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Just test driven a Audi A3 and a Seat Leon. Both have rediculous digital fuel gauges with graduation in 8ths of a tank. About as much use a chocolate tea pot. The difference between an 8th of a tank and empty is fairly fundamental but there is no way of knowing with one of these VAG cars (Other manufacturers are also guilty as well)
Is there any benefit to this type of gauge over a propper dial?
First world problem of the day award goes to...
Is there any benefit to this type of gauge over a propper dial?
They look like something from Knight Rider!
Other than that - no.
Isn't there a trip computer that gives you "Miles To Empty" anyway?
(and probably a warning when you have 50 miles left)
Do they not also have the "miles to go" thing? TBH I tend to look at that rather than a fuel gauge these days.
[i]Is there any benefit to this type of gauge over a propper dial?[/i]
Cheaper, easier to integrate into a dashboard, can be made to look like all the rest of the display.
Most cars chime now when you get to within 50 miles of an empty tank anyway so the dial doesn't need to be that accurate.
I had an old 205 that would do 250 miles on the top 1/4 of the gauge and about 50 miles on the next 3/4
it's up there with Ebola....
Miles to go is much more useful than a gauge.
The difference between an 8th of a tank and empty is fairly fundamental but there is no way of knowing with one of these VAG cars
I'd bet a pound to a shiny penny that there is a little dashboard light that will appear with an accompanying 'DING' to tell you when a certain volume / range is reached.
There is nothing wrong with a digital fuel gauge.
It's all about living on the edge, will I get there? Will I not? ooooh - imagine the excitement. Go on. Imagine it.
Cheaper for the manufacturer I would imagine. But not great. I don't like them.
GrahamS - MemberIsn't there a trip computer that gives you "Miles To Empty" anyway?
These are generally rubbish though. The in my Wife's Ibiza will say 50 miles or so and then 20 miles later it's down to 5 miles, even if your driving style hasn't really altered over the course of the tank.
My Ibiza seems to be a bit better than hers in terms of estimating range left, but still not brilliant.
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jam bo - MemberI had an old 205 that would do 250 miles on the top 1/4 of the gauge and about 50 miles on the next 3/4
My "miles to go" counter gets 50 miles out of the first 50, then can go for about 25 on the last 0. Don't ask me how I knows.
[quote=thestabiliser ]It's all about living on the edge, will I get there? Will I not? ooooh - imagine the excitement. Go on. Imagine it.
i also had a golf where the fuel gauge didnt work for about 100,000 miles. never ran out...
I had an astra with a perfectly functioning fuel gauge and a trip computer and did! On the M6.
My Triumph Herald had a reserve fuel tank.
There was a little lever on the tank you could move to put the pickup in the bottom of the tank and get another 30 or 40 miles out of it.
Imagine my smugness when I ran out of fuel one day and leaped out to move the pick up to 'reserve' 🙂
Imagine me finding it was already set to 'reserve' and I thus had a 5 mile walk to the nearest petrol station and back again 🙁
I hired a van with an analogue fuel gauge. It ran out of fuel when it still said we had 1/4 of a tank left. I missed a race because of that.
Cool story, eh?
wwaswas - MemberImagine my smugness when I ran out of fuel one day and leaped out to move the pick up to 'reserve'
My first motorbike had a reserve (actually just 1 tank but 2 different fuel takeups), and both the motorbikes I learned to ride on. Seemed obvious to me that all motorbikes would have it. Guess how I found out they don't. Not that good for walking 5 miles in, your standard motorbike boot.
The Sprinters at work have had them for about 5 or 6 years now, I've probably travelled best part of 200,000 miles in that time in them, never been a problem.
We've had a few cars with digital gauges (inc a Yaris from 2004). I am more used to seeing a normal dial but its all much of a muchness. To be honest I look at "range" more than the gauge on my cars anyway.
Why would you want to suck all the crap out of the bottom of the tank by constantly running as low on fuel as your dial allowed?
I can't recall the last car I drove that had anything other than a digital gauge 😐
I had an old 205 that would do 250 miles on the top 1/4 of the gauge and about 50 miles on the next 3/4
My 206 does the reverse. That's the French for you, like to keep you on your toes. Literally occasionally.
Why would you want to suck all the crap out of the bottom of the tank by constantly running as low on fuel as your dial allowed?
