Gas Mileage

[jheredia]

i know in previous cars i owned it was possible to check how many miles of gas you had left...i undertsand that its more difficult with a hybrid system but is there any feature that allows you to see how many miles you can travel?

(i know there's a miles/gallon feature but thats pretty random and inaccurate to gauge how much longer u can travel)

thanks

[katzjamr]

for some reason there is no miles to empty gauge, all i can tell you is at the point the low fuel light comes on, you have about three gallons left. im sure you have read the warnings about not running out of gas in a 400h.

[wwest]

for some reason there is no miles to empty gauge, all i can tell you is at the point the low fuel light comes on, you have about three gallons left. im sure you have read the warnings about not running out of gas in a 400h.

Miles to empty is not a closely predictable computation so many manufacturers don't include it.

Miles to empty is highly dependent on how you drive those "final" miles. The computation can only be done based on your previous driving "history".

[et1957]

i was trying to find out the same thing when i got my truck,reason being i pump gas in indiana to avoid the chicago taxes,,,wich comes out to be a 30 cent difference per gallon,,i have never run out of gas but when i see the light come on,,i made a rule that i better be about 50 miles from my house or anywhere along the indiana border,,(my house is right along the indy border as well)i am not going to drive far for a few extra dollar difference but its a matter of pride that i refuse to pay extra for the same gas when its cheaper along the way,,,not to get off the subject,,,,bottom line,once i see the low level light come on,i give it 50 miles,,,or i will pump a gallon or 2 just to get me home,,,

although one time i was being stubborn and i pushed it about 65 miles,,,,still didnt run out,,,but i am pretty sure i was running on fumes,

dont try this at home kids!!!

[skyfish400h]

although one time i was being stubborn and i pushed it about 65 miles,,,,still didnt run out,,,but i am pretty sure i was running on fumes,

dont try this at home kids!!!

Indeed

While the light comes on at about the 14 gal level, and since the 400h has is only a 17 gal tank, that leaves about 3 gal of fuel in the tank.

But what we must remember is that there is always some gas in the tank that is below the pump intake. That is why there is usually a differnect between the tank "capacity" and "usable fuel" (this is clearly documented in aircraft but not so for autos). I don't think anyone here knows what that "unusable fuel" amount is for the 400h, but is is usually the better part of a gallon for a tank of this size.

That said, to go for 65 miles after the light comes on and assuming 24 mpg that would use 2.7 gal. If your light comes on exactly at 14 gal, then you were likely to very correct about the fumes thing. The unusable fuel by this experiment with the assumptions stated would be at least 0.3 gal.

My guidline recommendation would be the 50 mi rule or less from when the light comes on. This would allow for mixed driving (mpg) and for variations in the low fuel light set point.

YMMV :P

[NY_RX400h_Savanah]

What about every other company that uses computer to analyze remaining fuel and history of average consuption to give you range on remaining fuel?? MY 2002 BMW has no problem with it- it's greatly accurate and always worked- few times I've reached gas station with 1 mile ;)

It's so annoing not to have this option in Lexus-I can't believe they didn't do it

[skyfish400h]

What about every other company that uses computer to analyze remaining fuel and history of average consuption to give you range on remaining fuel?? MY 2002 BMW has no problem with it- it's greatly accurate and always worked- few times I've reached gas station with 1 mile ;)

It's so annoing not to have this option in Lexus-I can't believe they didn't do it

Did your remaing range estimate ever go negative? Did you ever actually run the tank dry?

If not then you really don't know how useful that feature is. All those things do is, as you said, predict the miles to go before you reach cavitaion on the fuel pump based on your dirving history (average mpg).

This calc will not vary from tank to tank or even from car to car much since the caclulaton must have some assumptions built into the code about where dry is and how to calculate the average mpg.

You can get the same effect by resetting your trip B odometer to 000 as soon as the light comes on and then not going over 50 miles from that point. Done.

[NY_RX400h_Savanah]

I never did- but with 1 mile left 16.5 galons of gas was needed (tank is 16.6). And It can't go negative- basic logic wouldn't allowe it (if you've 0 galons no mather what equasion you make-end result will be 0). My point is that estimated milage is extremelly easy parameter to calculate (come on guys thaey've put black box into this car that registers all driving conditions and one of the most advanced GPS systems - and couldn't give us one stupid thing??). It's all about convenience. Also what's wrong with having average speed- it's very usefull on long trips- or remaining milage for serwice - that you don't have to setup yourself.

Bottom line is simple- they just cheapped out on few things to make this car worth selling- so there is no internal computer and other useful features- too bad you can't get them as an option.

[katzjamr]

Since you only have three chances to start the 400h if you run out of gas before it shuts down and needs a tow to the dealer i think toyota was trying to reduce the numbers of people out there drving on fumes with these vehicles. The gas companies in my neighborhood use a pricing structure that is 20 cents a gallon more expensive than the same gas ten miles down the road. Id rather have the flexibility to find a competitiive price.