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Old 04-27-2015, 03:36 PM   #8 (permalink)
Zipper 104
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Canada's Wet Coast
Posts: 480
Drives: '13 PW/Frost/Spt/AT
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Duc_Z09 View Post
Look, I drive for an average of maybe 50 miles on a new tank before those dash lights even start gong out. Sometimes the last one lights up when I fill up, sometimes it doesn't. And by the time those lights register that I have half a tank left, I'm always well beyond halfway to the 320 or so miles I usually get before my fuel warning starts kicking in; it's almost comical how quickly that last indicated "half tank" goes away. Those LEDs aren't even close to a linear representation of how much fuel you actually have and basing MPG off of them is a fool's game.

The bottom line is that there are only 2 times that you can be sure of exactly how much fuel is in your Z; when the pump stops you from overfilling and when you stall out from going too far between fill-ups. Everything in between is just a bad guess that I wouldn't put any confidence in whatsoever.
I mentioned the lights only in passing as reference. What the lights showed played no part whatsoever in what I did. I simply filled the tank up at the start of the run letting the nozzle click off a couple of times in an attempt to get as full a tank as I could. I did this on both ends of the 75 mile stretch. If there was a difference in the volume of fuel in the tank in the beginning versus the end, it would have been mere ounces.
That's the only real way to determine actual consumption. Gauge lights and in-car computer are simply fluff. Driving further into the tank would have been preferable for sure but I didn't and don't care. End of story.
I explained what I did to arrive at the numbers I got. They speak for themselves. Like it, or not. That's what they were. I had no hidden agenda.
We all know the 370 is no Toyota Prius, and nor do any of us care.
What I arrived at showed (to my satisfaction anyway) that if you keep your foot out of it, the car is capable of half decent fuel consumption numbers at 60 - 70 mph velocities out on a relatively flat freeway void of much congestion.

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