That's a bit of a myth. All fuel tanks pickup from the very bottom of the tank all the time. Makes no difference if you run to empty or not.
Our elderly ForFour has a digital gauge - didn't even think analogue gauges were still a thing.
When it gets very empty, the odometer changes over to counting down in 10ths of a litre.
My miles to go is very accurate it told me there was 0 miles until the petrol station but I was clearly atleast half a mile away.
There is nothing wrong with a digital fuel gauge.
nor an analogue one, as I believe they are both driven on the same principle - a float inside the tank moves the contact on a rheostat up/down, thus varying the current coming back from the fuel tank sender. This is how the gauge - whether analogue or digital - operates
I watch Wheeler Dealers, me, I know everything that Edd China knows 😉
I've had a habit of setting the trip counter every time i fuel up, after driving trucks where if I couldn't get to a fuel bunker we had an account with I'd need to buy fuel with my own money and filling the tank cost more than I earned in week so knowing the miles I have left in the tank was important in deciding when and where to get fuel.
Its come in handy in the past when fuel gauges have failed as knowing the range on a tank means I can use the trip counter as the fuel gauge, and as above the gauges give pretty spurious readings anyway - the bottom 1/8th of the dial on my van means I'm on actually on less than 1/20th of a tank.
Never understood the determination of drivers to have the minimum amount of fuel in their car as possible before filling to the brim. Given how numerous petrol stations are wouldnt you just stick some more in when you saw a good price, its not like you get a better deal buying in bulk (lets exclude supermarket offers, as most people dont use these anyway).
Surely its better (for you) to fill up at a price thats good or a time thats convenient, rather than when your car runs out? and likely making a special trip/diversion to 'the cheap' petrol station.
I'd bet a pound to a shiny penny that there is a little dashboard light that will appear with an accompanying 'DING' to tell you when a certain volume / range is reached.
Yep, you get a warning when there is 40 miles range left.
I do get the ping and the yellow light on my current car, yes.
I once ran it to about 15 miles left on the range, then the range just disappeared from the readout. most disconcerting. I made it to a petrol station, but in £5 worth - not much, true - and it didn't even register. so I added another £5 worth at the next petrol station. still didn't register, but £10 should (at the time) give about 80 extra miles. If I'd added the £10 worth in one go, it probably would've registered another 100 miles.
now I fill up as soon as possible after it pings, unless home is nearer. there's a petrol station about 1 mile from my house in case of emergency
a little more scary was when the hire car 'pinged' on the way from our holiday rental deep in the foothills of the Pyrenees to Barcelona airport, 5am and an 8am flight to catch. Did make it to a station in Vic where I put in about a tenners worth), and did get to the airport in time. I'll never do that again.
Our Kia soul goes from 30 miles to go to 0 miles to go in one move.
That was a nervous 15 mile drive.
My Octavia has a regular analogue gauge which I use as a rough guide, and which has 0, ½, and 1/1 shown, with markers for ?, ¼, ?, ?, ¾, and ?. If I want to keep an eye on fuel levels more accurately then I use the switchable digital display that gives a range of options.
I get a 'bing' when I get down to 50 miles, and an orange light as well. I've often got down to '0' miles available, but only when I only need to drive along to the pumps about 400 yds away.
Only once miss-judged my fuel level, which meant driving back from Bristol late at night, without a single filling station open and twenty miles showing on the digital display. Got home after dropping my mate off who lives four miles away, with zero showing all the way from his house.
Not doing that again!
STATO - Member
Never understood the determination of drivers to have the minimum amount of fuel in their car as possible before filling to the brim. Given how numerous petrol stations are wouldnt you just stick some more in when you saw a good price, its not like you get a better deal buying in bulk (lets exclude supermarket offers, as most people dont use these anyway).
Surely its better (for you) to fill up at a price thats good or a time thats convenient, rather than when your car runs out? and likely making a special trip/diversion to 'the cheap' petrol station.
POSTED 5 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST
Why would you fill up more often than you need to? Week to week there is little difference in cost and queing to save a couple of pence is hardly worth it.
[quote=STATO ]Never understood the determination of drivers to have the minimum amount of fuel in their car as possible before filling to the brim. Given how numerous petrol stations are wouldnt you just stick some more in when you saw a good price, its not like you get a better deal buying in bulk (lets exclude supermarket offers, as most people dont use these anyway).
