How low will you go? (gas gauge)

the best i can do is 270-280 .

so do you go downhill a lot and turn your car off while going down the hill ?

just kidding!

Oh yah, forgot to mention that

Fuel Pump stays cool by the gasoline inside the tank...
Fuel pump gets hot with low gas to not cool it...
Fuel pump will go bad

Originally posted by ContourKev:
Oh yah, forgot to mention that

Fuel Pump stays cool by the gasoline inside the tank...
Fuel pump gets hot with low gas to not cool it...
Fuel pump will go bad

That is correct.

For the record, I have let it get over 300 miles only twice, this first time working toward "the record" (haha) and second time it just happened. Under traditional circumstances I refill somewhere between 1/2 and 1/4 tank, and don't like to let it below 1/4.

The fuel pump was replaced under warranty when we got the car at 24K miles. With both situations in mind hopefully it will last me a lot longer than you guys think. I tend to imply things other than I mean, of which this is another case

This gas was el-cheapo $2.009 Wal-Mart gas of which I've used twice thus far, can you imagine I get seem to get better mileage with it? lol ...

thats why i usually fill up with 1/4 tank still in there, but lately i have been stretching it more and more. but gas prices are back down( or getting there, gas was 1.68 at QT across the street froma shell station that had gas for 1.69...i love gas wars!)so i reckon i oughta stop stretching it. i actually ran the car out of gas once as i pulled into a chevron..trip odometer read 456 miles...

and shutting off your car while going down a hill and then turning it back on at the bottom is bad for many components:

1. fuel pump
2. cat
just to name 2...

I only ran my car to E once
and that was cus when I first bought her, it just sat in a driveway... i wanted the old gas out

matt that is pretty good, I hit around 300 coming back from spring zing with the gas guage that low

best I have doen with the car is 300 and that is all highway, lately I have been getting 230-240 at best, mostly local driving but I think my car is running very rich

that is the joint right after the cat, also that exhaust tip has always been really black, compaired to the svt exhaust I just put on the car

I went 453 miles on a tank. The T-Bird has an 18 gallon tank and I put 17.4 gallons in when I fueled up last Sunday. I drove from about 10 miles from the TX/OK border to Springfield, MO on that tank.

Fuel economy, 26 MPG.

TB

Originally posted by brapple:

that is the joint right after the cat, also that exhaust tip has always been really black, compaired to the svt exhaust I just put on the car

that SVT exhaust is a freak exhaust though.
We compared those tips to a lot of people during meets and they all seemed to be running richer.

When I make my trips from Chicago to Ann Arbor Michigan I get about 330-370 depending on speed. I have gotten 370 miles once last year going between 75 and 80 most of the way there. And yes I do have a V6 ATX.

Think my record is like 345 or so. That was with a lot of highway driving, but I can only assume that it was a 0-90ish run on every merge... A good offense is as good if not better than a good defense right?

if i stay at 55, i could probably hit 500 per tank on the freeway...but i have a problem...

i cant go that friggin slow!

I drive about 50/50 Highway and In town driving. I get about 225 a tank. I haven't seen 300 miles to a take in about 2 years even with straight highway miles.

Last September when my Contour was in the shop I rented a Camry to go to Washington and that was getting me about 550 miles to a tank.

I knocked out a half a tank of gas in about 30 miles.

225 a tank...something must be wrong otherwise you are flooring it every single time you step on the gas...lead foot?

i can do a quarter tank in that!

Originally posted by Stryker:
i can do a quarter tank in that!

yeah, but can you do that by only staying under 55 mph, never going more than half throttle and never going above 4000 rpm's?

no...

foot ont he floor, worryig about blowing the motor as i take it to 35 in first at every light...

Yah... i normally get 190 to the tank, but thats mostly city driving, but now with my stock intake... i seem to be getting 225 and im at 1/2 Tank now... But thats with a mixture of 70 miles on Expressway, and rest City driving....

I continually run my Escort into the ground as far as gas is concerned. Yeah it's probably not the greatest thing for it as far as health is, but just coming off of high-school and having a lot of medical supplies and college tuition to chip in on, I can't exactly afford to fill up when I just feel like it.

Last time I filled up this past week, I believe I got 300 miles out of it, but that was only with leadfooting it once or twice. I've run through an entire tank, from when gas was running down the side of the car to the point where it was on fumes and gotten 175 miles out of it.

I've got over 400 miles on a tankful quite a few times(the most being 420-not bad for a 2.5ATX). I used to always drive until the light comes on(and them some-once drove 45 miles with it on!). I pushed it too far last fall and ran it out of gas. The g/f gave me a dope slap and now I fill up right when the light comes on(and even sometimes before!).

Almost 120K miles have past, and despite my mad obsession of extracting every last drop from the tank, I still have the original fuel pump!

I've run out of gas. Twice. Almost did it again several other times. I usually take it alllll the way down..

