HIX8

Any time the Fuel Low Light comes on I reset the B-trip odometer.

Well, this morning I pushed it too far and ran out of gas... on a bridge of all places with no shoulder! (I got out of the car because I fully expected that someone was going to ram it.)

I'm not sure how many 8 owners out there have run out of gas, but consider yourself warned:

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My trip odometer read 29 miles as it sat there on the bridge.
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(From amber light on to flameout I was driving all city miles without heavy accel and no unusually long stoplight idle time.)


Of course it was my own fault. The owner's manual clearly states to fill up as soon as the light comes on. It would be nice if Mazda told us the specs on when the light comes on. It would be even nicer if the car got the fuel economy they advertise.

My suggestions for the 2005 model:

- Improve the fuel economy, even if that means having a toggle switch for a performance/granny fuel scheduling.

- Have a two-stage idiot light: amber for low, red for vapor.

- Have the light come on a lot sooner than 29 miles before impending doom.

- Damn the lawyers and put the Fuel Low Light specs in the manual.


Not sure why I had trouble finding any threads on this topic. Maybe I missed them. Maybe others are too embarrassed about looking stupid (I sure felt stupid standing by my car). Maybe I'm the first 8 driver this has happened to (yeah, right).

Whatever, at least there was a happy ending. No one slammed into my baby. I'm sure that a triangle reflector is standard equipment in Europe. I was wishing I had one on that bridge.

...which leads me to one more suggestion:

- Build a triangle reflector into the air compressor case.

Well if it ever happens to you, I hope you have a safe place to pull over. Better yet, don't let it happen to you. Just remember the magic number 29!

RobDickinson

The tank is 61 litres.

I've filled up at 275miles and got 53 litres in (the most) that was 14 past amber light, country roads, and I still had 8 litres left (2 US gallons).

I've also had the amber light come one and only got 45litres in, leaving 16 litres in the tank, or 4 US gallons. Sometimes its a bit wierd.

But as the fuel pump(s) uses the remaining petrol as a coolant your always better filling up sooner rather than later.


"Whatever, at least there was a happy ending. No one slammed into my baby. I'm sure that a triangle reflector is standard equipment in Europe. I was wishing I had one on that bridge."

Its a legal requirement in a lot of European countries, but not the UK, so we didnt get one. (actualy some EU countries require you to have 2!).

8_wannabe

They do have a two-stage light: Off for "full", on for "fill up." Sorry, dude, someone had to say it.

I have consistently heard when the light comes on you have two gallons. For many of us poor schmucks, 29 miles = two gallons. In my case, 2 gallons is 32 miles but still I wouldn't push it that far. The farthest I'd drive with the warning light on is maybe 10 miles.

6speed8

I try to never let my any of my car's fuel go below 1/4 tank because the fuel pump is in the tank, and the fuel helps cool the motor. Running it down to empty could cause the fuel pump to run very hot, plus the inconvienance of running out of fuel is enough to compel me to add fuel.

But thanks for the info on mile-to-go, just hope I never have to test it.

demonfire

also drawing it low can clog the prescreens.

I fill up at 1/4, usually more.

j1mb0x99

Sorry, you are correct. My post was niether helpful or constructive. I have removed it and hope it can be disregarded.
--JiM

loco4rx8

This kind of response is not helpful, nor is it acceptable in a civilized world. All of us can't be perfect like you.

Winning_BlueRX8

He already admitted his fault, and yet you drill him for it. I for one am glad he posted, I have always been curious as to how many miles I am afforded when the "fuel low" light comes on. But if you want to talk about "idiocy", then consider this:

The proper form of "your" in "I know your going to" would be "you're"

RobDickinson

I know I cant find a filling station soon as that light comes on. Sometimes it may be 10-20 miles before I know I'm passing one, other times I dont know where the next one is.

I'm glad I have a rough Idea when I may totaly run out, and that I should fill up asap rather than pass a more expensive petrol station etc.

brothervoodoo

2 Gallons and you get 15 miles a gallon in the city, sounds about right to me... Somebody with a preorder described this same scenario. Now you've learned to respect the amber light, head for a gas station!

BRx8

i get nervous everytime that light goes on so i head straight for a gas station...there is NO WAY i'd drive 29 miles before filling up...i mean, why? it's on to tell you you need gas, go get gas...29 miles is a long way...good information though

mr_digital_uk

Thanks for the info about 29 miles. I'm on the road all the time and frequently rely on my current Mazda Xedos being able to do 35 (UK) miles on the warning light.

