Range Accuracy On 2011 1.8 Valvematic

[KenGJ]

Hi,

I am puzzled when I fill up my car with petrol after the range is down to about "15 miles".

I then fill to the brim which only takes about 46 litres.This implies that I already had 14 litres in the tank. How can this equate to 15 miles?

Is this over conservatism on behalf of Toyota, (surely rather too great a margin?) or do I need to get the sensor checked?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

KenGJ

[KingToy]

I have the same model as you and I usually fill up with petrol when my range gets to about 50 miles. I can usually get about 53 litres in the tank and the range changes to about 460 miles. Clearly our cars operate differently in this respect so it might indicate that your fuel sensor needs checking.

Incidentally, I would not let my petrol tank get as low as "15 miles range" as it might then be down to the dregs and I would not want the engine to ingest these impurities.

[Valvematic]

I find mine does more miles if using Shell rather than using a supermarket brand.

[Whitewagon]

Having done a couple of tests now I think the range relates to the tank reaching the state to when the low fuel warning light comes on. On my car this equates to there being around 10 litres left in the tank. I rarely allow the fuel to get this low, yesterday I filled up with the range showing 65 miles but could only get 41 litres in, with my MPG settled at 38 this is about right.

Valvematic, how many more miles do you get using Shell and does the extra cost per litre when buying from a Shell outlet outweigh the cost per mile over that from the supermarket.

I have read that Shell VPower gives better MPG but have yet to see any confirmation that the extra cost per litre is worthwhile.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Valvematic may not be using V-Power - could be using Shell's FuelSave, which is Shell's standard petrol/diesel

[Whitewagon]

Valvematic may not be using V-Power - could be using Shell's FuelSave, which is Shell's standard petrol/diesel

Yes agreed but were I live even standard Shell/BP petrol can be as much as 7 pence per litre more than supermarket fuel so it would need to give more than a couple of miles per gallon to make it worthwhile.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Where I am (Birmingham) our local Shell vies with Asda and Tesco for the cheapest petrol - usually all within a penny of each other. BP is about 2 pence more expensive and either of two Texaco garages up to 8 pence per litre dearer.

[KingToy]

Whitewagon - you say you filled up when your range was showing 65 miles and put in 41 litres. Your tank holds 60 litres; that means you had 19 litres in the tank when you had 65 miles range. More than 4 gallons and only 65 miles.....surely that can't be right?

On the question of supermarket versus Shell fuel - it would need to be tested doing exactly the same journeys over a period of time using both fuels and even then would be affected by weather, traffic etc. I don't do the same journeys on a daily basis so could not realistically carry out such tests. Perhaps there is someone out there who could provide such data?

[Whitewagon]

Whitewagon - you say you filled up when your range was showing 65 miles and put in 41 litres. Your tank holds 60 litres; that means you had 19 litres in the tank when you had 65 miles range. More than 4 gallons and only 65 miles.....surely that can't be right?

Around 4 gallons is correct, but as I said I believe that the range meter refers to the low fuel light activating i.e. when there is still around 2 gallons left in the tank. With 65 miles left on the range meter that is also almost 2 gallons so the total left in the tank was 4 gallons or roughly 20 litres.

Obviously the figures are not absolutely accurate which can be due to many variables in manufacture of the various components and also driving style, tyre wear or ambient conditions at the time. I would never trust any guage for complete accuracy. The only real way to be sure is to work out your MPG from a brim to brim fuel test a few times. You can then see how many miles you will get from a tankful of fuel. Reset one of the trip meters each time so you will know how far you can go before you need to refuel.

Having said I dont trust guages I have found that my MPG read out is always within 1 MPG of my brim to brim tests so in my case it is pretty accurate.

On the Shell-v-Supermarket fuel issue I think you are looking too closely at the expected results. A few tankfuls of one then the other would give you a reasonably accurate figure providing you driving style remained fairly constant.

Of course the difference in fuel costs can be improved even more if you shop at the supermarket where you get your fuel when they have extra money off per litre if you spend over their proscribed ammount. Obviously you would then need to compare in store prices of what you buy to be compleatly accurate on that too but life is too short to worry over such things.

[KenGJ]

Thanks for your views (although I'm not sure how we got into comparing fuel brands!)

However, I'm still somewhat confused.

Kingtoy, you appear to be saying that Toyota show zero range when there is 2 gallons left in the tank ie. about 72-80 miles on my current consumption. Surely this is misleading? In fact, my example of 15 miles range is showing when I have 3 gallons left - over 100 miles. Surely this isn't the "dregs"

It sounds that others have a similar experience which they seem happy with but I think I will take this up direct with Toyota as it still seems very conservative (and misleading) to me.

Will let you know what I come up with.

Cheers,

KenGJ

[KingToy]

KenGJ - I have said that when my range gets down to 50 miles I can put 53 litres in my tank, whereas when your range is 15 miles you can only put in 41 litres. On that basis if I let my range get down to 15 miles I would be able to put in about 57/58 litres. As I said our cars seem to operate differently!!

Toyota has advised me that when the yellow low fuel level light comes on there is about 7/8 litres left in the tank. My light comes on when showing about 50 miles range.