Story of Gas

michael33r

michael33r

New member
So here's a funny story about my gas in my 97 4Runner. Yesterday, my gas light came on and I kept driving like I always do. I can usually go another day or two if I want to. I ended up driving a lot more than I usually would last night and this morning when I started it up to go to work I could tell it was almost wanting to die. I went to the nearest gas station with it dying a few times, rolled into the gas station as it completely died. I went 341 miles on that tank which was all city driving. I got 19.75 MPG! :D What's your story about gas/gas mileage?
 
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How many gallons did it take to fill it back up? The most I've ever put in mine was 15.3, and it had been on empty for a while.


My car has a small tank, and doesn't get great gas mileage the way it's tuned, so when I'm on a road trip I generally try to get the most out of each tank to minimize fuel stops.

The car has a "Miles to empty" display that's really accurate, and has about half a gallon of safety factor built in. Last Thanksgiving I was driving from FL to VA to visit the family, and got the low fuel indicator with 30 miles left. I looked on my GPS for stations along my route, and found one 6 miles out and one about 26 miles out. I decided to go for it, even though it was late at night and I was in a rural area in NC. I made it to the station with no problem, but it had gone out of business. The next nearest station was another 7 or 8 miles away. I ended up making it, but I learned my lesson picking exists that only have one station.
 
Here is mine, our fuel pumps are tough and rarely need changed however when they do need changed they tend to be a real pain in the ass. So i fill up every other day since I tend to stop at the Shell station daily for either coffee or a monster. So i almost never have my fuel light come on and honestly can only remember it coming on once. I average 100-125 miles before getting gas.
 
Story of gas? Independent of what type of car? Ok...

I used to own a 2000 Civic Si, with some basic mods. Lowered 1", I/E, front air dam/spoiler. I was driving across the country and wanted to see how fast it would go. In SD on I-90, I found a very straight/level stretch of highway, clear day, no cars around. I figured, I would keep the gas pedal down until the engine reached the fuel cut-off, and then I would know the top speed of the car...

I had been driving along at [the speed limit] for quite a while, even with the cruise control set at [the speed limit] for some time. The redline for that car is 8,000 rpms and fuel cut off is supposed to be at 8,250 rpms. I reached 8,300 rpms with the speedo showing [the speed limit] and kept my foot down for another 20 seconds or so. After just a little time, the tach was showing about 8,800 rpms and I was going [the speed limit]. Shocked, I let off the gas right away, not wanting to break the car in the middle of nowhere in SD. For reference, gas stations were at least 40 miles apart (from what I remember). My gas was below 1/4, so I slowed down to... the speed limit ;) and started looking for a station. Time passed and the gas light came on. I slowed down to 60, which I think was 10 under the speed limit. More miles and I'm seeing the needle below the red for gas. I slowed down to 50 and crested a hill. As I crested the hill, there was a cop car in the breakdown lane, moving along slowly, maybe 30-40 mph. I passed by him and he immediately sped up, got behind me, and then passed me to keep going :) I made it to the next gas station. With a gas tank that holds 11.9 gallons, I pumped 12.009 gallons.

I did some reading later and found out that the fuel cut off does not function when in the top gear in that car. However, I was able to discover that my Civic Si would reach [the speed limit].
 
I recently picked mine up from a forum member here, and I got about 20 mpg from northern Alabama to the outskirts of Louisville KY. I checked today on my fill up and over the last tank I averaged 18mpg on my drive to and from work, which is mostly rural roads.
 
jeremyc74 said:
How many gallons did it take to fill it back up? The most I've ever put in mine was 15.3, and it had been on empty for a while.


My car has a small tank, and doesn't get great gas mileage the way it's tuned, so when I'm on a road trip I generally try to get the most out of each tank to minimize fuel stops.

The car has a "Miles to empty" display that's really accurate, and has about half a gallon of safety factor built in. Last Thanksgiving I was driving from FL to VA to visit the family, and got the low fuel indicator with 30 miles left. I looked on my GPS for stations along my route, and found one 6 miles out and one about 26 miles out. I decided to go for it, even though it was late at night and I was in a rural area in NC. I made it to the station with no problem, but it had gone out of business. The next nearest station was another 7 or 8 miles away. I ended up making it, but I learned my lesson picking exists that only have one station.
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It took 17.265 gallons. And my tank is 18.5 gallons. I always wondered how far I could really go on one tank. I'd say 341 miles is pretty amazing for that many gallons. And for it being an SUV.
 
All these impressive mpg numbers make me sad :(

Best I have ever gotten in my 4Runner (stock 99 with e-locker, so 4.30 gear ratio vs 4.10) is 19.3. This was all interstate, cruise set at 80, two big passes to climb (one of which is the continental divide). I usually keep it around 65 on the big hills. By the time I rolled in to Butte, the low fuel light was on at 250 miles give or take, and I filled up with 12.x gallons. Keep in mind I did a full tune up before this trip, with spark plugs, wires, tb and maf cleaned, TRD tb gasket, air filter, fuel filter, and front o2 sensor.

My usually interstate average is below 18, like 17.8 or so. Around town I get low 15s, but my daily drive to work is less than a mile. I saw high 22s once when I drove from Red Lodge to Butte in the worst blizzard I've ever seen, 4wd all the way, top speed was maybe 50. My girlfriend was following me in her 95 civic dx, so I couldn't go too fast without her getting too uncomfortable.