You've just saved me a big embarassment.

godai00

More than just the (idiot) light, there's a gauge. I'd like to believe that the E end of the gauge is close to empty. The light comes on very early and seems to indicate caution, more than stop at the nearest gas station. I've checked 3 tankfuls just about to E on the gauge and put in about 14 gallons each time. To me, that means there were almost 2 gallons remaining. Today, I drove 20 miles with the light on (70 mph) and then put in 13.6 gal. Gauge was just about on the top of the E line when I filled up.

I'm driving 90 miles a day and like to get at least 3 days driving before having to stop at a gas station. So, 270 miles/14 gal= just about 20 mpg. I think I was at 277 miles when I filled up today.

Has anyone put in say, 15 gallons at a fillup?

Vrimmick

I drove mine about 20 miles after the light came on and was able to fill it up with 15.5 gallons... So it seems I still had 0.4 gallon in my tank what in my case equals 8 miles. So I guess he is pretty accurate with 29 miles...

meeh

A good solution, aside from filling up ASAP when the light going on is... perhaps mazda can implement the milage left on the gas you have. i used to that all the time on prior car. So lets say the light goes on, i press a button and i can tell that i can make it home before i totally run out. Sometimes the lights up and you might not be in a safe neighborhood and you don't want to drive around looking for a gas station.

f1michel

My light comes on at almost always 50 liters which means i still have 10 in the tank. It equals to about 70 Km on the HW and 60 in the city. I do think that filling up at a quarter is a bit like checking the oil every other fill : It's plauing it way too much by the book. The light goes on, i know i'll fill up soon. I check my oil at about 1500km and there's always plenty left.

8_wannabe

I wonder how many people will read this thread and conclude they can safely go 28 miles with the light on before getting gas. And how many will admit it when they, too, run dry.

nah, no one would really do that...

HIX8

Michel, I used to live near Montreal and I had great work done on my 86 RX-7 at a Mazda dealership out there (in Laval, as I remember).

...and what would an F1 pilot tell you? "There are times to pit, and there are times to push it." Ha!


Joking aside, I need to own up to the criticism in the replies here. Yes, what I did was stupid. Though I don't see my error as a lack of conservatism. I happen to be ok with pushing it. I see my error to have been not knowing how far it could be pushed and then pushing it anyway, trusting an assumption that proved to be faulty.

I expect that the quarter-tankers out there will have a problem with this view about pushing it. On the other hand, I doubt that any quarter-tankers have ever explored the 140+ realm of their speedometers.

No question that my mistake was boneheaded. But if you're going to be critical about living on the edge, you might want to ask yourself why you have an RX-8 parked in your driveway and not an Accord.

You went for the zoom-zoom.

There are different types of errors that carry different types of consequences. It's not like I flamed out a jet plane that I was forced to eject out of. Mine was not a multimillion dollar mistake. It carried a cost of zero dollars.

(Yes, it might easily have cost a heck of a lot more, and I'm very glad it didn't.)

Today I have a bit more knowledge than I had yesterday. I know that if I want to push 20 miles into the amber, I can. And I will.

Call it "stupidity" if you want. I call it "max performance".

There are risks I'm not willing to take, but running my car out of gas isn't at the top of that list. To paraphrase Clint Eastwood, "You've got to know your limitations." It's those who push the envelope who know how to use all of it.


On the flip-side, who was it that said...

"Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement."

I'd say that the ideal is to learn from other people's mistakes (which is one of the biggest benefits of a forum like this).

sferrett

A guy at work's car has that - "miles to empty" - He drives around until it gets to "0" and then finds a gas station.... Apparently it will go several miles after it reads zero (although he has run out of gas, even with this very obvious indicator that you're out of gas). I think putting more indicators will just give you more condfidence that you don't have to stop for gas just yet so you keep pushing the limits (until you find them).

I ran out of gas in my 2nd gen pretty much right on E - the low fuel light never came on at all!! So now 'E' worries me on all cars, regardless of how many lights or otherwise there are.

I've driven about 25 miles with the light on before (from home to work) becasue it comes on a couple of clicks above E, and now I'll be thinking twice about it given that there's some real world experience that it's pushing the limits - thanks for the info.

Simon

Nubo

The best car I ever had for "pushing" low fuel was a Renault Alliance. It's little gas light was a jittery thing. At first it would blink on briefly and wouldn't come back on for a while. That was Stage 1. After some more miles it would begin to flicker. Stage 2. More miles and it would stay light most of the time but still flash off occasionally. Stage 3. There would be a brief Stage 4 where it would only go out when accelerating or going up hill. After about 5 more miles without it flashing off you could declare Stage 5. I think I could get another 30 miles out of Stage 5. The stages weren't a feature intended by Renault, rather a result of a seemingly "cheap" gauge implementation. But as in many analog devices there was a usefulness and valuable information in the "noise".

