It used to be when I was on a road trip I always refilled once the gauge hit the 1/4 mark. Now with google maps and apps, I check ahead to see where petrol gas stations are, for the type of gas I usually buy. (I usually buy one type, using the gas company credit card.) I plan my stops accordingly.

In any event, based on the amount a 'fill' equates to, I know I've got 2 gallons in the tank when the gauge reads E, which means I've got a range of at least another 50 miles before it goes dry. At home, that was only a problem one time, following hurricane Katrina when gasoline supplies to the southeastern US were cut off and many stations were empty. Even then I managed not to run out.

My Ford Focus has a 12.4 gallon tank and gets 42 MPH. I get three round trips (136 miles) to/from work leaving me with about a 122 mile cruise range left before I think about filling up. Range Anxiety - No

My F150 on the other hand has a 36 gallon tank and gets 18 MPG (going down hill with a good tail wind). I try not to let the tank get much below 1/2 tank. Just too painful to realize that for the $60 I've spent, I've only driven about 288 miles. Range Anxiety - Oh Heck Yes

I would like to keep at least a quarter tank as a minimum. In cold weather, if you run a tank low, you run the risk of condensation and that may prevent the engine from turning over. I also try to fill up where gas is a little cheaper so if I know I am in a town where gas is cheaper than where I live, I generally fill up. Canadians always fill up when they visit USA. If I drive my wife's car, I always fill it because she will not use self serve stations. Yeah, she has me trained.

Its a 20 mile round trip for me to fill up so my Land Rover runs in the red most of the time. Strangely it always runs dry at the same corner, fortunately one of my clients lives there so he has baled me out on many an occasion. I think/hope that my attitude to work is not so laxed!!!

Recently ran out of gas in my 2002 e320 Benz wagon. Called assistance from AAA and with new gas in the tank and the starter turning the engine over as it was designed to, the car would not start. Had to flatbedd it to the Benz dealer to reset the computer. The AAA guy said he thot there was a way to temporarily get around the reset but he did not know how to do it. I'll be watching the gauge much more closely from now on.

I wish my wife did! Her 2003 Chev Suburban ran out of gas (thankfully 4 blocks from home!!; she came home & told me so I grabbed the nearest gas can (2 gallons), hopped in my pickup & drove to the nearest gas station- a block BEHIND where the truck was. i filled the gas can up, went & poured it into the tank & figured- OK, I'll start it up & go fill up. NOTHING!! After checking various things- it cranked OK- I thought "This thing holds over 120L (32+ USG) & it's on a bit of a slope, maybe I need more gas", went back & got another can. I had to put 6 gallons in before it would start!

That wasn't too bad until the day a year or so later- parked it in a parking lot & it wouldn't start. I went & looked at it-cranked over fine, almost sounded like it was catching. Scratched my head, looked at this & that; all of a sudden I realized the gas gauge read empty & the dash display said low fuel!! This time a 5 gallon can did the trick.

I do not let it get below one qtr to One half to prevent the fuel pump from getting too hot.

I never let the gas gauge go below the 1/4 mark, especially in winter. Once you go below 1/4, water and dirt can get sucked up into the fuel line, fuel filter and the fuel injectors/carb.

Lessons learned the hard way long ago!

Bad news, the fuel pick up is always on the bottom of the tank. Any water will always be picked up first. Dirt that floats in gasoline is the rare, but perhaps it is a local problem.

Today's in tank electric fuel pumps should be kept submerged as much as possible They run cooler, and will last longer if air is never introduced, causing un-lubricated running.

But, on the odd chance that you pi$$ed me off one day, and I installed a few small plastic bags in your tank, it will die less often if the tank is kept full and driven slowly.

I just heard this last week.

Today's in tank electric fuel pumps should be kept submerged as much as possible They run cooler, and will last longer if air is never introduced, causing un-lubricated running.

My girlfreinds son, had mentioned that you want to keep the fuel tank full to help in the cooling. I was surprised to hear that, and another mechanic agreed but it made sense.

As far as not letting you gas tank run dry, see post #17.................

I run my pickup on propane as the primary fuel so for me I just run until that tank is empty which is usually between 600 - 800 miles then switch over to gasoline which is then still good for another 250 -300 miles further before I need to fill both.

At that point however then its usually around a $250 - $300 fill up.

Congratulations on your propane use. I hope the price goes down for you. Maybe it will go as low as CNG or LNG. I understand there is a lot of propane around now. What are you paying? CNG is still going as low as one dollar per gallon equivalent in some areas. Even Riverside California. cngprices.com shows the prices. Do you have such an online map for propane?

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Isn't it funny when the needle is hovering around empty that people will drive faster thinking; getting to the gas station quicker will keep them from running out of gas. The opposite is true; driving slowly and carefully will save fuel giving a better chance of making it without running out.

I used to keep my tank full when gas was cheap, but now-a-days, I can't afford to fill up so yes; I'm anxious.

Depends if the gas prices are going up or going down, if their going down, I wait till close to empty, to fill up at the lowest possible point, if their going up, I fill up ASAP

It is disappointing to me though that if I hear the prices are going up, and I fill up. And the next few days they actually went down

I have a Ford Focus Zetec 1.8 (petrol), which gets a consistent 30mpg* around town. I usually refill when the computer thingy tells me I have about 30 miles left - I'm never less than about 5 miles from a (cheap-ish) filling station.

