[CottyGee]

Wow. Lemme tell ya, I was GLAD my 300C has MDS on Saturday.

Like a dolt, I took off down I-10 on a roadtrip Saturday morning without filling up. I got so busy with trying to remember everyone's stuff, etc. that I just forgot about it, after having thought about it once.

Well, we're haulin' down I-10, about 75 miles out of town, and the car makes this single "ding". I'm searching, trying to figure out what the "ding" was all about, when I see it. The amber gas pump icon, illuminated.

I about soiled myself on the spot. We pulled over, and consulted the navigation system, which said the nearest gas station was 47 miles - back the other direction. About this time, Officer McGruff comes up, with his hand on his service automatic weapon, and asks in a surly tone of voice, "Why are you pulled over?".

I explain the situation, and he says there's a filling station back the other direction 32 miles, and that it's 7 miles to the next exit to turn around.

Some quick calculations reveal that I'm hosed. And Officer Friendly is in no mood to offer to help me out in any way, shape or form, by say, allowing me to illegally cross the median divider to save 14 miles...

Well, I check, and the car says it's got 19 miles to empty. Damn!!! So, I put the car on cruise control, and reset the MPG calculator. Driving 60 MPH, I'm getting 28 MPG. Hmm... Not good enough.

So after a few miles, with the "remaining miles" indicator ticking steadily down, I reduce speed to 55 MPH. DAMN!!!! And the EVIC says I'm getting 36 MPG!!!

Long story short, we made it, filled up with some of the most expensive fuel I've ever been grateful to buy, and were on our merry way. FWIW, the EVIC said we had 1 mile remaining when we pulled up to the pump.

You really gotta love a 340 horsepower car that weighs in excess of 4,000 pounds that is able to squeeze 36 miles out of a gallon of fuel when it really counts!!!

 

[ChuckG]

Liked your story. 36MPG......not bad, not bad at all.

I had a similar situation one time. I was driving home from Indy a couple of years ago. I'm out in the middle of Indiana and there is nothing but corn and soybean fields and no gas stations. And I needed gas...and right now. All of a sudden there it was, an exit one mile ahead.

I get off the interstate and there are no gas stations, but a sign that says some town one mile down the road. So here I go.

I get to this town out in the middle of nowhere and there it was....GAS! I pull in and check my EVIC and my distance to empty was a big fat 0.

What I'm saying is I know what was going through your mind. It's not fun.

 

[AndyK]

CottyGee:

How many gallons did you put in to fill it up?

 

[cmego]

So 55 doesn't just save lives?

 

[Krock43]

Is there a " reserve " on this car. I've heard for years that cars have a built in reserve after the needle hits " E ".

 

[Nolmscheid]

When my Dodge Durango says I have 0 miles until I am empty, There is usually around 2-3 gallons left in the tank I beleive. I can drive quite a ways on E. I have had those same days where you just are not paying attention. Luckly in the area I live there is a station every 5 feet.

 

[Billy94Z]

I have noticed there is 1.5 to 2 gallons left when gas light comes on and easter egg shows you how full gas tank is. I noticed 1 side was on 0 and the other side read like 7 or 8. I note manual shows our tank is 19 gallons. I have gone 20 miles past the gas light or a little more and still havent put in 19 gallons but Friday I put in 18.5

 

[Vanilla]

I was in a similar situations driving back from the Grand Canyon. (There are some serious opportunities to open a new gas station out west for anyone interested...)

In any case, I was sweating bullets at about mid-night in the middle of nowhere when the gas got low. But, I was towing, and I was averaging 15mpg...

The point of my story is that I found a gas station and my Nav said I had 4 miles left to empty when I pulled in, but the car only took about 17 gallons, out of the stated 19 gallon capacity....A lot of stress for nothing...

 

[II kings 9:20]

Great story, I got 27.5 at a steady 70 fully loaded. Bet you won't pull a stunt like that any time soon.

 

[flt505]

CottyGee,
Did you turn OFF the A/C compressor to get that number?
If not, it may have gone even higher as I've heard that the A/C compressor
takes about 2 or 3 MPG, can anyone confirm?

 

[CottyGee]

CottyGee:

How many gallons did you put in to fill it up?

Good question, AndyK! It woulda been better if'n I had give y'all that info int he post...

18.4 gallons.

CottyGee,
Did you turn OFF the A/C compressor to get that number?

Yes - A/C off. Thankfully, it's cooled off here in the Arizona desert!

 

[kcrnmale]

I was driving from Cleveland to NYC on interstate 80. I was driving an older continental with my girlfriend at the time. As I got close to the New Jersey border, I needed gas but wanted to make it to NJ on "one tank of gas". Right before the NJ border there were many gas stations-as soon as I crossed over into Jersey there were none! I was in the boondocks and it was 2AM. My EVIC slowly dwindled down to zero and I was *&%$ my pants. I can't remember how-but I found an open gas station several miles off the highway. All this because of my ego!

 

[II kings 9:20]

CottyGee,
Did you turn OFF the A/C compressor to get that number?
If not, it may have gone even higher as I've heard that the A/C compressor
takes about 2 or 3 MPG, can anyone confirm?

The a/c has virtually no effect on MPG on the freeway though I too would turn it off if in a pickle like CG. I went to Indy in June for the F1 race and got 25.2 going with no a/c and 25.0 on the return with a/c. Both legs were b/t 70 and 80 mph. There is one item that is worth at least 3-4 mpg and that is the cruise control. I now have 3500 miles mostly road trips and the cruise makes a huge difference.

 

[Hemi57]

II kings 9:20, some say that Cruise will give you worse consumption due to the fact that it throttles up to maintain speed climbing hills, whereas if you were controlling the throttle you may tend to let the speed drop down a bit.

Either way, I have not picked up much difference.

 

[CottyGee]

On flat ground, I think cruise control SHOULD make a difference on this car. The cruise is much more steady than my foot. And then you've gotta factor in the MDS and whether or not slight changes in throttle position - like those from a foot - will set the MDS off when maybe it didn't need to be.

Just a thought...

 

[mspeasl]

Good question...

18.4 gallons.

Gang,

A piece of advice. Don’t ever let your gas get down that low or run out. At just over 1/2 gallon of gas left in the tank your shorting the life of your fuel pump. It will fail earlier than it ever should. But trust me, it will be after your warranty has expired and then it will cost you several hundred dollars to replace. These new pumps (last 13/14 years) are in the tank and are very high speed and they need the fuel to cool them. If it happens very many times your pump will crap out even earlier. Just a word to the wise.