howdy,
Wondered if anyone knew but its something thats been bugging me. ive got a mk1 mx5 so no low fuel light to guide me but just how many miles can you generally get once the guage is on the empty mark?
i could find out but dont fancy running out of petrol trying tbh [:)]
Iām told youāre supposed toĀ have 6 litres left when the needle is on the Empty line of the gauge.Ā
I drove home today (about 25 miles) with the gauge already on empty, and the needle was in the middle of the letter āEā by the timeĀ I got to the Shell station near home.Ā Put 43Ā½ litres in, so I had about 4Ā½ litres spare. (Mk.1 1.8 has a 48 litre tank, 1.6 has a 45 litre tank).
Ā cool, thatāll help when i need to pinch a few āemptyā miles [:)]
I thought that my 95 MK1 had a 50lt tank.[:^)]
I can normally get about 220-230 miles out of a tank.
I usually just fill up again when I get to about 200 miles.
It may be able to go a bit further but iāve never risked it.
My last tankful lasted 320 miles!
No, thatās not normal. Most of that was my better half driving all the way from Hemel to Telford and back. She always gets better mpg than me. 
I wouldnāt know. I always try and re-fill both of my cars once they get down to 1/2 full and certainly would not let it drop below a 1/3. I have run out of petrol in the early 80ās as a young driver with limited funds but there is no excuse these days.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />Ā ĀThatās a bit overcautious, donāt you think?Ā I mean, youāre carrying around 4 or 5 gallons of petrol you never use.
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Well, i have to run mine from full down to empty as visiting a petrol station is one of my pet hates [:@]
Indeed, it must cost a lot over a lifetime in wasted fuel due to carrying extra weight.
Also, there will be a lot of debris/crud collecting in the tank, which could cause a problem if it is ever run down.
At the end of the day, they fit a guageĀ so you donāt have that problem! Ā
It may seem over cautious but there are times when I am unexpectedly called back to work or a hospital etc. so the last thing I need is to worry if I have enough fuel or time to make a detour to get some petrol. My Toyota is a big 4x4 that only does 16mpg so it can get through half a tank of fuel quite rapidly.
The MX5 is a second car and is on a 3,000 mile classic limited policy, so when I take it out it is something I have pre- planned to do and not because I have had to dash off in a hurry. Granted I could run the tank down a lot further, but I have gotten into the habit of refilling @ 1/2 empty. You never know when you might get stuck in heavy traffic.
As regards gunk in the bottom of the tank, well assuming that there is any, it shouldnāt get picked up unless I run the tank really low and then the fuel filter should catch it. Seeing as I have not run out of fuel in over 25 years I donāt think it will be a problem. I have rebuilt a number of classics in the past and I canāt say that I have found much gunk in the tanks when they have been taken off the car or bike.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />Ā ĀĀ does anyone else find having to stop and put fuel in the biggest bug bear ever?? not the cost I just mean the inconvenienceā¦ i constantly put Ā£10 in as Im tight and this means stopping even more which I hate!!!
Ā
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Yes, a complete and utter pain in the ā ā ā ā !
Wish my tank was bigger so I could fill up less often [:@]
Not really a problemā¦ I have not driven the 5 for nearly two weeks and it is over a month since I last put petrol in its tank.
As regards putting in Ā£10 at a timeā¦ most people know how many miles they need to cover in a given week / month, certainly if they use the car for work, so why not just fill it up? it will not cost you any Ā more and you will save time on those extra trips to the petrol station.
Ā
Ā
Here here
Ā I keep my 5 full to stop rust in the tank when it is not being used, I fill the company car when it is on fumes (Ā£100 2 or 3 times a week!)
Surely running your tank down to the last few litres carries more risk of sucking up debris from the bottom, also only ever putting Ā£10 worth of petrol into an otherwise empty tank invites internal tank corrosion. I normally keep my cars between full and one quarter full.
The fuel pickup is at the bottom of the tank. It always sucks up fuel from the bottom.
ā¦thatās why you find so little muck in the bottom- itās already been hoovered up and filtered out 
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