Number Of Bars On Fuel Gauge?

[louise74]

Just done my first big run in my Yaris very impressed and I am trying to work out my fuel economy in comparision with my "tractor" Ford ka. Though I was less than impressed with the road conditions made me want to :blowup: loads of road works etc.

Any way I have quickly established that my Yaris offers much better fuel economy, the Ford Ka held I believe (I may be wrong) 40 litres and I always had to stop on the way back to give it a drink were as my Yaris has come back with 3 bars and it dropped to three only 10 miles from home. The one thing I forgot to check this morning is how many bars the fuel gauge has so I can work it out better. I think its either 7 or 8 and it would help to know so that I can work the economy out.

Many thanks

[vinkhub]

It's 8 bars. (This is digital so doesn't give a good picture of fuel left in tank when compared to analog ones.)

The recommended method would be to measure mileage between tank-fulls. That is.

1. Get the tank full. (Note the miles say A)

2. Then drive normally. At some point the low-fuel warning appears (the bottom most bar starts blinking) (Note the Miles here say B )

3. Fill the tank fully again (Say X gallons goes in).

then simply calculate (B-A)/X.

[reece]

Yes its 8 bars, 2 bars is a quarter of a tank. Also keep in mind it appears that it’s more economical when it’s full and then rapidly runs out the less that’s in it.

This is a myth though.

Imagine the fuel tank is like your bathroom sink. If you put the plug in and filled it up to the top then pulled the plug out, the water appears to drain slower then it speeds up as it reaches the bottom.

However, the water still leaves the plug hole at the same amount full or empty, same as you fuel tank.

To work out your mpg first fill it up and reset your trip. When you refuel again, make a note of the miles you have down on that tank and how much you put in the next time you fill it up to the top again and put the miles and amount in litres in this site to get your mpg

Click

[louise74]

Thanks yes, I noticed on the first leg of the journey my fuel seem to slightly slower it was on the return leg but the driving conditions were slightly different (long stretches of the A1 dug up) so far I have done 328 miles the next few days will be spent zipping around town but I am hoping to get a few more miles out it yet.

I think my Ford Ka would of used around 42 litres of fuel yesterday, I have always needed to give her a drink on the return journey so definately better fuel economy.

[carlowlad]

8 bars on the display. If you have filled to the brim then when the top two bars have gone, your tank is half empty. Or should i say: you will have covered half the distance you'll cover on the entire tank if you continue to drive the way you do.

Thats the way my tank turns out anyway.

When the bottom bar starts blinking you have 5 to 6 litres left. When it starts blinking faster then you have 2 to 3 litres left. Well i think it blinks faster. Maybe thats just me freaking out looking for a place to fill up!! :D

[reece]

8 bars on the display. If you have filled to the brim then when the top two bars have gone, your tank is half empty.

When 4 bars have gone it will be half empty, when 2 bars have gone three quarters are left

[sedj]

I find on average i get 45mpg which is mainly town work with some motorway without thrashing it, the trip computer which averages out the mpg is pretty acurate for me and i usually see roughly 90 miles to a tenner of juice. The only annoyance is when it gets to the last flashing bar and you turn the car off the next time you start it up it goes back to 2 bars and you can drive for a few more miles before it flashes again?

Not the most acurate of gauges

I am surprised your Ka was not near or there abouts on economy to the Yaris? I would have thought it would be good for at least 40mpg if it was driven properly?

For town work the yaris is ace but motorways i think its worth spending 50% more on juice for a car that can do 70mph without breaking a sweat. I did 150 miles yesterday in the yaris with 5 peeps on board, 3 were smallish teens, it did the job but after 100 miles of motorway my head was banging through road/engine noise, and its most annoying having everything fly past you even when doing 70 :(

[louise74]

Thanks for your replys, I know the Yaris has its drawbacks but personally I love mine. My Ford Ka was 10years old (pre 2000 model) and they were not quite as economical as the post 2k ones, my Yaris is without a doubt a bit more economical. Yep it can be noisy on a motorway but I find it tolerable( the Ford Ka was also quite noisy) but then there is usually only myself and one or two others in my car. I use mine for mainly town driving with a long sujorn down the motorway only happening once every 6-8 weeks next one planned is Christmas when for the first time in 11 years I get to spend it with my family (if I get my promised 5 day Christmas Break) usually I get either Christmas day or boxing day if I am luckly but having worked the last 4, the last two been on nights :ffs: they have promised me a decent break.