I never did run out but once I was driving through Montana and passed a station with about 1/4 tank remaining. Bad move. Hours ticked by as I drove through 'no-gas-land'. There were no stations on the interstate, you had to get off and go a couple miles on a side road, and the one station I did find was closed. I thought I'd found salvation when I saw a lot of light a few miles distant. Got off the interstate again and followed the light. When I got there it was nothing but dozens and dozens of tennis courts, all lit up. No people. Must have been some government thing. I decided I didn't want to run out of gas on the interstate, so I proceeded on a frontage road and kept it in 5th gear at about 40 mph to squeeze out maximum mileage. The car could get over 40 mpg highway but I swear I must have gotten 60 that day. I did get 60 out of Stage 5! I finally hit a service area just at the border with Wyoming. It was 2 a.m. and I'd been driving that quarter-tank since before dark! I filled it up and reckoned I'd had .02 gal remaining.

akrx8

i have ran my 8 40 miles at hgy speed (70 mph)with light on 3 or 4 times and i was sure i was on fumes but only managed to squeeze in 14.5 gal.

brothervoodoo

I agree again, sounds about right at that speed.

HIX8

sferrett:
"...so you keep pushing the limits (until you find them)."

This quote, and a look at your avatar leads me to voice a fleeting thought I've had every time I've stomped the rev-buzzer: I wonder what the actual engine speed limits are.

The RX-EVOLV Renesis was advertised as having a 10k redline. Now either this was a "target" that the engineers fell short of (as with that other infamous engine perf tgt), or our rotaries can do just fine with excursions up to 10k.

Now this IS one of those risks that I'm not willing to take. I have no confidence with my level of ignorance on this one, so I have always honored the rev-buzzer by backing off. But I'm sure that there are plenty of people at this forum who know a lot more about what will actually hurt the engine (if anyone can point me to a thread where this has already been discussed, I'd appreciate it).

My best guess is that if the Renesis is rated to safely handle the throttle being held at 9k rpm, it wouldn't hurt much to do a transient peak into the red zone.

Again, I have no confidence in this guess so I am not willing to try it unless someone can convince me otherwise.


...just as if someone can convince me of a technique of eeking out more miles after the Lite, I might get cavalier enough to try that too.

And back on the fuel topic, I haven't seen anyone post any warnings about attempting to resuscitate a rotary with Pennzoil Rescue (or some other similar Spare Tank-type product). This is another thing I have no intention of trying, unless I somehow get convinced that it won't destroy my engine.

x28

One time I my gas light turned on, and I was stuck in some urban area. Drove about 5 miles and got on the highway, drove 10 miles and saw a gas station on the other side, gpt off the exit and only to find that I was connected onto another highway!! Well, what I did was... drive about 70... and put it in neutral... had my hand on the shifter all times... if something were to happen.... but with that.. I got pretty far. I survived 10 miles after the needle pased the E mark...

HIX8

Here's my craziest flameout story. It happens to involve another bridge (a big and famous one this time, unlike the short street bridge from yesterday)...

I was driving my 86 RX-7 from Sacramento to SF on Interstate-80. For some reason, the warning light never came on, but I could see from the needle that I was running on empty. I don't remember many specifics, but for some reason I decided not to exit at any point approaching the Bay Bridge. The needle was getting way low, and when I'm on the bridge I am feeling a huge pucker factor thinking I had pushed it too far. I decided to exit midway on the bridge at Treasure Island. I poke around a bit and discover that the gas station is not open. So I press back onto the Bay Bridge to see if I can make it to a station in San Francisco.

I've gotten up to full speed and am approaching the crest of this last part of the bridge. Vssshh. (That sinking feeling that the motor just quit). Sputter sputter.

Nada.

I'm coasting up to the crest of the bridge in neutral. The motor is totally dead as I make futile attempts at cranking the starter while coasting at a disturbingly decelerating rate. I punch the hazards. I make the crest of the bridge! It's all downhill for the rest of the bridge. I continue coasting while wondering where I am going to stop. I'm glad to see that there is an exit ramp as you first enter the city, and the ramp is downhill too.

I see a red light at the bottom of the ramp. Another sinking feeling. I'm thinking that I'm hosed. I slow down early with the hand brake to try to conserve my momentum. The light turns green! And there's no traffic in my way so I let off the brake totally. I blow through the light and continue my marathon coast in neutral.

Sure enough, there is a Shell station one block past the exit ramp traffic light. I coast with just enough speed left over to pull into the gas station and I yank the parking brake right by the pump.

Made it. If I saw this as a scene in a movie, I would have thought...

Yeah, like that could ever happen.

Well, that was a lesson I learned in the 7. Maybe it gave me a false sense of confidence that I could get away with dumb moves like that.