Surely its better (for you) to fill up at a price thats good or a time thats convenient, rather than when your car runs out? and likely making a special trip/diversion to 'the cheap' petrol station.
It takes the same amount of time to drive into the petrol station, wait in a queue for the pump, get out of the car, open the filler, put the pump in the filler, wait for it to be authorised, walk to the kiosk, wait in a queue to pay, wait for the transaction to process, type in my PIN, get a receipt, walk back to the car, drive out of the petrol station - no matter how much fuel I put in. Presumably you reckon I'd be better off doing all that every 50 miles when I pass somewhere with a good price rather than waiting 600 miles?
Oh and I do use supermarket offers and almost always fill up somewhere I'm driving past anyway.
My motorbike has an odd gauge - it can only read up to the half full point and then it just has an icon for "more than half full".
Even stranger, when running low, once the warning light comes on, it starts to count miles travelled UP from that point. Never been brave enough to see how far up it will count...
BMW F800 GSA
Rachel
Never understood the determination of drivers to have the minimum amount of fuel in their car as possible before filling to the brim. Given how numerous petrol stations are wouldnt you just stick some more in when you saw a good price, its not like you get a better deal buying in bulk (lets exclude supermarket offers, as most people dont use these anyway).Surely its better (for you) to fill up at a price thats good or a time thats convenient, rather than when your car runs out? and likely making a special trip/diversion to 'the cheap' petrol station.
'Path of least resistance' I guess. I tend to forget I have a car until something needs doing that requires using it. I also don't really enjoy visiting the petrol station, so would rather only do it when I have to (when the light comes on).
Who uses a gauge ? It's all about mileage!
A4- c.40 miles after zero, Five series-zero means zero.
Always use the trip counter to gauge fuel usage, I know I have a range of at least 590 miles on average and only once came close to running out, ended up not filling at Gretna and drove the interesting way home passing several ghost stations that my satnav was convinced existed but clearly hadn't for years. Ended up bump starting it on one closed station forecourt since it would save on juice if I didn't have to recharge the battery.
Eventually got rescued in Dalmellington (bandit country) at dusk by my dad as we chickened out of trying to get to Ayr and possibly losing mobile coverage. That was fun.
My 90s Clio had a fifth quarter on the gauge, after zero, I don't think it was meant to though. Used to get an easy 70-80 miles after the light came on, on fact come to think of it the gauge was rarely above zero or the light off. I once filled up after pushing my luck to the extreme and the (I think) 40 litre tank took 42 litres out of the pump.
I have a digital gague on the Prius, and it makes no difference to me. Why would you be concerned about 8ths of a tank? You know when it's low, fill the damn thing.
On the subject of car fuel foibles, I had a Seat where it would emit a pleasant gentle bing for such things as the ice warning, or lights left on, but an sudden earsplitting BEEEEEEEP when the gague went just below 1/4 tank. OMG there is only like 150 miles left! Aaargh!
I once ran out with a big queue behind me...
On the up ramp of a multi story. I wasn't very popular.
APF
Why would you be concerned about 8ths of a tank? You know when it's low, fill the damn thing.
Round some of these here parts (and probably similar in Scotlandshire) it might be over 100 km to the next fuel station and with a significant price difference between them, you want to know whether you'll make it.
Not everyone drives a Prius and lives in civilisation, not everyone wants to.
"significant price difference between them, you want to know whether you'll make it."
Price has nothing to do with it. If your in the arse end of scotland and your on 1/8th of a tank and dont know if youll make it to the next .....you stop and you put in some fuel. You dont have to fill it... But 10 quid will see tou make it to the next station unless your in a v8 or a sports bike.
Cheaper than the aa call anyway.
molgrips - MemberOn the subject of car fuel foibles, I had a Seat where it would emit a pleasant gentle bing for such things as the ice warning, or lights left on, but an sudden earsplitting BEEEEEEEP when the gague went just below 1/4 tank. OMG there is only like 150 miles left! Aaargh!
Ha! My Ibiza does this.
Cold weather.....bong
Handbrake left on.....bong bong bong
Lights left on....bbbeeeeee
35 miles of fuel left.......[u][b]BEEEEEEPPPPPP[/b][/u]
Never ceases to make passengers jump and ask what the hell that is! 😆
My car has a digital fuel gauge that gives you the fuel tank content in litres. Which is accurate until it gets to below 11 litres and then just displays EMPTY, at which point I have to reset the trip meter and do no more than 50 miles before filling again.
