wfmiller Posted February 2, 2004 Posted February 2, 2004 If I have a gas tank that holds 18.5 gallons and I get approx between 22 and 23 mpg then it stands to reason that my crusing range should be in the neighborhood of between 407 and 423 miles. The low fuel light comes on at around 300 miles driven and the computer says that I can only drive around 330 miles? Does this mean there is roughly another 3 gallons of gas not accounted for by either the fuel warning light and the computer?
SKperformance Posted February 2, 2004 Posted February 2, 2004 in my 94 i get 500-600km per 70 liter tank the lgith comes on and i have atleast 100km left till empty not that this helps on a newer model ,but as a base line
SW03ES Posted February 2, 2004 Posted February 2, 2004 I find the range computer on the ES all but useless to the point where I dont even look at it any more. Mine rarely reads over 300 miles when I fill up, yet I always run closer to 400 on a tank. Compared to other cars like my Explorer with the range computer I think the system on the ES works differently (and only the ES, niether my dads old 98 LS or his new 04 LS are like this). On my Explorer if you reset the economy meter it would always vastly weigh on the range, on the ES its not like that, it must have a longer scale number its using for the calculations that the driver doesnt have access to. In short, its not a very good aproximation of the actual range...
iammikey Posted February 3, 2004 Posted February 3, 2004 Steve, My car computer performs much differently. I find my computer to be quite accurate. Last night, I finished a fuel consumption analysis and discovered a baseline for my ES330 and will continue to track it's mpg. If interested, let me know and I'll post the spreadsheet. I think the fuel meter accuracy is dependant on fuel filling habits. For example, I used to top off my 4Runner tank and hang the nozzle. As a result, the low fuel light was accurate. On the other hand, I used to top off and put as much fuel as I could in the tank until the nozzle wouldn't allow any more fuel into the tank. As a result, the low fuel light would activate too early. My conclusion is that the more I top off the tank, the more I distort the fuel sending unit and cause inaccurate fuel readings.
steviej Posted February 3, 2004 Posted February 3, 2004 my guess is that Toyo/Lex designed the fuel light to come on when there was about 2 to 2.5 gallons left in the tank. This way, most people would sramble to add fuel to tank when: the needle was below 1/8, the yellow light came on, and the mileage count down hit 20. Lexus probably found it easier to do this and hope people respond in an attempt to avert constantly replacing fuel pumps and filters that get damaged from running dry. I am with mikey, my "miles to fill up" display is actually quite on the money. If I run it right down to 0, then the tank is going to take ~16 gallons to fill. steviej
amf1932 Posted February 3, 2004 Posted February 3, 2004 I have found my trip computer to be fairly accurate in all respects, but you have to use your head when it comes to the range area. When I fill up it reads approximately 385 miles and I constantly compare it to the level on the fuel gauge. I don't know what determines the reading on the computer when I fill up the tank though.
SW03ES Posted February 3, 2004 Posted February 3, 2004 I never top it off, I suppose a case could be made for it being accurate if 0 ~ 2 gallons left...
wfmiller Posted February 3, 2004 Author Posted February 3, 2004 iamikey, I would be interested in seeing your spread sheet if you would not mind posting it. amf1932, Interesting, when I fill up my tank the computer says that my range is approx 330 miles!! Anyone else have similar readings?
amf1932 Posted February 3, 2004 Posted February 3, 2004 In the future when I fill up my tank I'll note the exact mileage that my trip computer reads. I'll also see if this mileage on the computer varies from one fillup to the next. ;)
obsidianr Posted February 3, 2004 Posted February 3, 2004 amf1932, Interesting, when I fill up my tank the computer says that my range is approx 330 miles!! Anyone else have similar readings? I usually get somewhere between 325 to 350
SW03ES Posted February 3, 2004 Posted February 3, 2004 Last night I got 296. Maybe something's wrong with my computer...
