We got our first 500+ mile tank of gas today! Actually, my wife did. She is probably responsible for 400 of those 500 miles. Nonetheless, I celebrate!

I guess the next step is a 600 mile tank. What's the "record", anyway?

 

The "record" is a factor of three things... MPG, stuffing fuel into the tank... driving until it's ALMOST empty!

The high MPG tips are all over this site.

As for "stuffing", it is possible to fill the tank up to the filler neck. This will give you an additional 1.8 gallons (after first click-off from most pumps). That's a quick 100 miles extra. Some claim it might contaminate the evaporative recovery system with raw fuel, but I've filled to the neck on about eight of my tanks with no troubles.

As for running on fumes... you can easily drive a good 40 - 50 miles past when the last bar goes out on the fuel gauge (that's about 70 - 80 miles past where the fuel light comes on).

Put 'em all together, and you could theoretically get in the mid 800's or better. My best tank was just shy of 700. Just not brave enough to drive more than 20 miles with no fuel bars. Perhaps I'll fill up my trusty old gas can and give it a whirl some day!

 

ana, don't be afraid !!!! I've driven it WELL past 20 miles past no bars, and had no problems. I've driven it I believe somewhere around 60-80 miles past no bars, and still made it to a gas station. So try it someday. I've never been able to eek out more than about 650 or so though. I don't fill it up to the top of the neck. First click, then I round up to the closest quarter.

 

I just checked the database. My highest tank was 674... and I put in 12.4 gallons. That means first click was at about 10.6. I'm guessing I still had another 1.5 gallons in the tank. That was a 53 mpg tank. In theory I could have gone just over 750 miles.

Mexiken... last time I was that low was on I-5 about 150 miles north of LA (in the middle of nowhere) at night. I just couldn't pass that gas station not knowing if I'd make it the 20 miles to the next one! I suppose if I was close to home, with a station on every corner, I'd have been more brave! Again, rumor has it you can actually run out of gas and still drive on the IMA... to limp you to a nearby station.

 

I have several tanks that exceeded 700 miles, but there is one member Papaya that has
several 800 mile tanks and his last one is recorded at 941 miles with a tank at 72.7mpg
using 12.9 gallons of fuel. He or she obviously has overfilled the tanks to acheive
these numbers or the setup for Japanese cars is different then those sold in North America.

 

I would say a realistic record is 700 miles - no offense to Papaya or anyone else who has achieved 900 miles on the tank.

I have consistently gotten around 630 to 640 miles to the tank and usually fill up with one bar left (a couple of times it was no bars). My best tank was about 670 miles, that was driving about 40 miles with no bars left. I don't push it past the typical 630 to 640 range as my daily one way commute is about 80 miles and the gas station I use is on my way home and usually about 10 cents/gallon cheaper than all the other ones.

Of course that is going to change as of Friday I start my new job which is less than 6 miles from my house!

 

The first 500 mile tank is exciting, but wait till you hit the first 600 mile tank. We are just about to do that on our 4th tank as the car is now breaking in a bit. Our tanks so far have been 43, 44.5, 48.5 and our 4th tank is indicating 51.4 mpg at 441 miles. It should be over 52 mpg or 53 mpg calculated as all other tanks have been 1-2 mpg higher when calculating. I have already driven 20 miles after no bars and had over 1 gallon still in the tank. This is a fantastic car!!

 

Wow, 43mpg on your 1st tank!

I am avg 34-35 on my first.

 

Noflash, have you read any of the basics on this site on how to drive the HCH-II? There are many good articles to read. They help a lot, as if you modify some very simple things, it is easy to get mileage over 50. Even if I use full A/C and accelerate quickly, I would still be over 44 with no problem. Pump the tires up to maximum sidewall. I chose 43 psi instead of 44psi to give some extra safety margin. If you use the A/C, drive 1 mile with it off and windows open to cool the car quickly, then set to 86 in Auto for about another mile and then lower till you are comfortable. I only ever use 80 now, as the air is still much cooler than 80 degrees, but the A/C stays on electric only mode with no impact on mpg if you watch your SOC and take advantage of any regen opportunities. Then simply learn how to pop into the low rpm/high mpg modes when possible, manage momentum for hills and then you are there. I don't do any P&G, drafting, or other hypermiling things and am still over 50 now without much effort. I also live in a very hilly area, so learning how to manage hills is a must. I was a bit disappointed initially with the 43, but hung in there as the car broke in and I learned what I was doing. Don't underestimate how much different driving a CVT transmission car is by itself. It is very possible in most circumstances to let off the gas all the way to drop the gear ratio and rpms down further and still maintain speed (or at least stretch out a high mileage situation much longer). You can not be doing 65 mph with a manual or automatic transmission at 1500 rpms unless you are in neutral, lol.

 

OUch - 35 mpg? I've never come close to that. My first tank was 44.8MPG, and since then, my worst is 45.7. I'm getting around 48-50 on my last couple tanks. I'd imagine it would be higher if I drove more highway. The only time I get in the high 30s is if I'm in very tight downtown city traffic, where it's basically impossible to go more than 30 feet before braking again.