AndyPearce

I know there are numerous threads on MPG but with all the conversions to imperial for the UK etc it's a pain to equate it.

I'm more interested in how many miles you are getting to a tank full as I do 138 miles a day commuting (mainly on the motorway) and really don't want to be visiting the petrol station more then every other day.

Elara

I get anywhere between 260-330+ a tank. Occasionally less, but only when I'm doing strictly city driving.

rxeightr

Somewhere between 280 - 310 miles per tank.

o_town_racer

I usually fill up after around 250 miles. The gas guage is at 1/8th of a tank. That is based on my combined city/highway driving...usually around 18-19 MPG. I'm taking a long highway road trip this weekend and will have better highway-only MPG numbers. What is your average speed while driving that 138 miles? If you do a good bit of city, you may need to fill up every day and a half.

Racer X-8

138 x 2 = 276

Sounds like a fill-up every other day will work... especially if that's mostly highway miles.

Psylence

Elara.. 260-330+?

Are you sure that you aren't missing a fuel injector? :D

ptiemann

have you really ever achieved 330 miles (US land miles) with one tank? Congratulations. (Edit: I just notice your + behind the 330. WOW!)

My red light has come on at ~

215
240
250
260
274
240

I'm on tank #7 right now. And I drive 90% highway, in off-peak hours.

My daily commute is ..

0.5 miles city to the freeway
45 miles freeway
1 mile city to work

You see I could've even claimed 96% highway :-)

The 330 miles with one tank seems out of *my* realm.

Elara

The light came on at about 310, and I drove it another 20 miles or so. I say + because I probably had another gallon or so in there (didn't test it though).

allstate

About 265 miles per tank here.

330 miles...you must have been drafting behind a bus!

RX-Late

This is interesting, but might have nothing to do with having a "heavy right foot". In fact this could be an over sensitive tank sensor. To answer this we would need to know how much you can squeeze into your tank when the red light comes on and compare this to others with "higher" milage.

loco4rx8

Yes, Elara's numbers are possible.

I usually wait until the light comes on to refuel. I'll have between 280-300 miles on the tank at that time.

The farthest I've gone on a tank was 351 miles. I put 14.4 gallons in when I refueled. Now that I know the car can't use all of the fuel in the tank, I shudder to think how close I was to running out of gas then.

Oh well, I got that out of the way a few weeks later. :o

Elara

Thank you Loco- I was starting to feel like a liar, even though I wasn't lying! Maybe I drive too much like a girl (ha ha).

Racer X-8

OK, you've captured my curiosity. What info have I not found out about?
Got what out of the way?!?

BTW, 24.4mpg - most excellent! Especially for Virginia ~^~^~^~. :D

loco4rx8

No problem, Elara!

I should add that that one extraordinary 351 mile tank was almost completely interstate driving. I kept it on cruise control at anywhere from 73-82 mph, depending on the speed limit at the time.

However, 330 miles on a tank is not at all unusual for me, and while I don't cruise around in second gear on the highway, or burn rubber each time I take off from a light, I don't baby the car either. I redline it on each trip, sometimes more than once and am not at all shy about downshifting to third to get around slow traffic quickly. I DO keep it in 6th gear when cruising as much as possible.

I have an 80/20 highway/city commute.

loco4rx8

Well, I DID run out of gas later, for which I received much ridicule on this forum. However, what I learned from that was that the car will not use the whole tank. OR Mazda has lied about the capacity of the fuel tank, which would be a bit silly.

The tank is supposed to hold 15.9 gallons, if I am correct. When I ran out of gas, I had the opportunity to find out how much gas the car WILL use before it stops moving all together. I filled up to the brim, it wouldn't hold any more. And it accepted 15.3 gallons.

allstate

Man...you guys ARE serious. I need to go to Loco/Elara driving school :D

Just a question....what speed/rpm does everyone drive on the highway?

Kap

My fuel light comes on usually between 210-220 miles and I try to fill up around 200, so it seems like I'm closer to the low end here.

Racer X-8

Oh. Got it...

So, assuming we're all limited to 15.3 gal per fill-up, if AndyPierce wants to go 276 miles on a tank, that's 18 mpg. Being mostly all highway miles, that should be very do-able.

Sorry to find out that I missed my chance to ridicule you, loco4rx8. Wait! Is the thread still open? Lemme do some searching...:p

Racer X-8

I usually drive about 7-8 mph over the limit, whatever that is. Occasional bursts of speed to get around/stay in front of somebody if it's deemed neccessary (for safety's sake - mine & the car's).

I just took a 1500 mile trip, so I got a few highway-mile-tank-fulls to look at. They all hovered between 20-22 mpg with a slight, but definite upward trend. My total mileage ended at 2225, so I'm still getting better.

pelucidor

I seem to one of the owners with a guzzler (my car has a drinking problem). I drive about 10-20 miles after the low fuel light comes on and get between 220 and 240 miles on average. I once hit 251 miles and was ecstatic, but it took 14.8 gallons to refill - usually refills are about 14 gallons.

Racer X-8

You aren't using gasohol, are you? Alcohol / gasohol, get it? Har har :D Need to send your car to gasoline go-non-ymus. Hee hee.

Uh, sorry.

Any idea what it is yet at all? That 17 mpg tankfull is hardly bragable...

Elara

I got the 330 miles in all highway driving, going between 73-85 the whole way. The car seems to be happiest between 70-80mph, for some reason. Two tanks ago, I barely got to 200 and the car had about 1/8th of a tank left. So I don't get nice mileage ALL the time...

mikeb

my orange light comes on around 215

you guys suck j/k kinda

AndyPearce

Thanks for all the replies guys (and gals )

It seems like I should have been a bit more specific to find the distance people who do similar types of journey at similar speeds get out of their tank. I do 20 miles on B roads (very twisty single track roads - should be the most fun part of the trip in the RX8:D ) driving at about 60mph, 43 miles on the motorway cruising at about 80-90mph and then the last 5 queuing in city traffic (probably average of 20mph.)

As much as I'd like to get 330 miles out of one tank I don't think I could stand driving on a UK motorway at 70mph (even though it's the legal speed limit very few people drive at that speed.)

x28

HOLY COW, I NEVER GOT TO THE 200 MILE ZONE
I always had to fill my tank at 180 or so.. it has about 1600 miles on it..

but I have been pushing it every time I get off the line. out of my driveway... zip pass a few red lights... and do routine burn outs in front of police stations.. before I get to school