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How many miles do you go on 1/4 of a tank?

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Old Feb 16, 2005 | 11:45 PM
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How many miles do you go on 1/4 of a tank?

Well, I got my first RX-8, and I'm trying to figure out if I'm getting good MPG or not. I refueled up with 89 from the 76 station, and so far, I am on the second notch and I've only gone ~30 miles basically all city driving. So I'm thinking, when I reach a 1/4 of a tank used, I'll be around maybe 50 miles or so you think? If I keep up that pace, the most miles I could go would be 200 miles. My blazer was able to get around 300+. So I ask, when you hit the 1/4 used mark, about how many miles have you gone city driving mostly.
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Old Feb 16, 2005 | 11:51 PM
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Originally Posted by HardHitter
My blazer was able to get around 300+.
How big was the tank of that blazer?
Trying to measure the mileage "by the tank" is not exactly a scientific method, but I'm getting about 240 miles "per tank" with city driving. It comes out to about 18 mpg or so.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 01:08 AM
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The Blazer's tank I think was around 14+ gallons or so. I would gas up pretty close to empty sometimes with the Blazer and I think the most I filled up was almost close to 15 gallons.

With the 8, the first time I gased her up, I still had 1/4 of a tank left and when I looked at how many gallons that was put in, it said 9 and it was only $20 for gas. It filled up so quickly compared to my Blazer, I was sorta surprised at #1 how much it took to fill her up (only 9 gallons?) and #2 how cheap it was compared to my Blazer (I used 87 on my Blazer and it'd cost around $34, where I'm using 89 on my RX-8 and it cost little less than $20)

EDIT: Also, are there ways to "conserve" gas. I'm still breaking her in (almost 400 miles!) and all my shifts have been around 4000RPM, but ever now and then I've gone up to around 5000-6000 to change up the speed and get a "sneak peak" of what's the come! But are there anyways to "conserve" gas to increase MPG.

Last edited by HardHitter; Feb 17, 2005 at 01:11 AM.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 01:19 AM
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Originally Posted by HardHitter
EDIT: Also, are there ways to "conserve" gas. I'm still breaking her in (almost 400 miles!) and all my shifts have been around 4000RPM, but ever now and then I've gone up to around 5000-6000 to change up the speed and get a "sneak peak" of what's the come! But are there anyways to "conserve" gas to increase MPG.
Unfortunately, it's VERY hard to really "conserve" gas with this car. It's just too eager to rev to make fuel efficient. I hear that at above 3750rpm, an extra fuel injector kicks in or something like that which causes it to use a bit more fuel. Just try shifting before 3750 all the time though - it's NOT easy...and it doesn't really seem to save that much gas either.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 02:07 AM
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The gas gague in the 8, like most cars, is extremely non-linear. Even though many of us can literally watch the gague drop from full to 3/4 in just a few miles, I've had mine hung up for 50 miles at 1/2 and actually watched it go UP from 1/4 for about 30 miles last week. Either way, try not to worry about milage with this car, as others will tell you. Long freeway trips, it's as good as the majority of other cars if you drop it into 6th and just cruise. In town, just rev it as much and as safely as you can, and forget it.

Last edited by Grabitquick; Feb 17, 2005 at 02:11 AM.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 07:08 AM
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285 MPG per tank when the light comes on. About 75 MPG per quarter. This thing gets great mileage considering it's essentially a supercar w/ a rotary engine.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 07:19 AM
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The guage in my car may be inaccurate but it is very consistent. I have 3400 miles and I get from 40 to 60 miles on the 1st quarter, the half way mark gives from 90 to 120, and 3/4 is from 190 to 235. I guess the third quarter is much larger than the first two.

I keep detailed records (business reasons) and my mileage ranges from 16.9 to 20.5. Overall average is about 18.5, which is just what I would expect.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 07:21 AM
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Originally Posted by Rhawb
Unfortunately, it's VERY hard to really "conserve" gas with this car. It's just too eager to rev to make fuel efficient. I hear that at above 3750rpm, an extra fuel injector kicks in or something like that which causes it to use a bit more fuel. Just try shifting before 3750 all the time though - it's NOT easy...and it doesn't really seem to save that much gas either.
This is true.

Also, the first quarter tank is deceptive due to the shape of the tank. The bottom half tends to get more miles than the top half does.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 07:41 AM
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Originally Posted by Gambit
The bottom half tends to get more miles than the top half does.
That's exactly what a flat chested woman once told me....maybe she drives an 8?
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 09:14 AM
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I was horrified when I first started driving my 8. I was going down the highway and I was actuallly watching the needle slowly move down. I did notice that after the 1/2 tank mark it seemed to slow a bit.

I'm finding now that I fill the tank about once a week with my normal driving routine. That is about the same as my eclipse was, I used to fill that once a week too and that car was a 4cyl and supposedly got 26-33mpg. Of course the gas tank is a tiny bit larger in the 8, but I'm more concerned with how often I have to stop for gas, rather than having to put $5 more in the tank.

Overall I have to say I'm not as dissapointed with the gas mileage as I orignially thought I would be when I bought the car. Its definatley worth a few extra bucks a month for the pleasure of driving this car.

On another note, is it just me or does the gas light come on really early? It came on last night like 2 clicks over the E. I got nervous about running out of gas so I filled it then. On my old car the light wouldn't come on until the needle was far below the E. How far can you get once the light comes on?

Last edited by MrMethane; Feb 17, 2005 at 09:17 AM.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Genesis
That's exactly what a flat chested woman once told me....maybe she drives an 8?
Either case, I'd hope the bottom would get more mileage than the top Now, the question is.. which side of the bottom gets more mileage? But that could be another problem.

