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Title: How far the 50 most popular cars in America will REALLY drive on empty - and it could be anywhere between 25 and 114 miles
Source:
Daily Mail
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet ... -drive-empty.html#ixzz4Wak5KgD
Published: Jan 20, 2017
Author: Stacy Liberatore
Post Date: 2017-01-23 08:37:27 by Deckard
Ping List: *Cars and Automotive* Subscribe to *Cars and Automotive*
Keywords: None
Views: 809
Comments: 1
Nearly a million motorists a year break down because they have run out of fuel. However, researchers have found that the distance you can run on fumes greatly depends on the type of car you are driving. A new report suggests that if you usually forget to fill up your tank, you might want to drive a Nissan Altima- it can travel another 81 to 114 miles after the low-fuel light turns on. The new report was put together by the automotive company Your Mechanic , who found each car make can run a different amount of miles on empty. When the low fuel light turns on, the Nissan Altima still has three gallons of gas inside, allowing drivers to travel another 81 to 114 miles before the tank is dry. ‘Every driver occasionally lets their gas tank get low enough to trigger the low fuel warning light,’ Brady Klopfer with Your Mechanic shared in a blog post ‘Even though we all know to ideally refill before letting the tank reach ¼, we still let it run low from time to time. ‘Knowing how far you can drive on an empty gas tank will help keep you from getting stranded on the side of the road.’ Although the major concern people have when running out of gas is being stranded on the side of the road, Your Mechanic says that is far from the worst scenario – it is ‘also a potentially dangerous situation’. Drivers could break down on the highway while surrounded by other cars speeding past them or even worse, they could get stuck at a blind spot and be hit by a car. Choosing to drive on empty can also cause damage to your car, such as damaging the catalytic converter. Your Mechanic says that even just driving on a low amount of gas can harm the fuel pump – any debris or contamination in the gas will be sent through the fuel pump if the tank is low. A majority of the vehicles on the road are designed with an empty gauge on the instrument cluster, which displays how many more miles the driver can go before running out of gas. And many choose to rely on this feature instead of the ‘low fuel warning light’, but this too can cause issues. The empty gauge feature only shows an estimation about how many miles can be driven with the amount of gas in the tank. ‘Exactly how far you can drive on empty depends on both your vehicle, and on your driving habits and conditions,’ wrote Klopfer. ‘However, you may be surprised to see how few miles you actually can drive once the low fuel warning light comes on.’
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#1. To: Deckard (#0)
The article should have included a mention of how expensive it is to replace in-tank fuel pumps in modern cars, requiring the fuel tank to be removed and opened. Your fuel pump can be ruined in well under a minute when your car is running out of fuel. Then you're stranded and looking at an expensive repair with most modern vehicles.
Your Mechanic says that even just driving on a low amount of gas can harm the fuel pump – any debris or contamination in the gas will be sent through the fuel pump if the tank is low.
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