy Rich 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Depending on the car brand usually American cars have 11/2 gallons left in the tank. You'll need to know how to figure a worst case mileage for your car. Fill it completely full and write down the mileage on your odometer. Drive it under your normally every day routine till the gas light comes on again. It's best to fill your tank at the exact station and pump location as you did when you filled it the first time. Write the number of gallons including 10ths. Note the miles you've traveled sense your last complete fill up. Write the present mileage on your odometer. Note the mileage at the time of your fill up under the new mileage. Subtract to find how many miles you traveled. Divide the amount of gas you have just filled your tank into the miles you traveled. *The number is your mileage. You must know this number before calculating how far you can go when your gas light comes on.
The next thing you need to know is the size of your gas tank. It's inside your glove compartment handbook. After doing the above caluculation. Refer to how many gallons it took to fill your car. Subtract it form the capacity of your fuel tank. This number tells you exactly how much fuel was left inside your tank. Now you already know your mileage. Multiply the number of gallons still inside your tank times your ave. mileage This number is how far you are supposed to be able to travel before running completely running out of gas.
Word of advice. Carry a 1 gal plastic gas container inside your trunk if you decide to actually how many miles you can go before you run out of gas. As soon as the gas light comes on write down your odometer reading run the car till it sputters and quits. Before you do this be absolutely sure that the fuel nozzel on your small 1 gallon tank actually pours into your tank. Hillery took all our good gas fill cans away from us in NYS. We are forsed to use sh*ty non spill cans that don't work worth a ---- at three times the price. Myself being an enterprising old man have my sourses of the old fill cans inside NY and trough the mail. True Story! Screw the Government!
2007-11-08 08:43:12 · answer #1 · answered by Country Boy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, running out of gas is not good for your engine at all, so running your car dry just to see how far it can go is one of the dumbest thing I've heard.
As for how far you can drive, it all depends on the car and when the light is programmed to come on. I've never run my cars dry, but I do see how much fuel is left in the tank when I fill up (tank capacity minus how much I put in), and I calculate my fuel mileage with the trip odometer after each fill-up. Using these two, I know how far I can go once the light comes on. I have three cars; an '07 Dodge Durango, an '05 Infiniti G35 Coupe, and an '01 Lexus GS430. The Durnago's light comes on with about 4 gallons left in the tank (23 gallon fill-up with a 27 gallon tank), and I usually get 12-14 miles to the gallon. That comes out to 48-56 miles. The Infiniti comes on when I have a 1/4 of a tank (5 gallons) left for some reason, and with the 17 mpg I get that comes out to around 85 miles (I think it was Road and Track that ran into this same thing with the light coming on early with their long-term test car). the Lexus is my wife's car, and I have no clue when the damn light comes on.
I hope that helps.
2007-11-08 16:22:33 · answer #2 · answered by mdernick 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It really depends alot both on your car and on your driving style. I am habitually on the bottom quarter tank so the last few new cars I've gooten one of the first things I did was put somoe gas in a gas can and when I saw the light come on I then ran it dry to see how far I got.
2007-11-08 16:06:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I heard that car manufactures have the light go on when you can go 5-10 more miles.
Just for shits and giggles, you should get a full can of gas, then drive until it runs out. Then you know for sure. Then of course put the full can of gas in your car so you can drive again.
2007-11-08 16:06:54 · answer #4 · answered by Randy C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the car anywhere between 30-70 miles, (also the conditions and driving style depending on the mpg you're getting) but it's best to just fill up because running it empty will suck up the crap from the bottom of the tank into the injectors shortening their life.
2007-11-08 17:27:14 · answer #5 · answered by guesswhoextra 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on the year of the car. Standard now seems to be between 30 and 60 miles.
2007-11-08 16:05:01 · answer #6 · answered by Lex 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
varies. depends on the car. I drive a Honda and I can drive like 35 miles with the gas light on.
2007-11-08 16:03:19 · answer #7 · answered by ohyeah 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the car but an average is 25 Miles.
2007-11-08 16:06:12 · answer #8 · answered by Meneses 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd say fill it up when it's halfway. I don't care how long they say you can drive around after the light comes on. It's not smart to risk it.
2014-01-25 10:52:16 · answer #9 · answered by Cierria 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do you want to risk it? Fill up when you get down to a quarter tank. It is better for your car.
2007-11-08 16:06:17 · answer #10 · answered by elgil 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