Distance to Empty - Page 2

apstar · 08-10-2008, 08:14 PM

Silly question,why would you allow your tank to get down that low in the first place are you trying to see how much you can get out of a full tank or is it that you are trying to stretch the $$$ further by filling only when necessary ?

apstar

cammag · 09-10-2008, 12:40 AM

I always worry about letting the fuel get that low in the tank.

Firstly, the tank maybe 71l but how much of that is usable.

Secondly, you just don't know if or how much muck there is on the bottom of your tank. This can cause a constriction/blockage of fuel lines or other damage along the fuel system. This is even more important for the TDCi owners.

I use my fuel gauge. The DTE is just a guide for me.

wjf · 09-10-2008, 12:28 PM

I dont see how you save $$$, you're just delaying the inevtiable so thats not the reason.

I tend to fill up when the light comes on which in previous cars was around 50 to 60 kms to go. After this recalibration the fuel light now appears to come on around 50 to 60 kms to go so I cant really complain about that.

I love my Mondeo, best car I've owned by a mile, but my previous car the Mazda6 was very good at prediciting DTE and I guess I got used to it.

Dusty1 · 24-12-2008, 12:10 PM

Distance to empty, just after a fill up.

wjf · 07-01-2009, 04:11 PM

Dusty, you and I are both driving around the Melbourne western suburbs IIRC, if you tell me you get anything close to 1100kms out of a tank of fuel then I will need to hang myself.

I keep reading on these fourms about our fellow Mondeo drivers getting 900 or 1000kms out of a tank and wish I was out in the country or up on the coast somewhere!!!

apstar · 07-01-2009, 04:25 PM

I think that reading of Dusty must be filling up after a long trip! on long trips I can magically get free diesel from the heavens e.g. DTE 650km after a fill up in the city to 1100km DTE after the long hiway trip

apstar

scribbly · 07-01-2009, 05:21 PM

Crikey Dusty, I hope you were driving safely. Taking a picture at 70kmh looks a little hairy to me.

NZ XR6 · 07-01-2009, 07:55 PM

The DTE in mine is scarily accurate. I filled it when it was reading 45 km, and the tank took 65 litres! So I think I will refuel when the low fuel light comes on.

Dusty1 · 08-01-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wjf

Dusty, you and I are both driving around the Melbourne western suburbs IIRC, if you tell me you get anything close to 1100kms out of a tank of fuel then I will need to hang myself.

I keep reading on these fourms about our fellow Mondeo drivers getting 900 or 1000kms out of a tank and wish I was out in the country or up on the coast somewhere!!!

I've been doing a few trips to Geelong, so it's basically straight down Geelong Road and onto the freeway and off at Fyansford My last fill up saw me do 785 kms. Pretty happy with that.

That photo was probably 70 kms after I filled up. I've got others at 100 kms, which freaked the boss out a bit. The N95 does a pretty decent job of photos.

NZ XR6 · 17-01-2009, 05:43 AM

Was driving back into Auckland from the south yesterday. The DTE said about 65 km when the low fuel light came on. I drove up the Bombay Hills (about 3 km)and the DTE dropped to 25 km! The car's due for it's first service next month, so I'll ask them to look into this.

And then after I filled up, it was reading 860 km DTE after 20 km on the motorway cruising at 110 km/h! Is this a record for a petrol Mondeo?

bathurst77 · 17-01-2009, 11:48 AM

I have seen over 950 showing briefly on my zetec. But I really only get about 700-750.

ian b · 18-01-2009, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NZ XR6

Was driving back into Auckland from the south yesterday. The DTE said about 65 km when the low fuel light came on. I drove up the Bombay Hills (about 3 km)and the DTE dropped to 25 km! The car's due for it's first service next month, so I'll ask them to look into this.

And then after I filled up, it was reading 860 km DTE after 20 km on the motorway cruising at 110 km/h! Is this a record for a petrol Mondeo?

The DTE is calculated on the real time fuel usage and tank contents.

If you are driving on a level road the real time fuel usage will be low, but when you climb a gradient the real time fuel usage will rise. Therefore the same fuel level could give you differing DTE numbers if you are driving in different conditions as it is simply a multiple of fuel use by fuel in the tank.

As a previous member said it simply tells you if you keep driving this way, this is as far as you will get.

To satisfy yourself watch the DTE drop if you drive hard or hold the gear lower than you normally would or rise as you drive if you take it easy.

To demonstrate I have seen a DTE reading of 1200kms after filling up halfway down the GWH from the Blue Mountains because I am running in 6th but with hardly any throttle so the real time fuel use is low and available fuel is high. I can see the numbers increase as I drive along!
Going uphill on the same road sees the reverse occur when the DTE drops by more than the kms travelled.

I treat the DTE reading as a bit of a toy and rely on the gauge to tell me when to fill.

