My first tank

hey everyone. i'm new to this here board, and have only had my SuperWhite for two weeks. Thus far:

42.5 city
60 highway

330 miles ODO, two bars left.

i am freakin' thrilled. i knew it would't get the EPA, but what car does? EPA tests aren't real-world applications, right? but i am thrilled nonetheless. i was getting 4 times less in the clunker that got me through the lean years after school. baby steps, you know?

 

Jay,

Congrats! I've had mine since last saturday night. I was wondering if the fuel gauge is actually linear on the Prius. My Honda Civic's gauge was, like most cars I think, really erratic. For the first 200 mi it was pretty much on F then dropped like a rock to 1/4 and then slowly slid down to E over the next 120-140 mi. The trip odometer was a much better gauge of how much was left in the tank. I'm averaging 50 MPG on the tank so far and I have about 200 mi on it. I'm one bar above 1/2 but that doesn't seem to add up. What's the least accurate of the two, the MFD or the ODO/fuel gauge? Anyone... anyone... Bueller?

Cheers,

Tripp

 

I find that it takes between 2 and 3 gallons depletion before my first tick disappears on the gauge. From there to about halfway, I lose a tick every 30-40 miles, and then from halfway to the last tick, I lose one every 50 miles, roughly. The last tick seems most unpredictable, beginning to blink and beep after about 30 miles from there. Linear? not really. predictable after a little study? I think so, but then again, I haven't driven it in cold weather yet so I'm not sure about the effect of cold on the rigidity of the flexible fuel tank liner. As far as the MFD mileage estimator goes, I'm still trying to figure out if there is a very sophisticated gauge in the tank to measure remaining gas, or whether it is based on rate of fuel usage, monitored in the line at the fuel pump. My guess is the latter.
--Chris (Hi Tripp, congrats again on the new car. Planning to try driving it to the canyons in Utah, or just in town in the Denver area?)

 

Close.

The fuel usage measurement takes place at a fuel injector (#1?).

 

Thanks fellas. Very useful stuff.