I just finished off my first tank of gas in my new 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid, and got 496.4 miles on the first tank. My mpg trip indicator was right around 40 (39.9). I was going to go for the famous "500 mile" tank, but chickened out at the last minute. The refuel indicator (yellow gas tank light) came on around 473 miles, with 2 bars still showing on the fuel gauge. The owner's manual says that ~1.9 gallons remain when this light goes on, so I thought I had at least another ~80 miles left and should hit 500 no problem. However, when I hit ~493 miles the two bars had quickly gone to ZERO and there were no bars showing anymore on the fuel gauge. Then I got worried, and pulled over on the next exit to refuel. When I re-fueled, the pump stopped at 10.6 gallons, so I was thinking, if the tank holds 12.3, maybe I really did have ~1.7 gallons left. But then I decided to "top-off" the tank with another 5-10 pumps and eventually got about 12.4 gallons into the tank. Wha'ts the deal - how many gallons does the tank really hold? Should I top it off? How many gallons really remain when the yellow fuel light indicator comes on?

 

Look at the last page of your Owners Manual, capacities are summarized there. With my '06 it says 12.4 US gallons.

Should you "top off"? Up to you. Personally I stop filling the first time it clicks off. Just my opinion: filling it as much as possible wastes my time, and runs the risk of either spilling gas or clogging/fouling pollution control components connecting at top of filler neck.

When to fill up? Whenever it's convenient, ie: you're kind of low, have some time and are driving by a station, especially one you prefer.

Run the tank near dry in an attempt to break some per-tank record? Just my 2 cents: pointless and risky. Say for example you run dry halfway across a bridge. In the long run this will likely cause you to consume more gas, since you will end up filling at inopportune times, at out-of-the-way locations. That is if you're not walking down the road with a gas tank.

Reading through my posting: didn't mean to totally rain on your parade. Please try to sift through it, but ignore the tone. And, congrats on the new vehicle, you will enjoy it, I guarantee

 

When all the bars are gone, 10.6 to 10.75 gallon is what my '08 normally needs (I too stop filling on the first click). Wait till you find yourself trying for 600 before bars are gone!

 

...or 700

 

I'm ecstatic if we get 700 km's, filling when the warning comes on, or a bit sooner.

The "we" means I don't really put that much mileage on it, and we do a lot of short trips, around town. One man's ceiling...

 

I got 800 km out of my 2009 yesterday and had 2 bars left. I got 69 MPG (imperial for the tank) think thats 53 MPG US. or 4.0L per 100 km

 

Fuelmiser, that sounds about right. I've got ours below 4.0 very occasionally, say directly after tanking up and resetting the trip odometer, on the drive home. But a few cold starts and short trips later and it's back in the 5.5~6.0 range.

 

Mendel, I live in Port Coquitlam and commute into Vancouver. I take Lougheed through Port Moody and Barnet up to Hastings. Once i get up to Hasting the drive into town is very economical I can hit 3.5 ish on that part of my commute. Coming home same thing once i get up onto the higher part of Hastings. I manage to hold 4.3L indicated through my hole tank , when i check it on the manual calculation it is 4.0-4.2 L per 100 kms usually.

Although this last tank is in the Gutter with heavy Use of A/C with this weather, I am averaging 4.9L per 100 so far.

 

Westbound on Hastings seems to have synced traffic lights, and for the most part (apart from a climb around the Shell Refinery) is downhill. I find it a very satisfying drive: seems like you can get all the way to the PNE with your foot off the gas

Our situation is quite a bit different. My wife is driving mostly, doing multiple short trips over the course of the day. She keeps an eye on the gauges and tries, but it's pretty hard with short stop-and-go.

At least with short trips she doesn't bother with air conditioning, not that often anyway. There's not much point if you're going 1~2 km's, it's just frustrating, starting to cool about the time you get to your destination.

Our weekend excursions improve the mileage somewhat. I find the best is level roads around 60~80 km's. The freeway yields decent mileage too, but the higher speeds start to eat into it ;(

We do use a block heater pretty religously, that helps.

Where'd you buy, Westwood? I've given up on them for oil changes: they routinely put in 4 liters (spec is 3.2/3.0 with/without filter change). 3 liters will do, with or without filter change, putting your level between the 2 dipstick marks, closer to the top one. Overfilled oil is one mileage robbing culprit. Plus I got tired of paying $300~400 for them to have a boo at the brakes (no pad changes, just inspection).

 

Interesting, yes bought again from Westwood, I plan on doing the service myself, but will let them have a peek once in a while at it. 0w20 is not easy to find here. I do all service (brakes, oil, easy stuff etc) myself as I used to be a tech a long time ago.