Fuel economy and petrol light

Hi - first how many miles should I get out of the car when fuel light has come on before it's totally empty? - running low on fuel, and it's the end of the month :-(

Secondly, I think I'm getting fairly poor fuel economy as I only get about 100 miles to 19 litres - pretty sure I used to get better fuel economy back in april.

The car is a 1.3 super s, and only mods are 15" wheels on 195 tyres, and a powerflow SS catback zorst.
 
hi i managed 14miles ok from when my fuel light came on till i reached a garage dont quite know what fuel consumption is suppossed to be like yet as only just put my super s on the road be intrested to find out though
 
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slimothy
hi i managed 14miles ok from when my fuel light came on till i reached a garage dont quite know what fuel consumption is suppossed to be like yet as only just put my super s on the road be intrested to find out though

well that's good to know - light hasn't come on yet, and ive only got a ten mile journey to make between now and pay day, so should be all good fingers crossed :p

Got him booked for an oil change on thursday, and gonna swap the plugs out too, see if that improves matters...
 

pollyp

Club Member
mine used to do 45-50mpg and 300-320miles per tank on motorways, 35-40mpg and 280-300miles per tank on urban commutes when it was all standard.

now with CAI, janspeed full system, JUN lightweight flywheel, ecu remap and 92bhp it does 35-40mpg and 220-270miles per tank on motorways, 30-35mpg and 200-250miles per tank on urban commutes

weather & season has a big effect too cos the darker colder winter and rain requires more fuel to heatup to temp and drive.

my PAS also saps afew bhp and fuel
 

C0llis0n

Ex. Club Member
Club Member
I can confidentally do about 35+ miles on the red, infact im almost always in it these days damn fuel prices!
 

ferritboy

Ex. Club Member
I once went from london to bognor regis in a 1litre- put £15 in and ragged it there and then ragged it back and still had 1/4 of a tank!! One thing is that ur running on 15'' wheels for fuel economy 13'' would be better and drive like an old granny!
 
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slimothy
think i may have got this wrong (either that or something weird is happening with my car) - 'cos I put £6 in to tide me over until pay day (light was on at this point), and so far I've done nearly 40 miles, and needle is sat just under the quarter tank marker..... very confusing!

Only thing I can think of is that I put less than 19 ltrs in on my last fill up, but for some reason thought it was 19....
 

BG101

Ex. Club Member
I've done around 70 miles (M1 north London to Watford Gap) on red, and there was still a bit left in the tank.

The way to measure it is to see how much fuel you can get in when the light has just come on, if it's about 7 gallons (32 litres) you'll have just over 2 left (10 litres) when the light comes on.

It's a good idea to carry a petrol can with you when checking this of course :)


BG
 

r-reg-sr

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Site Supporter
£20 fuel top up when the needle is just going under the red was giving me max 200 ish miles before!THIS WAS AROUND 3 MONTHS AGO(I KNOW THIS DEFINATELY BECAUSE I WAS RUNNIN IT UNTIL IT CONKED OUT-THEN USING MY £5 FUEL CAN TO IMMEDIATELY FILL UP AGAIN) its a 1275 sr totaly unmoded.. havent changed my oxy sensor yet it showed faulty on the analyzer graph on the diagnostic machine it wasnt holding a consistant voltage
somethings up with the fuel this gov is doing us over with crap grade fuel mixed with who knows to thin it up rip off briton? or what is it then?
the weather does affect the fuel eccon a little but trust me that is a very very little
BOY THESE LITTLE NIPPERS HANDLE ALL WEATHER VERY WELL I AM LOVING THE RIDE IN THIS FREEZEE still my heaters still luke warmish-no use of a garrage-to many rip offs as well-and pretty skint! hmmmm
 
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slimothy
Well, ive changed the oil and the plugs - and done a red light-fill-red light test.

The results are in - 125 miles, from 20 litres - which equates to just under 29mpg.

Now I do drive with a heavy foot - I literally boot it everywhere and in every gear.
The car is running on 15's - which I know can harm fuel economy.

Is this good / bad / average? - is there anything that could be wrong or bear investigation?

:suspect:
 

curtis

Ex. Club Member
If your talking about fuel you need to fill the tank up, as your driving changes all the time...

Fill it up, then you know how much is in the tank, drive like you would until you conk out (keep a can of petrol in the car)

The work it out from your trip comp/millage counter
 
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slimothy
If your talking about fuel you need to fill the tank up, as your driving changes all the time...

Fill it up, then you know how much is in the tank, drive like you would until you conk out (keep a can of petrol in the car)

The work it out from your trip comp/millage counter

.....erm... see above? :doh:

Those stupidly wide tyres won't help your fuel economy any. A micra doesn't need any wider than 165's on it.

I agree - but they're what came with the wheels, and can't afford to buy any 175 or 185's at the moment (iirc 165's would be too small on a 6.5j wheel - in fact 175's might be pushing it!).
I keep wanting to go to a set of 14's, but nothing's been coming up on ebay, with tyres at a price I can live with :p
 
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