How many MPB (miles per bar)?

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by Kioshi

reaching down to the 8th bar, when it starts blinking, like its on crack I've managed to get 407 miles. Just just basic math to calculate it. Mileage at start of fill up, subtract final mileage w/ start mileage, and divide by 8 i think.~

First bar, or equally each bar, gives me about 45-50 miles, but that does not correlate w/ the above i mentioned. I'm doing about 70-78 on Hwy 101/280 up to Daly City, so not so high for me i guess...stupid school~

Kaotic, i dont know how you're getting 70 on the first bar, damn yo!

Drop it down to 60-65 mph and you'll reach 70 miles for the first bar.

[stripey]

Between 60 and 90 on first bar, and between 190 and 260 for the fifth bar to disappear.
Agree that the later bars go quicker, especially the second-to-last, and I reckon that's been somewhat cynically designed in by Toyota to inflate the apparent fuel economy.

[Yaris Hilton]

I think that's simply a matter of a float hanging on a simple pivot. The geometry means the angle is going to change faster as it goes down, if the float arm is nearly level at the top.

[stripey]

Originally Posted by Yaris Hilton

I think that's simply a matter of a float hanging on a simple pivot. The geometry means the angle is going to change faster as it goes down, if the float arm is nearly level at the top.

Sure, but it's not hard to work out an algorithm to allow for that and have a gauge that makes sense, surely?

[Yaris Hilton]

Not hard, but they probably never thought it important to do so. If lots of folks complain to the company, I'll bet they'll change it. I just learned how mine works and adapted.

[AlexNet0]

I usually get around 60-65 miles per bar, not calculating anything, just glancing at it with the trip meter set.

[CtrlAltDefeat]

Originally Posted by NJBob

Who pushes the envelope? When I get down to the blinking second bar, I panic and fill up. The book says 1.6 gal. left at slow blink and 1.1 at fast. Who has waited that long or beyond and what happened?

I hope the 1.1 gal. at fast blink is correct... When it hits and I'm too far from a station i think " well with the gas mileage I have at least 30 miles left" and I don't worry about it... I suppose what I should do is get a gas can full and test the miles from fast flash to stall, but I hate to think of the sludge in the bottom of the tank getting sucked into the fuel filter...

[Yaris Hilton]

I filled my new sedan within 5 miles of switching to the last bar a couple of days ago. I fill it fast, then when the pump clicks off I "top" it slowly till it clicks off once more, not really topped, for consistency. It held 10.05 gallons. IF it's true that there's 11.1 usable gallons in the tank, I figure there's a gallon left when the blinking last bar appears on mine. I'm not going to push my luck.

[voodoo22]

Originally Posted by stripey

Between 60 and 90 on first bar, and between 190 and 260 for the fifth bar to disappear.
Agree that the later bars go quicker, especially the second-to-last, and I reckon that's been somewhat cynically designed in by Toyota to inflate the apparent fuel economy.

This isn't the case for our sedan. The first Bar usually takes the longest to go down, but sometimes we get more km's on the second to last bar, which is always the second longest to go down when consistent driving across an entire tank occurs.

I recently stopped keeping track of this, but for the months I did I found:

1st bar 120-160kms
2nd bar 80-115kms
3rd bar 90-115kms
4th bar 90-110kms
5th bar 110-130kms
6th bar 105-130kms
7th bar 110-140kms
8th bar 40-60kms before it starts flashing faster

I never get the high end of the range on every bar. I usually get 100-110kms on every bar except for the first and second last where I usually get 120-150kms and the total per tank is very close to or over 900kms when I fill up just under or over 40litres during summer driving, mostly hwy, getting stuck in few traffic jams and weather is good.

[Bredayaris]

I've done a personal record last time to ''get rid off'' my first bar: 112 miles.

[Tonavi]

I had one of those gas pumps that took 20 minutes + to fill the tank, but the bonus was that the tank gets wayyy topped off. I mean, you could see the gas inside the filler, that's how full it was.

It paid off, too, as I saw my record MPB. I got 112 off of the first bar (no joke), and was at 166 when it went down again.

[scape]

I don't understand why they chose 8 bars instead of 11? or atleast 10.. that way it could make a bit more sense to calculate what you have left. i think they made the first bar out of whack, even the first half, to help sell the car :D
"wow, 220 miles and still a half tank!?"
anyways, I hope the gas gauge isn't a cheap lever and bobber, it'd make more sense to use a pressure sensor.. no?

[NJBob]

That first bar seems to vary depending on how much you fill up the filler pipe. You can pump an additional gallon or more. That's why some of us get 112 + - on the first bar. It's all been said on these past 48 posts. The gauges just can't be that precise. It's mostly up to the individual to control the variables.

[Yaris Hilton]

Originally Posted by scape

anyways, I hope the gas gauge isn't a cheap lever and bobber, it'd make more sense to use a pressure sensor.. no?

You've got to be kidding. Cheap rules.

[RedRide]

Originally Posted by Yaris Hilton

I think that's simply a matter of a float hanging on a simple pivot. The geometry means the angle is going to change faster as it goes down, if the float arm is nearly level at the top.

Yaris Hilton is correct.

Every car I ever had seemed to hang forever at ther first "line" on the gas gauge and then, go down progressivly faster after that.

Gas gauges have always been just a rough estimate for how much gas you have.

[TLyttle]

Not every car I've owned had inaccurate gauges. I had a Morris Minor that was easy to get used to: Filler pipe full, gauge stayed still on full. Down a gallon, gauge bouncing around at full. Near empty, and you could see the float bouncing on the bottom as the fuel swished back and forth. When that gauge stopped moving, you were out of gas. Stupid me, I always thought that is how a fuel gauge was supposed to work!

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Yaris Hilton

IF it's true that there's 11.1 usable gallons in the tank, I figure there's a gallon left when the blinking last bar appears on mine. I'm not going to push my luck.

This mirrors my own line of thinking exactly. The very first tank I ran through my Yaris I drove until the last bar had been been blinking for quite a while. When I filled up I was a little shaken when it took 10.66 gallons until the pump clicked! Evidently the fuel pump will continue to pick up fuel with a very small quantity remaining. Now if I've been driving on the second to last bar for a while I think about gassing up and most definitely by the time the last is blinking.

*** On a side note I just remembered a funny story from my childhood.

I was riding with my Dad in his pickup truck and he said "We'd better get some gas-the gas guage is almost down to 'P'".

"P?", I asked. "What does that mean?"

"Pedestrian!" he replied. ***

[ecnal]

I got 82 on my first bar today! This is the first tank that I have filled. I consider a tank to be from full (pump click +to the next dollar) until the last bar starts to blink.