Well last night I was with two beautiful girls who kept distracting me in the car ;-) and I wasnt paying attention to how much gas I had left, I had dropped one off already and I had realized my gas light was on and the car was on the last needle, so I hauled to the nearest gas station and to my dismay the station was just closed, and told us another exxon that they own is 24 hours but it was about 2 miles down the road, so I risked it, and the car was below empty, but when I filled up and I really did fill the car to its max, it only took 13.5 gallons.... I thought these tanks hold 19.5.... is there a six gallon reserve?

 

I think it is more like 14.5 - 15 gallons. Or 15.9 .....

 

Yep, it's 15.9 gallons.

 

That's nice-to-know information. So when the Low Fuel warning light comes on, we still have a gallon or so to make it to a gas station? The Owner's Manual isn't very clear on this. It only says, "will soon be empty."

 

Yea and it seem that the car had been empty for a nice while before I even realized it.... Some tips for when you are out of gas.... 55 is the optimal speed in most cases to be at because that is the speed when air friction is at a min, and when you get the best possible gas milleage (usually...) thats what I did and I got to the gas station alright, and yes it seems you have a gallon and some change of gas even when the needle is below the minimum....

 

Also, if the tank hold only 15.9 gallons, thats very little, and Im not suprised that I have to fill up so often, I feel like the gas milleage "issue" I thought I was having was partially mental, because I thought I hold 19 or so gallons

 

15.9 gallons is correct. I usually push about 20 miles after it gets down to the last mark on the gas gauge and get about 14 gallon fill-ups.

 

Also be aware the tank is a "saddle tank", so that extra gas can be trapped on the other side from the outlet. If it starts to sputter some sloshing might be in order (swerving side to side).

 

The tank capacity is 15.9. You can only use approx. 15.3 of that. I know because I ran out. I didn't have a chance to slosh the fuel around. When it ran out, that was it. No sputtering, no nothing. I had to pull over immediately. I was going down a slight grade at the time, maybe that made it worse.

In my experience, the light comes on with about 2 gallons left. But I suppose it's possible there could be a difference from car to car (?).

 

The light came on for me the first time the other day (my first full tank on the 8). The car only took 12.5 gallons after it came on, which surprised me. I filled it up within about 5 miles of the light coming on.

 

my light usually comes on with about 13.5 consumed, so im estimating that i have about 2 gallons left in the tank. on average i get about 20mpg and thats with mixed city and hwy, but i seldom drive hard or rev past 4500. on the average i get about 250 - 260 per tank. im taking off for vegas this week, so ill see how much mpg's i can max out. i owned the rx7 convertible 88' before the new rx8 and was averaging about the same mileage, on a slightly smaller tank. mileage was a concern when i bought the car (3/2004) but after driving it off the lot there are no regrets, hard to explain the thrill unless you own one. all you ou there know what im talking about...

 

I ran 38 miles yesterday (55-65mph) after the low fuel light came on.

 

Yep, It's about 15.9. I put in 15.8 when I ran out of gas a couple of months ago..

 

I did a similar amount a month ago and still had over a gallon and a half left since I filled up with just at 14 gals.

 

guys what if you really do run out of gas, what happens? Does the car chock and chock and just die. Or does the computer start lowering the maximun speed, until you eventually just go like 10 mph and stop?

 

what is that roughly 60L or something... in my sisters m3 u got like 9 litres left when the light goes on

 

It's chock, chock, die.

Superfan, you're the first person I know of who'd been able to squeeze 15.8 into that tank. Was the car on it's side or facing downhill or something crazy?

Mine wouldn't take any more than 15.3 on a level surface.

 

I knowthe car well enough that I dont get gas until the nozzle is below the last notch. Yes I reallydo mean below the last notch. I have started up the car before w/the nozzle being just below the last notch and somehow got between 10and 15 miles out of it. And that tank filled up to 14.7 or 14.8 when I finallygot to a station so that meansI still had a few more miles. But for those 12 milesI drove at grandma speeds though so w/real life driving driving it probably would have died after 6 or 7 miles. When the E light comes on I interpret that as you have plenty of gas left as long asyou dont drive aroundlike an ******* for the remainder of the tank. I usedto think that the reasonfor the light coming on so soon was b/c maybe rotary engines were more vulnerable than piston engines to damage when they are driven around w/low gas but I no longer believe that assumption.

 

Up until Dec I could still eak out approx 400 hiway miles per tank on my 89 RX-7, with 250K miles on it. But it had a 18.1 gal tank.

The smaller tank on the RX-8 was my only real beef with the car. Now its a challenge to strech 300 miles. Messed up all my favorite refuel stops on my frequent long-distance road trips But I get there quicker.

 

I thought a 15-16 gallon tank was pretty normal for a car. I know trucks and SUVs have larger tanks, but 15 is pretty normal. I usually don't fill up until the needle is BELOW the last mark. And from the last mark, I can push about 20 miles out of her.

 

when i picked up my car in july, the needles was about 1/5" below the last mark. so i've been comfortable with running a good 40 miles or so after the light goes on, but i don't do it often. it seems the ~2gallons left thing is right as far as my experience goes.

 

Hey man, there are FOUR seats -- how come you didn't have THREE beautiful girls in the car? (Without the spare tire kit, you might even be able to fit another one in the trunk...)

 

i always fill up at 1/4 of a tank. why do you guys wait so long?

 

I've figured out that when my gas gauge light turns on, just about exactly 13 gallons have been used.

 

thats exactly what my car does, and im usually at 240 miles when that time comes.