damn 19 gallons??
i usually drive till the low gas light comes on and when i fill her up it only takes 15-16 gallons

 

That's what I've noticed... when I drive until the light comes on, I still am only able to get around 15 gallons into the tank. Freaks the wife out... she's scared to death of running out of gas in any car she's in.

Course, if you can still get around 100 miles out of a tank when the light comes on, what's to worry about, right?

I've only used 93 in my '04 since I bought it (Texas)... runs about $1.89 here for Shell's stuff.

 

Thought I was driving on fumes last night as the light had been on for two days and the needle was well under the line, but when I went to fill up with Sunoco 94, only 18.2 gallons were needed for about $37.50. I still don't understand this gas gauge...

 

Most vehicles, when the gauge hits empty and the light comes on, you usually have 2-3 gallons left which are considered as reserves to help you make it to a gas station.

 

when my light goes on, i know i have 4 gallons left. it's been consistent. i drive a little after the light comes on and still only fill up about 17 gallons (this is after maybe 20-30 miles of add'l driving). as for 93 octane? there's a few 76 stations around that had 100? too damn expensive. last i recall (3 yrs ago) it was around $4.5/gal.

 

I laughed my *** off when I saw the title of this thread

 

WHAT?!?! Where did you get that BS information? The 91 or 93 you see is the octane rating, which is a calculation of the fuel's energy. It is NOT a percentage of gas (racing fuel is over 100 octane).

Yes, CA does require special gas formulation for emissions reasons, but I have read that it doesn't really work. The oxygenated fuel contains more oxygen to promote fuller combustion, but in essence, you have less energy in the fuel and it lowers the gas/air ratio. Less energy from the gas means not as much power coming out of your engine, which makes you dip into your throttle a little bit more and fuel economy goes down.

 

I still don't understand this statement.

 

I really haven't run it too low. I probably haven't put much more than 15 gallons in.

 

That makes zero sense.

 

Not exactly. The octane rating is a measurement of how resistant to detonation a fuel is. In other words, how much input energy is required to cause combustion. The higher the octane, the more input energy is required to get it burn, so a hot spot on the cylinder head is less likely to cause the air fuel charge of 93 octane to explode prematurely.

We have oxgenated gas in Chicago in the winter. 93 octane. I don't know why California doesn't have 93 octane, but I bet the level of oxygenation has nothing to do with it. We also have 10% ethynol...corn alcohol!

 

We do have a 20 US gallon tank.
I accidently left my fillup too long once last summer and put in 75 liters. The tank holds 76 (by the book).
So I know how far mine will go down. It will vary from ride to ride tho.
You really don't want to run it out due to potential damage to the pump.

 

Originally Posted by RussB
it's not emissions that prevents us from having 93 here in cali. it's the % of cars requiring premium on the roads out here, there's too many of them.


RussB.......You need a beer to put the flames out.

 

thats so weird!! i filled up with aviation fuel once when my dad was filling up his plane 100LL damn does it make a difference in power, im temped to start putting 106 in but its like $5.5/g

 

100LL? In your G? I don't recommend doing that again. I occasionally put 100LL in my bike, but it doesn't have any emissions hardware on it...just straight pipes.

The lead in the avgas will damage your catalytic converter at the very least.

It would be great to go back to leaded fuel...so much better for the car. damn EPA!