NZ XR6 · 18-01-2009, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian b

The DTE is calculated on the real time fuel usage and tank contents.

If you are driving on a level road the real time fuel usage will be low, but when you climb a gradient the real time fuel usage will rise. Therefore the same fuel level could give you differing DTE numbers if you are driving in different conditions as it is simply a multiple of fuel use by fuel in the tank.

As a previous member said it simply tells you if you keep driving this way, this is as far as you will get.

To satisfy yourself watch the DTE drop if you drive hard or hold the gear lower than you normally would or rise as you drive if you take it easy.

To demonstrate I have seen a DTE reading of 1200kms after filling up halfway down the GWH from the Blue Mountains because I am running in 6th but with hardly any throttle so the real time fuel use is low and available fuel is high. I can see the numbers increase as I drive along!
Going uphill on the same road sees the reverse occur when the DTE drops by more than the kms travelled.

I treat the DTE reading as a bit of a toy and rely on the gauge to tell me when to fill.

Thanks for your reply. But I've never seen the DTE change like this with other cars. My previous lease car was a XR6, and the DTE was very stable by the time it dropped to less than 100 km. It's just crazy to drive up a hill, which isn't that steep, and have the DTE drop from 65 km to 25 km over a few km. As you say, the DTE reading is essentially useless, and the low fuel light is not much better as there's only about 5l left in the tank when it comes on.

Anyway, I'll ask for the DTE to be looked at when the car is serviced as it appears there may be a software update to resolve this issue.

bathurst77 · 20-01-2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NZ XR6

Thanks for your reply. But I've never seen the DTE change like this with other cars..

The DTE ranges around, depending on how hard your driving at teh time and how full the tank is as IanB said.
IT was the same on my BA, it was an pprocximate thing and would range around.

On both cars I have seen it move between about 50K down to single digits and back again in the space ofa few minutes. And when the tank is about 3/4 full, both cars gave stupidly high numbers, that dropped back to reality when the tank got to about 1/4.

They are only a guestimate, both cars were the same.
If you want to be sure, go by the needle gauge.

NZ XR6 · 20-01-2009, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bathurst77

The DTE ranges around, depending on how hard your driving at teh time and how full the tank is as IanB said.
IT was the same on my BA, it was an pprocximate thing and would range around.

On both cars I have seen it move between about 50K down to single digits and back again in the space ofa few minutes. And when the tank is about 3/4 full, both cars gave stupidly high numbers, that dropped back to reality when the tank got to about 1/4.

They are only a guestimate, both cars were the same.
If you want to be sure, go by the needle gauge.

The DTE on my XR6 was far more stable than on the Mondeo.

I'll ask the dealer to check this when it's serviced next month.

Dusty1 · 21-01-2009, 02:50 PM

I don't trust them, and use them only as a guide. Been caught out a couple of times previously, so once it gets to a quarter, I fill up.

cneave · 22-01-2009, 01:31 PM

A first post so be kind

I have a May 2008 build TDCI hatch. Did a Sydney Melbourne return trip last week watching DTE very carefully.

Bottom line it did a very sound job on highway driving. After about a 100 Ks into the trip to get rid of the city driving experience it always showed a total distance of the tank to be about 1150 ks. (fluctuated +- by about 30ks during the trip)

Refilled at ~ 1000ks and both times it took about 63 litres which by rough calculations would have been about 1111 ks if I had gone to empty

reasonably pleased with the DTE gauge and the fuel usage

apstar · 22-01-2009, 01:46 PM

And you get much better results using the cruise control as it uses fuel injection to control the speed unlike the old cable system on the accelerator peddle

apstar

cneave · 22-01-2009, 03:40 PM

interesting - cruise control is also a good way to keep ones licence

Dusty1 · 23-01-2009, 09:55 AM

That's great economy.

On a trip to Mildura in May, I found that once I went at 110 kms the economy went down hill pretty fast.

cneave · 23-01-2009, 02:37 PM

I went at 110 kms the economy went down hill pretty fast.

I did my first Melbourne trip in July and convinced myself the sweet spot for consumption was about 105 km/h (so just under 2000 revs). I am not sure whether the car is run in a little better now (done 11000 ks) or I did the numbers wrong but the vast majority of the time was on cruise control at 110 km/h (set by GPS)

The instant fuel consumption while obviously varying, typically did sit between 5 and 6 l/100k which is what you would expect

very happy with the consumption

bathurst77 · 25-01-2009, 04:22 PM

I had my car serviced last week and they sais they "updated the software for more accuracy as per the recall". I must say that since then the DTE is more erratic.
It seems to vary by about 100Km every 5 to 10 minutes! Previously it was slwoly varied.

I thnk imstarting to see what someof you are complaining about. Its weird now.
All i know is i average 9.4 l/100km on a 70 litre fill is a bout 740 km, i fill when the needle is low.