Maybe that's why I need a new fuel pump now

This weekend I got 350mi on a tank. My speed was around
80Mph all the way.

I fill up some where between 1/8 and a 1/4 tank, just replaced my fuel pump last November, but it was giving me proplems before that.
That means my fuel pump lasted 6 years....

If I were to lose my fuel gauge and had to use the odometer when I needed to fuel up it would depened on the driving. i.e. was it city or hwy or both.
300km combine, 400km hwy and 200km city.
I may have lots of fuel left in the tank, but I wouldn't run out!

From pump click to yellow light, my record is 312 highway miles. 75 to 85 along the way, 3 people + luggage, AC. I've had the car since 19k and have never gotten big mileage liek some of you have & do.

low fuel gauage light

contours have those

I have put in 13.8 gallons of gas in my 95 lx v6 tour which has a 14.5 gallon tank and have never seen the a low gas guage light come on.

guess earily production models did not have such lighted guage.

Originally posted by contour_phoenix_when:
low fuel gauage light

contours have those

I have put in 13.8 gallons of gas in my 95 lx v6 tour which has a 14.5 gallon tank and have never seen the a low gas guage light come on.

guess earily production models did not have such lighted guage.

Right you are!

I went 270 miles and had about/little more than a 1/4 tank left (hard city driving, with mucho idling, still pretty good at about 25mpg in the city). Filled it up, about 11 gallons. Then drove out of town and back on back roads hauling butt. Did over 130 miles and burned less than a 1/4 of a tank. I think zetecs get better gas mileage the faster you go, to a certain point anyways, but I definitely don't think 55-75 is the zetecs sweet spot, gotta go a bit higher, though under 100.

Originally posted by 98 SE:

Originally posted by contour_phoenix_when:
low fuel gauage light

contours have those

I have put in 13.8 gallons of gas in my 95 lx v6 tour which has a 14.5 gallon tank and have never seen the a low gas guage light come on.

guess earily production models did not have such lighted guage.

Right you are!

im pretty sure mine has it, but when it comes on, you have about 1.5 minutes of highway driving to find a gas station

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
I think zetecs get better gas mileage the faster you go, to a certain point anyways, but I definitely don't think 55-75 is the zetecs sweet spot, gotta go a bit higher, though under 100.

No way. Last weekend I drove to the Gulf Beach, mostly on rural hwys, 60-70mph, some interstate, I got 410mi on the tank, coming back on interstates at 80-90mph I got 340mi.
This is for a '97 zetec mtx.

There's a point about mpg statistics, on my car it makes 1-1.5 gallon difference if I park on a slope while filling up. If the car is tilted towards the front, I can always pump in more.

Tiv

Originally posted by tiv:
There's a point about mpg statistics, on my car it makes 1-1.5 gallon difference if I park on a slope while filling up. If the car is tilted towards the front, I can always pump in more.

Tiv

Where the hell can you fill up your car on a slope?

Around here they are always flat at the pump.

Originally posted by tiv:

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
I think zetecs get better gas mileage the faster you go, to a certain point anyways, but I definitely don't think 55-75 is the zetecs sweet spot, gotta go a bit higher, though under 100.

No way. Last weekend I drove to the Gulf Beach, mostly on rural hwys, 60-70mph, some interstate, I got 410mi on the tank, coming back on interstates at 80-90mph I got 340mi.
This is for a '97 zetec mtx.

Do you have any mods? Intake,etc. could make a difference.

I have gone over 400 twice in the SVT, the record being 412 miles. High 300's are common on trips over 1 hour or so.

Originally posted by zgendron:

Originally posted by tiv:
There's a point about mpg statistics, on my car it makes 1-1.5 gallon difference if I park on a slope while filling up. If the car is tilted towards the front, I can always pump in more.

Tiv

Where the hell can you fill up your car on a slope?

Around here they are always flat at the pump.

Tenessee evidently, Maine, and a little place near Paxton MA ...

And Kremit - Tiv is correct.

Originally posted by 98 SE:

Originally posted by zgendron:

Originally posted by tiv:
There's a point about mpg statistics, on my car it makes 1-1.5 gallon difference if I park on a slope while filling up. If the car is tilted towards the front, I can always pump in more.

Tiv

Where the hell can you fill up your car on a slope?

Around here they are always flat at the pump.

Tenessee evidently, Maine, and a little place near Paxton MA ...

And Kremit - Tiv is correct.

What mods does your ZETEC have? I've seen other modded zetecers report better gas mileage at higher speeds as well, I don't think I'm the only one. Also, my cam gears may or may not be giving me added performance at the current setting (too hard to tell) but it's quite possible they also help the gas mileage.

I can go about 340 miles and the gas light is on, but this is a straight freeway trip. Running your car low all the time is bad for the fuel pump as the added fuel acts as a coolant for the warm runnin' fuel pump and you can get "crud" from the gas tank running into the fuel filter

My personal best is 390 miles.