Never understood the determination of drivers to have the minimum amount of fuel in their car as possible before filling to the brim.
Never understood why anyone would visit a petrol station more often than they need to.
Nothing more annoying than being behind a queue of drivers who've taken the car out for a spin and are topping off with about £3 worth of petrol.
Frankly, I think it's an accomplishment to turn up at the station with the needle bent over the little peg that it rests on and the engine misfiring slightly. Have only managed to achieve the perfect balance of actually running out of fuel as I rolled up to the pump once, however.
I'm just happy to put more in the tank than it officially holds. A regular occurrence in my old 406, but I've not yet managed it in the Mondeo - I think it has a bit more range when it says 0 miles to go than I dare risk.
We have an MX5 with no low fuel light. We were driving from Plymouth to Bere Regis on the last quarter of a tank, about 100 miles and were thinking "this is getting VERY low" on the fuel gauge, but there were no petrol stations on that route open at 1am.
Got home thinking the fuel light was broken and had a google to find it doesn't have one- as quite a few people online had found out! Straight to the petrol station half a mile up the road in the morning and lesson learnt.
As for digital gauges, my Skoda has one and it's fine. It tells me how much fuel there is, it also tells me how many miles are left which over reads until you get to the last 150 miles when it gets really pretty accurate. Had it as low as 5 miles once and spent 2 miles shitting myself but that was my fault, not the car's.
Round some of these here parts (and probably similar in Scotlandshire) it might be over 100 km to the next fuel station and with a significant price difference between them, you want to know whether you'll make it.
Still don't see what difference being able to split 1/8ths of a tank makes. Just fill up earlier.
PS thanks for the extra value judgement you tacked onto the end of your post - you didn't have to, but it really helps spread the happiness around! I appreciate it!
"Frankly, I think it's an accomplishment to turn up at the station with the needle bent over the little peg that it rests on and the engine misfiring slightly. Have only managed to achieve the perfect balance of actually running out of fuel as I rolled up to the pump once, however."
ever removed a fuel tank .....
the innards and gizzards on the bottom of the tank aint pretty - its quite a course strainer on the pick up - all that shits now in your filter.
Earlier:
[quote=hot_fiat ]That's a bit of a myth. All fuel tanks pickup from the very bottom of the tank all the time. Makes no difference if you run to empty or not.
Still don't see what difference being able to split 1/8ths of a tank makes. Just fill up earlier.
1/8th of a tank is enough to get to work and back before having fill up. If you use a tank every 5 days then only using 7/8ths of the capacity means filling every 4ish instead. That's a lot of extra trips to the petrol station every year. Stopping early isn't always feasible either. What if you're in a hurry?
Obviously it's not the end of the world but it's still inferior to a proper dial in every way.
I generally know how far it's been since it dropped a notch. Of all the things in my life that are an issue, this doesn't even register. And I'm a fussy bugger.
Perhaps my 'issue' gague is digital and doesn't have fine enough gradations?
My old Landrover S3 'lightweight' had a non working fuel gauge, in typical LR style. Luckily the tank was filled by pulling the drivers seat squab'out and unscrewing a big bung directly on the top of the fuel tank. As long as I could see an inch sloshing about in there, I was happy I had a good 50miles. Always carried a Jerry can though...
Had a 'snatch' LR with a v8 petrol in it at work a couple of years ago. Always ran a bit lumpy as it wasn't looked after well anough to my shame, was in a disused quarry at the end of running a 24hr long airsoft game when it ran out of fuel, in the middle of the biggest, muddiest puddle on the site. The fuel gauge had dropped like a stone from half full to red light in and needle flopping about at the bottom. They left me there for 2 hours until they decided to send the second snatch in for me, got soaked fitting the tow strop as bumper was under water...
Not bothered personally digital vs analogue gauges,GF has Yaris which is 8 segment digital, my Peugeot is analogue but beeps when low along with a flashing icon. I always seem to get to drive to fill up the Yaris as gauge is flashing so not sure how low petrol is!,it can have been driven last with 2 bars showing...then up pops the flashing bar!!. Hmm...