flitcroft

(In advance, I know this has been asked before. Please jsut hit your back button if it bothers you. Thanks )

1) What range does everyone normally get on a tank before the gas light comes on? I can't ever seem to get past 225 in the city and 250 on a full highway tank.

2) Is there a fix for the assine fuel guage to increase its accuracy? I can't understand why my gas light comes on when the bars indicate 20% fuel left. This seems to have gotten worse over time too.

Intrepid175

Hi Flitcroft,

Mileage on the S2000's does seem to be a bit variable. To state the obvious, how you drive the car is about the biggest factor in what kind of mileage you get.

I've got a MY04 and I keep a mileage log on my car. I've run into the low fuel light four times in the four months I've owned the car and I've been anywhere from 278.3 to 286.3 miles each time. Without going into the low fuel light I generally average around 250 miles on a tank, give or take 20 miles or so. My lowest gas mileage reading to date has been 23.8 mpg and the highest has been 29.2 mpg. I don't generally push the car hard although I do VTEC it two to three times per tank, on average. Some tanks I'll VTEC more and others not at all. I also live at sea level in some of the flattest country around. I'm leaving on my first long trim in the car next Wednesday and am curious to see what my mileage will be on nothing but freeway driving.

As for the fuel gauge, it sounds like typical Honda by my experience. My car takes right at 11 gallons if I fill up right after the low fuel light comes on. That's spot on the 20% you mention. I've got a MY01 Odyssey minivan that usually takes 15 gallons to fill up when the low fuel light comes on and that's with a 20 gallon tank so the van's low fuel warning comes on with a solid 25% of tank capacity remaining. I don't know about the S2000 but the Odyssey's fuel tank is long and relatively shallow. Since the fuel pump is in the fuel tank and relies on the fuel itself as a coolant, it's been speculated that Honda deliberately calibrates the low fuel light to come on early to encourage the driver to fill up and "maybe" protect the fuel pump a little better that way.

All I know is that both my Honda's are consistent about when the low fuel light comes on and as long as they stay that way, I don't have a problem with it.

FWIW!

Drive Safe,
Steve R.

flitcroft

Thanks for the reply. That's an interesting point about cooling. I wasn't aware of that.

Maybe I'm a chicken then because I always fill up at two bars. What's odd is that now the fuel light is on every time and I'm getting the same miles per tank and filling up with 10 gallons on the dot. (That answered another question -- I could go another 20 miles per tank if you're putting in 11 gallons at the pump). For the first year or so I never saw the fuel light. Now, it shows every time I need to fill up, often with 9 - 9.5 gallons from full. I know it's a common problem on the board but it's still troubling when it appears for the first time on a $30k+ car that is babied and only got driven 6,800 miles in its first year.

r_duff

i also noticed that when driving uphill, the gauge shows less gas, and downhill, the gauge shows more gas. Obviously due to sensor position. I have driven over 30 miles on an empty tank on the freeway, though (when the gauge shows 0).

temin

Driving from Boston to Detroit a few years back, I went about 330 miles on a single tank in upstate New York on a cool September night.

Typically, 200-260 miles in mixed city/highway.