Max Miles on First Pip?

What follows is my own speculation and supposition:

Miles on the first pip depends primarily on how far you fill the gas tank beyond whatever point the guess gauge considers "full." Your mpgs will affect it too, of course: if you are a 75 mpg hypermiler you'll get farther than a 45 mpg just-drive-it person. But the main thing is how full your tank is. Miles on subsequent pips will depend on the condition/capacity of the bladder, and on the non-linearity of your guess gauge. Some people have reported extreme non-linearity, while others (myself included) experience relative linearity after the first pip.

Thus there's no uniformity between individual cars.

I always imagined that the pump shut-off works on some sort of back-pressure principle, and that while the mechanism could be the same for all pumps, the fine-tuning could be different. Different pumps seem to shut off at different levels, and I've encountered the rare pump that would not pump into my tank at all, or very little. Others have reported this more often, and in fact there was a TSB early on to replace the filler tube if you complained of this and your car was within a certain VIN range. I think this only affected certain early 2004s. Mine was affected and I had the replacement done.

 

My wife got to 187 before the first pip disappeared - kept asking me if the gauge was broken. I've got to go along with the others on this one - a lot depends on how you fill it up. The last time we got gas she pumped it - 1 pip left and it took 10.13 gallons. That is the most we have ever put in at fill-up. With the warmer weather she is getting better MPG - currently around 57.:rockon:

 

a priori, Made it to Savannah this afternoon with 528 miles on that tank with 4 pips remaining.

 

a priori,
Is this what your looking for? This is the same tank that I put 11.611 gals in with still 4 pipis left.

 

Please excuse my newbie ignorance but what is a "pip"? From reading this thread I'm guessing they are the little blocks of the fuel gauge?

 

a priori, We headed back home to Kannapolis this morning and when I showed 2 pips I reset my trip A to see how many miles I could get when it went to 1 pip. I went 88.2 miles when it went to 1 pip. I drove a bit more and saw a station that had 2.159 a gal so I stopped and my last pip was not blinking yet. I filled up and it took 11.625 gals. I have done this two tanks in a row so if I drove it until it blinked there would not be much left. Check out my MFD.

 

I am keeping all my fill-ups on my gascubby app on the Iphone. Will also keep temp.
Thanks

 

Daniel, I just got 170 miles on my first pip (by far the most ever). I did not overfill for this tank. I clicked off at 7.8 gallons, shook my car a few times, then put in another .4 gallons before the next click and I stopped. Very typical fill for me and I just added about 60 miles to my best previous first pip range. I'm convinced that this has more to do with when you fill the tank and what the weather is like.

I filled my tank in 68/sunny weather after driving for about 20 miles. I've found that's key for getting my Prius' gas bladder to take as much as possible. I then drove through the first pip in 60-70 degree mostly dry weather. No long trips. About 10-20 miles per startup/shut down and I got in the 54mpg range; which is also typical spring weather mileage for me.