That is 70 miles with the low fuel light on too.

This chick offered to pay for my tank and had a mobil card and we just couldn't find a mobile station.

When I finally did fill up it took 13.8 gallons.

you got 41MPG?? How do you manage this?

That seems very high...but who knows. You have a zetec with a 5speed correct?

Originally posted by JonGordo8:
That seems very high...but who knows. You have a zetec with a 5speed correct?

Originally posted by Will:
you got 41MPG?? How do you manage this?

Are you two talking to me?

390miles/13.8 gallons = 28.26 mpg

And I have a 99 SVT as my name suggests.

I hadnt reset the trip mileage because I was to poor at the time to afford a full tank of gas, but I once took my 96GL to the absolute limit. I drove it on the E line, from school, to the library, to home, to the library, then home AGAIN. the needle was below the E line, and I still made it to the gas pump. BOOO YAH. Man I love that Zetec's amaizing Gas mileage. Recently I filled to a full tank, reset the trip, and the needle has gone down about half of a quarter and the trip says 65 miles, this is city driving mind you.

The highest I ever got was 365 miles on a tank with NO highway miles (99 SVT w/ SHO-Shop CAI and Tru-Bendz cat-back). It was all around-town driving and going to school and back (1/2 hour away, no more than 40-50 MPH the whole way).

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

What mods does your ZETEC have? I've seen other modded zetecers report better gas mileage at higher speeds as well, I don't think I'm the only one. Also, my cam gears may or may not be giving me added performance at the current setting (too hard to tell) but it's quite possible they also help the gas mileage.

The only mod I have is a CTA intake. One of the reasons I bought it was to improve gas mileage (last year and before I drove 50k mi / yr) but it didn't affect mpg at all.

Tiv

WOW u guys are getting GREAT gas mileage. The best I've ever done till the Gas light came on was about 220 miles. My car runs perfect. ( 2000 SVT Contour ) So why am I only getting 16 MPG.

how many miles do you have on your car? If you got plenty, I would recommend the UIM/LIM cleaning... change spark plugs and wires, oxygen sensors...fuel filter, and air filter.

christ, I only get 400km per tank if I am lucky. I got 480 once all highway driving. But for the most part I only get 100km per 1/4 tank, faithfully.

Usually about 240/260 m b4 I fill it up, but when highway cruising I might go well over 300.

Originally posted by 98 SE:
How many miles can you get your car to go (or are willing to go) before refilling the tank?

In light of recent gas prices, I began waiting it out till my next paycheck or as necessary. This is the longest I've ever gone, and hopefully the first and last time I see the gas light This particular tank got me to the CT meet and back, and another few days back and forth to work and school.

Trip meter is reset every time I refill.

The challenge is set: post your mileage or gauge records!

I still go no lower than a quarter tank...it also helps that my work is 2 miles form my home.

i new the risks of getting a "premium only" car and i new that no gas price is certain.

Am i happy about it, no, but i cna't complain cause i new the risks....the best i get (mostly freeway) is about 280. the best i get going long distances (like LA) is about 300-320.

Mostly street the best i get is 240 to a 3/4 tank (like i said i fill up when i get to a quater).

i try not to drop below because i do not want to risk picking up sediment into the pump....the only time i do that is on long trips to LA when i went to get the most out of my gas.

lupe

only 100Km per 1/4? I get about 100 miles per 1/4.. CITY driving mind you. I think the reason im getting such good mileage right now is because my fuel injectors are dirty, so im not geting as good as performance, but not using as much gas.

Edit: ops, I had it wrong, I get about 75 per quarter...

The most i've ever gotten was 320 miles from 1 tank and yes I did drive it like a granny. The way I drive now I probably get around 240-260.

Date Odo Trip Cost Gal $/gal MPG
06/12/04 76870 405 $25.50 12.800 1.992 31.64

Got to love automatics. This was from Scott Dpot, WV to Richmond VA on a big loop from northern NJ. I still had about 2 gallons left. I already cleaned the fuel pump strainer once, a second time will be easier as I know what to do.

Best MPG has been 34 MPG. Didn't go as many miles, but was on the relatively flat leg of the NJ-Harrisburg, PA leg of the trip. I would of done better in WV, but those long hill climbs don't help.

When I came back from the Dragon last fall I got 32.8 mpg in my car going from somewhere in KY to Bowling Green Ohio. I went about 225 miles and topped it off and to my surprise, I got 32.8. When I go even longer its gotten 30 mpg still

Maybe its all the Valvoline "once a year" fuel injection treatment I've run through the car over the years

yesterday set a personal record, went 631km on 3/4 of a tank... of course, all hwy and on cruise...

don't usually let her go under 1/4 tank for the sake of the fuel pump.