Soo...I guess that begs the next question
. If I do the math by hand as in I set the trip computer and then just divide that number by hand with the amount of gas I pump, that number is accurate regardless of whether I top off or not right?
If that is true, then it sounds like the car thinks its full when its not or maybe it is when calculating. That sort of sounds like the car doesn't actually calculate how many gallons is actually burned but uses the gas tank display? Using the display sounds even more inaccurate if you fill the tank say always somewhere between E and 1/4. How would the car know if you burned say x.1 or x.2 gallons at the point?
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Originally Posted by CGameProgrammer
So you might drive 500 miles over 15 gallons but the pump shuts off after pumping 14.9, thus making your mileage calculation a bit higher than it really was (33.6 instead of 33.3). In other words you used 15 gallons but you pump 14.9 so you mistakenly think you only used 14.9. But this will be balanced on the next tank since there's less gas in the tank than usual, so you might drive 497 miles over those 14.9 gallons, then pump 15 gallons before shut-off, making it look like you did 497/15 (33.1) when you really did 497/14.9 (33.3) so it balances out.
To sum up, your lifetime mileage will be perfectly accurate but mileage for individual tanks might be off a bit -- slightly high on one tank, then slightly low on the next, balancing out.
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