SW03ES Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 I never top the tank off, I always stop after the click. Mostly because I dont want to drip onto the paint...
steviej Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 amf1932, Interesting, when I fill up my tank the computer says that my range is approx 330 miles!! Anyone else have similar readings? yep, same here. usually between 330 and 350 depending on whether I let is stop at first automatic shut off or I squeeze it off to the nearest quarter. (don't ask me why I do that, cause it's going on the speedpass.) theoretically I should be getting 425 miles per 18.5 gallons. (I average about 14.5 gallons on each fill and that is going from 340 down to less than 20 miles on the driving range display) I say theoretical because I am not going to drive the car until it is bone dry to find out actual miles per tankful. steviej
iammikey Posted February 4, 2004 Posted February 4, 2004 WFMiller, Here's the spreadsheet in Excel. To sum it up, in 10,809 miles, I've used 483.67 gallons of fuel averaging 22.348 mpg, and spent $819.70. I had to convert the spreadsheet to a .jpg to post.
wfmiller Posted February 5, 2004 Author Posted February 5, 2004 iammikey, thank you. Looks like you switch your gasoline around (octane)? I have not used anything other than premium. Noticed on the latest issue of Consumer reports where they do a comparision of 4 upscale cars that the ES330 shows using regular gas. That must be a typo as I believe the manual suggests using premium.
amf1932 Posted February 5, 2004 Posted February 5, 2004 Yes, the ES330 as well as older ES's CAN use regular grade of fuel. I have used both regular & premium fuel on my '03 as well as on my previously owned '94ES and I NEVER noticed any difference in performance or gas mileage! I suppose that high mileage cars that have carbon buildup in the engine would possibly have to use higher octane fuel to prevent pre-ignition(pinging). I know that some of the members will disagree with my findings, but all I can say is, it works for me. This illustration is taken right out of my 2003 Owners Manual:
hasbeen Posted March 12, 2004 Posted March 12, 2004 I found this topic interesting. My range reads at 320 when I fill up but I don't usually make it to 300. I ran it all the down until the warning light was on and the gauage read empty and all it took was 14 gallons. And that was with topping it off. This is an ES330. I took the car in for its 1000 mile service today and asked them to check the gas gauge. They wanted to just explain the issue of leaving a reserve of 4.5 gallons away but finally agreed to do some checking and let me know. Having found this thread, I know now that something is amiss with my gas guage calibration or something. Harry
amf1932 Posted March 12, 2004 Posted March 12, 2004 I've been checking the range on the trip computer recently and found that after fillups it varied between 300 to about 325 miles. There probably is nothing wrong with the indications that you've been getting. I have an '03 ES and there shouldn't be any differences in the '04 ES readings.
chadmg7 Posted March 12, 2004 Posted March 12, 2004 amf1932, what is pre-ignition (pinging)? Do you think that a '97 with about 91,000 should be using premium?
amf1932 Posted March 12, 2004 Posted March 12, 2004 Too explain this more fully, read this: http://www.misterfixit.com/deton.htm
chadmg7 Posted March 12, 2004 Posted March 12, 2004 It doesn't seem like my car has any of those problems. Thanks for the info!
lxs300 Posted April 9, 2004 Posted April 9, 2004 What does 15.4 lmp means ?? Outta 18.5 How much fuel will be left in the tank after fuel light on ? Little scary for me when the light comes on and go and getting used to thinking where it dies saying outta fuel.
dropspace Posted April 9, 2004 Posted April 9, 2004 Imp. Gallons are "Imperial Gallons" which the US doesn't use my fuel light comes on with about 15 gallons in the tank, that to me this is a little early...but running out of gas in a modern car is very hard on the cat and engine. I don't go by the gauge anyway, I know the range of my car and just look at the trip meter.
steviej Posted April 10, 2004 Posted April 10, 2004 when my light comes on and the "range" indicator reads 0, I have about 1.5 to 2 gallons left in the tank. I figure I got about 50 miles to go until I am dead in the road. steviej. PS. best thing to do, get gas before you see the light.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now