Originally Posted by MrMethane
On another note, is it just me or does the gas light come on really early? It came on last night like 2 clicks over the E. I got nervous about running out of gas so I filled it then. On my old car the light wouldn't come on until the needle was far below the E. How far can you get once the light comes on?
15.9 gallon tank. The light comes on with about 3 gallons left @ 17mpg = 51 miles if you want to push it. Get it filled when it hits the light.

Last edited by czr; Feb 17, 2005 at 09:57 AM.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 10:41 AM
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Usually around 50 miles for 1/4 and 100-110 for 1/2. For my first thousand miles (celebrated today), I average 15 mpg for mixed driving and 18 for mostly (80%) highway. May get 20 mpg for all highway.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 10:42 AM
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I can get anywere from 15 (hot rod) to 20 (shift at 3k) mpg on a tank. I have the 4 speed semi-auto and use the manual shifting when I want to conserve and get the 20. It is hard to get 20 out of a tank.

I also only use 93 octane. I believe that 91+ is the reccomended for this car. You don't see 91 much.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 10:43 AM
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Roughly 100-125 km (62-74 miles) on my everyday ride to work and back, which consists of 5 km city and 60 km highway.

I think the last quarter is a little bigger than the other ones, due to the fuel reserve.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 10:46 AM
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45 miles/quarter tank, around town...60+ miles/ quarter tank, freeway :D
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 11:27 AM
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Originally Posted by brianlmoon
I can get anywere from 15 (hot rod) to 20 (shift at 3k) mpg on a tank. I have the 4 speed semi-auto and use the manual shifting when I want to conserve and get the 20. It is hard to get 20 out of a tank.

I also only use 93 octane. I believe that 91+ is the reccomended for this car. You don't see 91 much.
depends on where you live. in california the gas grades go 87, 89, 91. There is no 93 or if there are it's exceptionally rare.

I have the 6 speed (well it's been in the damn shop for the past 2 weeks or so but anyways) I get around 15mpg if I go mostly city and I get about 17 if I do half half. I shift between 3-4K too. My best was a trip to San Diego where I got about 19mpg and that's about 70% freeway.

But recently (been driving more freeway recently) I get about 50 on the quarter, about 110 on the half.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 12:44 PM
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I would check the mileage after you fill the tank. What I have noticed (contrary to most other cars) the gauge drops down much faster in the 1st 1/2 tank compared with the 2nd half.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 01:55 PM
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that little mark that seems to be a quarter of the way down is more like 1/5 of the way. I'm usually at 50-60 miles at that point.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 02:02 PM
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I get about 50 per quarter. but like they said, it's not very accurate. most of my driving is in the city and trips under 15 minutes. most times though it seems like it's:

00-25% - 30mi
26-50% - 70mi
51-75% - 75mi
76-??% - 25mi

That last quarter isn't the whole thing though. usually the E light comes on about a third of the way through the last quarter. if that makes sense... afterr the E light came on I took the last quarter to 58 miles, but got scared and filled her up.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 02:09 PM
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supercar w/ a rotary engine.
LOL, super car??? Someone been drinking...lol? I love my 8 but SUPERCAR...it aint...lol

Anyway, I only remember one level and that's at 1/2 a tank. At half a tank I get 125-135 miles. I'm getting 252 miles per tank in the city before I have to fill up and it takes me 10-12 days before I have to feed her again.

So far my mpg have been: 19.8, 19.3, 18.9, and 18.9mpg

Note: Fun driving is not detailed below, just normal day to day driving

I shift in 1st & 2nd gear @ 3.75K 50% & @ 4K 50%
I shift in 3rd & 4th @ 3.5K 85%, 3.25K 10%, & @ 3.75K 5%

Note: I skip 5th gear most of the time

I cruise in 6th @ 2.5K 50%, @2.75K 25%, & @2.25K 25%

My driving consist of 90% city, 3% highway, & 7% fun

Gosh, I feel like I keep yacking about this...sorry people...

I'm not disapointed in the 8's fuel economy so far and I don' think I'll be hitting those HORRID 13-10mpg some people report. Because of traffic I really can't push my baby much anyway so it's not like I'm driving grandma style for no reason or because I'm still breaking her in. I'm finishing up on the break-in period (I'm following a modified system based on RB's system.) so in about 250 miles I'll be free of the break-in period...soon to be in BEEP heaven...lol
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 02:34 PM
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I called it a supercar because as far as I know, it's the only mass-produced rotary in the world. Kind of like the mid-90's Supra and RX7, they were considered Japanese supercars like today's Skyline, EVO's, and STi's. My .02 anyway.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 02:37 PM
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IC....not making fun, sorry...I...."ME", "I"...don't see my RX8 as a super car. Super Cars in my opinion are MUCH MUCH FASTER low 12's in the 1/4 mile. Of course...that's just a lose definition and there is more involved into it. So, supercar type performance is what I mean...

Again, I'm just saying...
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 02:43 PM
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Supercar definition in Germany today is roughly: top speed > 300 km/h. Basically Ferrari, Lamborghini, some Porsches, several exotic cars.

NSX comes at least close to supercar as the only japanese car currently on the market.
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 02:56 PM
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Supercar definition in Germany today is roughly: top speed > 300 km/h. Basically Ferrari, Lamborghini, some Porsches, several exotic cars.

NSX comes at least close to supercar as the only japanese car currently on the market.






Will you all let me believe that my wonderful RX8 is a "supercar"? LOL :D
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Old Feb 17, 2005 | 03:28 PM
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Will you all let me believe that my wonderful RX8 is a "supercar"? LOL
I know....I mean really man...LOL
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