If I'm going on a long (motorway) run, I top up before leaving town - it's about 10p/litre more expensive at motorway services.

*

Sorry about lousy resolution. Vertical axis in 5 mpg increments staring at 10 mpg. UK gallons. Red: point-to-point. Black: 4-point moving average. Blue: linear trendline. Wiggles at the end due to two pre-motorway-trip refills which haven't yet worked through.

I like to test the "Low Fuel" warning light with every tank of gas.

Those of you who always fill up at 1/4 tank may never know if your warning light even works.

On my 911 my girlfriend ran it out of gas, $1800.00 later ��(new fuel pump), it was found out to have a faulty fuel level sensor��

I never get anxious until I am actually out of fuel. Happened a couple of times going through southern Saskatchewan on my KZ.

I like to wait until the prices are not at the highest recent point. Big problem is that you need to watch very carefully. Thank God for the warning bell and light. WHY is it that fuel gauges always, in my experience, go much further on the first fourth of a tank and then get progressively less on the rest of the gauge?! I would think this would be an easy thing to fix, though the gauge would be asymmetrical.

There are a number of web sites that publish local gas prices.

Check them out.

Gas Prices - Find The Lowest Gas Prices Near You at Mapquest ...

Fuel tanks are not a "regular" shape, like a cube or a cylinder. A sender that outputs linear information [equally spaced increments] would cause the gauge to behave as described, especially if the top 1/4 of the tank was larger.

And besides, who cares how accurate the guage is until you get below a 1/4 tank of fuel?

That's where I want my guage to be right!

and then you really care, as your car coasts to a stop.

Fuel gauges are never accurate. The best device was on the old VW's. It was a valve that was set so that when you ran out of gas, you switched the valve and you had a gallon? left. You always knew how much gas was left in the tank.

Reminds me of the older tractors, LA CASE, WD45 Allis Chalmers, 8N Ford.

You pulled the gas cap and looked inside, and just from experience you could tell, Yep, that'll be enough or I'd better fill up.

Same thing on my old KZ. Switching to reserve gave me an extra litre or so.

Fuel gauges can be more accurate, but the cost of the part increases as you add more increments.

Seems to me they could easily be made more accurate if made asymmetrical to match the tank characteristics. Aesthetics and cost are probably the main issue. Plus they don't really care if you get stuck somewhere.

NO the costs ARE the main issue.

I just went through this excercise at work. Our fuel tank is sculpted in the lower half and more or less rectangular in the top half. The increment spacing in the top half of the sender was roughly linear. Good enough. The increment spacing was variable in the bottom half due to the tank's funky shape. The part was roughly 3x the cost of a linear sender. We build tractors. When our customer shells out $500,000 for a tractor, we care a lot about his experience.

I am a price oriented buyer, so will probably never own a vehicle with a reliable gas gauge! I hope those who buy expensive vehicles get better gauges.

Anybody who runs out of gas is the one who doesn't really care if they get stuck somewhere.

Car companies offer fuel guages that are more than adequate for reasonably intelligent drivers.

If you run out of gas, how can anybody POSSIBLY blame the auto manufacturer?

Car companies offer fuel guages that are more than adequate for reasonably intelligent drivers.

oH YAH, well I'm from the government and I'm here to help all you disenfranchised sheep! Its not your fault for your stupidity causes you constantly run out of gas., it's the greedy big corporate fault that should be looking after you, and since they are not, the government is.

We well have to pass a mandate forcing big business to help all you disenfranchised idiots......

The administration is also passing a law that declares stupidity is a desease so you can seek medical attention.......i.e.,..... drugs,

^{oh, oh, we're going political}

That's only true for 47% of the population.

So where do us people who gauge our fuel levels more by miles driven and conditions than not what the gauge says fit in?

Are we super genius' then?

I hope you don't plan to medicate us down to the average to bring our dammed common sense under control?

Hey, I have a pill for that.........

Yes, we take medicare.

If your a senior, We have a senior discount.

I blame myself re: my KZ. In my defense, however, I was trying to find out exactly how far I could go on a tank. Southern Saskatchewan was not the place to do it though.

The manufacturer could only be blamed for a faulty design, like if the sender didn't reach to the bottom of the tank.

Gas gauges should be accurate. That is a given. They are not accurate if an increment is not true throughout the range of the gauge it is piss poor engineering. If a gauge takes you 150 miles on the first half, it should take you 150 miles on the second half, all other factors being equal. I was once stuck just out of Tahoe after coming from Lassen Park, because I relied on a faulty gas gauge. There were no service stations open. I was partially at fault, and learned my lesson, but that does not excuse bad engineering. Apparently some of you are happy with lousy engineering.

I don't think it matters one whit how far you go on the first half a tank. It's the last half that matters!

It isn't poor engineering. It's adequate engineering for the use at hand.

I have never had occasion to blame a gas gauge because I wasn't observent enough to keep my tank adequately filled.

Running out of gas is lousy maintenance, not lousy engineering.

So it is OK to make gauges that are inaccurate. Brilliant.

The brillance is Not the inaccuratacy, but consistentacy. And that is the brilliance

You are being dull.

How do you define accurate?

The level of accuracy of automotive gauges is perfectly acceptable to me and probably 99.9999% of the rest of the people on the planet.

Have it any way you like, I'm done with you.