When I got the car, was full to the brim, managed to last me a week and a half! Now (being a student and what not) my top up varies from between £5 - £30, and I notice that £5 would sometimes last a day! And that would only be 20 miles!
The fuel gauge is divided into 1/8 segments for most of its range, so each segment should be 'worth' 5.6 litres for a 45 litre tank. The problem is that we don't know whether the fuel is just under the level required to light the next segment, or just over the level required to light the existing segment.
So you can only know your fuel level to an accuracy of plus or minus 5.6ltrs - and that assumes that the fuel tank sender is accurate. I fill my petrol 1.2TSi when the petrol warning light comes on and that seems to consistantly need 39 litres - or seven 1/8 segments. That leaves 6 litres in the tank, which is the remaining 1/8th segment on the display.
So you can only know your fuel level to an accuracy of plus or minus 5.6ltrs - and that assumes that the fuel tank sender is accurate. I fill my petrol 1.2TSi when the petrol warning light comes on and that seems to consistantly need 39 litres - or seven 1/8 segments. That leaves 6 litres in the tank, which is the remaining 1/8th segment on the display.
when you put fuel in? does the gauge hesitate? when i brim the tank mine hesitates for the last block, is this usual??
I think you'll find that there will always be some delay before most fuel gauges register. That's because there has to be some electronic damping built into the design so that the fuel gauge is not affected by the fuel moving around in the tank when the car is in motion.
On some really old cars, the fuel gauge goes beserk when the car is moving and you can actually see the needle slopping back and forth as the fuel does the same thing. The 'fix' was to add an electronic component which smoothed out the wild fluctuations to give a more representative reading.
The basic principle remains the same today, we may have a digital fuel gauge, but the sensor in the tank is still electro-mechanical - hence the gauge delay.
On some really old cars, the fuel gauge goes beserk when the car is moving and you can actually see the needle slopping back and forth as the fuel does the same thing. The 'fix' was to add an electronic component which smoothed out the wild fluctuations to give a more representative reading.
The basic principle remains the same today, we may have a digital fuel gauge, but the sensor in the tank is still electro-mechanical - hence the gauge delay.
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