Fuel gauge accuracy

[bigtop]

Evening all
So, you have a gauge and a little fuel display on the little screen which says 15 miles left etc
How low can you go, cos iv been on the last line of the gauge looking like im going to have to push, but still says 5 or 10 miles or so of fuel left
Which would you say is most accurate?

[mb]

Not the best thing to do but I've driven quite a few miles with the display showing 0 miles left on a couple of occasions

[GrayMK5GTI]

It's the same on every car. 0miles doesn't mean the tank is empty, it's a safety feature 

My dad's Auris does an easy 60miles with the fuel light on 

[mb]

I've not been brave enough to try going 60 miles while showing 0 miles left!

[Degudodger]

Having lost a game of "fuel station roulette" once at 3am i never let it drop lower than 50 miles left.

[dansmith180]

The readout is based on how you've been driving, so if you've been driving it hard and it has 6 litres left in the tank it might say 10 miles but if you've been driving carefully and have 6 litres it might say 30 miles. I made it 10 miles once when it was reading 0.

[akbarirfan]

Fuel station roulette! 

[Golf_GT_TDI]

A few times in my Mk4 I've done 5-10 miles when 0 miles is displayed, touch wood never actually run out of fuel so guess there is a couple of litres or so left even when 0 miles is triggered

[homesqueeze]

I've not been brave enough to try going 60 miles while showing 0 miles left!

You won't get sixty miles when its on 0! There is still plenty of fuel left when the warning light comes on, but the guage should also be showing a bit left at that time. When the gauge shows empty and the computer range shows 0, then it really is starting to be empty! Having said that, a couple of times I have driven a few miles on 0 by accident 

[Viking]

I've done 80 odd miles with 0 miles left to go. Mind you, I drive a diesel....

[Elude]

It's the same on every car. 0miles doesn't mean the tank is empty, it's a safety feature 

My dad's Auris does an easy 60miles with the fuel light on 

Not all cars, VX tend to under estimate. My friend has an SRi turbo and that ran out with 21 miles left on it.

[GrayMK5GTI]

It's the same on every car. 0miles doesn't mean the tank is empty, it's a safety feature 

My dad's Auris does an easy 60miles with the fuel light on 

Not all cars, VX tend to under estimate. My friend has an SRi turbo and that ran out with 21 miles left on it.

The "miles to empty" is calculated on your driving style so if you drive like a nun down to 22miles left, then give it death for a mile the tank may empty before the gauge realises what's going on.

[akbarirfan]

This morning I left home with 20 miles remaining according to the on board computer. I drove 22 miles and now have 5 remaining as per the range! At one point my range went up to 25 miles!

It all depends on how you are driving, I think I could have done the whole journey with 20 miles remaining at the end if I hadn't have booted it at one point 

[anorganix]

Indeed, "miles to empty" calculation is based driving style but as far as I know when the fuel warning light comes on there are about 7 liters of fuel left in the tank. So if you want to approximate how much more is left, you can reset trip when light comes on and then look at distance covered and average.

PS: I don't recommend going often when range is 0 (or close to 0) because you can "suck" the deposits from the fuel-tank into the engine. This might be fantasy, but better to be safe.