[carlowlad]

8 bars on the display. If you have filled to the brim then when the top two bars have gone, your tank is half empty.

When 4 bars have gone it will be half empty, when 2 bars have gone three quarters are left

Ahhhh.... yeah. That does look odd alright. But when i let it down by two bars and refill, i get about 20 to 23 litres into the (45L) tank. Thats half full to me, regardless of what the bars say.

[Cyker]

Yeah, on my pre-06 Yaris the gauge gets pretty dodgy past half way. Parking on a slight hill/camber is the difference between 4 bars and 2, and sometimes I've set off with a blinking light and arrived with 2 bars!!

@sedj - What engine does yours have? I found the 1.0 a but underpowered on the motorway (Although Red vigorously disagrees with me there ) but the 1.3 and D4D should be able to handle motorways easily; In fact I'm developing really bad driving habits because of it!

In my poor old 1.3 Fiesta could barely do 60 so I'd have to be dead patient behind lorries and stuff, waiting with careful observations for a big enough gap for me to accelerate into.

In the D4D, I just give the mirrors and blind spot a quick glance, signal, then floor it and it'll leap past the Eddie Stobarts in the blink of an eye! (Well, a sleepy blink of an eye if it's fully loaded and going up hill :D)

I know what you mean about the roadnoise tho'; The difference between, say, a Corolla and a Yaris is astounding!

[aygoal]

On our 57 plate Aygo the first blob (out of 6) on the gauge would hold out for 120 miles, yet the last 3 would disappear in 90 miles!!! Total range cerca 400 miles.

We only got our Yaris yesterday, so cannnot commet on the Yaris guage. Our Yaris (59 plate) and the two 58 plate used ones (1.3 SR and 1.4 D4D TR) we tried all had an mpg (constant and ave) as well as range left. To cycle these figures you can press the little button next to the clock. The figures then appear where the outside temp display is. However I am impressed with the mpg as I am getting 50 mpg out of a 6 speed 1.33 and it currently has only 120 miles on the clock...

[aygoal]

Yeah, on my pre-06 Yaris the gauge gets pretty dodgy past half way. Parking on a slight hill/camber is the difference between 4 bars and 2, and sometimes I've set off with a blinking light and arrived with 2 bars!!

@sedj - What engine does yours have? I found the 1.0 a but underpowered on the motorway (Although Red vigorously disagrees with me there ) but the 1.3 and D4D should be able to handle motorways easily; In fact I'm developing really bad driving habits because of it!

In my poor old 1.3 Fiesta could barely do 60 so I'd have to be dead patient behind lorries and stuff, waiting with careful observations for a big enough gap for me to accelerate into.

In the D4D, I just give the mirrors and blind spot a quick glance, signal, then floor it and it'll leap past the Eddie Stobarts in the blink of an eye! (Well, a sleepy blink of an eye if it's fully loaded and going up hill :D)

I know what you mean about the roadnoise tho'; The difference between, say, a Corolla and a Yaris is astounding!

Re the refinement of the Yaris, we test drove a 58 plate 1.3 SR, a 58 plate 1.4 D4D and the 59 plate demo 1.33 over exactly the same test route. To our minds Toyota have really improved the refinement with the slight 09 update, the road and wind noise are lower, so it is not just the 6 speed box that helps.

[Cyker]

Yeah, I fancied upgrading, but I'd miss the sunroof!

[aygo]

there a nice website that stores all your mpg records for you

http://www.fuelly.com/dashboard/

just need litres bought /miles covered