In highschool, I had a 95 GMC Suburban. 275k miles, burned up to 3 quarts of oil between changes, and regularly got between 6 and 8 mpg. Cost well over $150 to fill the 42 gallon tank :( the water pump went out on me right after graduation, so I replaced it along with the thermostat and listed it for sale. Lo and behold, my last tank after the water pump job, I got 13 mpg :mmph:
 
willhaman21 said:
All these impressive mpg numbers make me sad :(

Best I have ever gotten in my 4Runner (stock 99 with e-locker, so 4.30 gear ratio vs 4.10) is 19.3. This was all interstate, cruise set at 80, two big passes to climb (one of which is the continental divide). I usually keep it around 65 on the big hills. By the time I rolled in to Butte, the low fuel light was on at 250 miles give or take, and I filled up with 12.x gallons. Keep in mind I did a full tune up before this trip, with spark plugs, wires, tb and maf cleaned, TRD tb gasket, air filter, fuel filter, and front o2 sensor.

My usually interstate average is below 18, like 17.8 or so. Around town I get low 15s, but my daily drive to work is less than a mile. I saw high 22s once when I drove from Red Lodge to Butte in the worst blizzard I've ever seen, 4wd all the way, top speed was maybe 50. My girlfriend was following me in her 95 civic dx, so I couldn't go too fast without her getting too uncomfortable.

In highschool, I had a 95 GMC Suburban. 275k miles, burned up to 3 quarts of oil between changes, and regularly got between 6 and 8 mpg. Cost well over $150 to fill the 42 gallon tank :( the water pump went out on me right after graduation, so I replaced it along with the thermostat and listed it for sale. Lo and behold, my last tank after the water pump job, I got 13 mpg :mmph:
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I think your mpg is about average. One thing with my 4Runner is that I just put a JDM engine in it with 50,000 miles on it. The 4Runner itself has 278,000 miles on it though. I use a gas mileage tracking app and my average is around 18.5 mpg which is almost all city driving. Lots of stopping and going. I have the 4.10 rear end and a manual transmission so my highway driving doesn't change that much from my city driving. Going 75 mph the rpms are just below 3,000. One thing that I did find a little crazy about this last tank was that I actually spent a lot of time kind of romping it hard and racing people. Part of the time I was nearly flooring it letting the rmps go up to 4,500 just having some fun. They say you get the most accurate mpg reading if you run your gas tank all the way down though so I'd say running out of gas coasting into the station would give a pretty accurate reading. :lookout:
 
michael33r said:
I think your mpg is about average. One thing with my 4Runner is that I just put a JDM engine in it with 50,000 miles on it. The 4Runner itself has 278,000 miles on it though. I use a gas mileage tracking app and my average is around 18.5 mpg which is almost all city driving. Lots of stopping and going. I have the 4.10 rear end and a manual transmission so my highway driving doesn't change that much from my city driving. Going 75 mph the rpms are just below 3,000. One thing that I did find a little crazy about this last tank was that I actually spent a lot of time kind of romping it hard and racing people. Part of the time I was nearly flooring it letting the rmps go up to 4,500 just having some fun. They say you get the most accurate mpg reading if you run your gas tank all the way down though so I'd say running out of gas coasting into the station would give a pretty accurate reading. :lookout:
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Racing??
 
In my 93' integra I tried stretching it and ended up dying in the pretty far from home. The light wasn't coming on until I was 5-10 miles until empty. Wife didn't think it was funny driving 20min to deliver me gas. I was 7miles from the gas station.
My first calculation on my 3rd gen it shows I'm getting 15mpg city. I think I got the gallons mixed up so currently redoing it. I filled to 15.2 my last fill up.
 
Here is the one that gets me - we had a 2005 V8 4Runner with the 5-speed auto and it got 28 MPG on road trips. Heavier and two more cylinders and it beat the pants off my 3rd gen. Still miss that rig for everything but offroad capabilities.
 
geohil said:
Here is the one that gets me - we had a 2005 V8 4Runner with the 5-speed auto and it got 28 MPG on road trips. Heavier and two more cylinders and it beat the pants off my 3rd gen. Still miss that rig for everything but offroad capabilities.
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Wow that's impressive. I see in your profile pic though you upgraded to a 5th gen. I love the look of the newest version of the 5th gens. They look a lot like a 3rd gen and sit high like a 3rd gen, unlike the 4th gen. The face on the newest 5th gen really looks mean also. I'd love to get a 5th gen eventually.
 
I know what you mean. I'm pissed when only get 39 mpg in my CT200h but happy when I get 42.

As far as the 4Runner goes .... sadly I only get 14.5 - 16.5 CITY/HWY. But that is actually very very close to what the Govt rates this vehicle at which is 15/17 for the V6 4WD.
 
Last night I had grilled mahi mahi tacos for dinner with beef barbacoa nachos as an appetizer,was pretty surprised I didn't get gas.

I also owned a 2000 Si,no gas stories. Sold it for $5k more than I bought it for,6 months into the new ownership it was stolen and never recovered.

4Runner-related, I've driven well over 340 miles on a full tank several times, mostly highway. Just search my old posts,I won't bore you with the details here.
 
Ed_C said:
Last night I had grilled mahi mahi tacos for dinner with beef barbacoa nachos as an appetizer,was pretty surprised I didn't get gas.

I also owned a 2000 Si,no gas stories. Sold it for $5k more than I bought it for,6 months into the new ownership it was stolen and never recovered.

4Runner-related, I've driven well over 340 miles on a full tank several times, mostly highway. Just search my old posts,I won't bore you with the details here.
Click to expand...

$5k MORE than you bought it for? That's impressive. I bought my Si with 8,200 miles in 2000 for $16,000. I sold it in 2014 with 105,000 miles for $8,200. Luckily, mine was never stolen.

To keep this gas-related... I also drove a '93 Civic DX for a commuter. I would keep the tires pumped up to 40 psi :) It had an 11.9 gallon gas tank. I once babied it into a gas station, just praying that it wouldn't die on me. The odometer read 510 miles for that tank. I pumped gas and it clicked off at 9.99 gallons :D
 
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