How much fuel in tank once fuel light comes on?

[brownnugen]

Just curious about how much fuel is left in the tank. I was driving home with about 40 miles to go when the low fuel light came on. I had driven about 484 miles on that tank and the driving data said I had a range of 50 miles left. I felt comfortable that I would be able to make it to my local diesel station, but as I went about 10 more miles towards home, the range stayed on 50 miles remaining.

At that point, I didn't want to risk running out of diesel on a major highway and my comfort level went down so I thought it would be prudent to get to the nearest diesel station to fill up. That was another 3 miles and the car still showed I had 50 miles remaining. Not 47 or 48 but still 50. When I filled up, I topped it off and put in 10.946 gallons.

So, was it a fluke that my car didn't budge off of 50 miles remaining on the range? Does anyone know how much fuel I should have left when the low fuel light comes on?

 

[Locoelectrician]

I know on my Passat, the distance to empty will sometimes (many times) increase with the way I drive. I've left home when it said 100 miles till empty and 30 miles up the road it will say 90 till empty. I think it constantly adjusts to how you're driving, which makes perfect sense.

 

[JDM Mike 02]

I've put little over 2k miles on the '15 Golf I bought last month, it's never taken more than 11 gallons at fill up with the needle pretty low.. I do miss the range my '06 Jetta would get out of a tank.

 

[bmwM5power]

I put 12.5 gal last time I filled up with 20mi range left

 

[ZippyNH]

Air is the worst lube any pump will ever have...
IMO pushig the limits is misguided.
Just stop and fill up.
I have seen it "freeze" at 50 for a long time...seems to turn on when it guesses you current driving consumption for some length of time will give you 50 miles as a wake-up​....but reality is it is a bit longer.
I like too stop sooner...so if the pumps at my station of choice is full..I can stop the next time I swing by!
No waiting in line as a person gets a cup of coffee, hits the ATM, chats inside....

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

My MKVI experience is that the miles to empty on the MFD on these cars is a lie. It seems to drop very quickly after the low fuel light comes on. On my '15 (only one fill so far), the low fuel light came on with 50 miles remaining. I drove it about another 20, it subtracted 30, and put 12.2 gallons in.

That tells me two things. First, fuel in reserve is probably the same as other VWs, at 1.9 gallons or so. Second, the MFD is going to hit zero miles to empty before the car is out of fuel. I drove my '12 to 0 miles to empty more than once. I suspect the reserve has a reserve, so to speak.

 

[oilhammer]

I do not really have an answer beyond anecdote, but I would like to add that one should beware that the fuel is both the coolant and lubricant in a diesel's fuel system, and there is little to be gained by pushing the limits of "how far can I go" on a tank of fuel.

I rarely ever run the tank low enough to trigger the low fuel warning on any of my vehicles so-equipped. These cars already have such an incredible range, even filling it up well before the warning comes on will still net you a hundred or hundreds more miles than a lot of other cars.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

My son regularly drives his '02 Golf 80+ miles after the low fuel light comes on. He's never had a problem, and he hasn't at least as far as I know, ever run out of fuel.

I usually fill my cars soon after the light comes on. But on a road trip with miles between exits the newer cars can catch you with few refueling options.

 

[rc74racer]

I've driven 70 miles after my range said "0" miles. I routinely go 30-40 miles after it says 0. I have cut it close, putting 13.1 gals of fuel in at fill up when I went 70 miles over. I have not cut it that close since, and most of my fill ups are 12-12.6 gallons.

I would say that 1.9 or so gallons estimate Indigo gave is pretty good, maybe even a little light based on my experience. FWIW I am getting 39-43MPG combined driving, 48-55MPG highway.

 

[oilhammer]

My son regularly drives his '02 Golf 80+ miles after the low fuel light comes on. He's never had a problem, and he hasn't at least as far as I know, ever run out of fuel.

I usually fill my cars soon after the light comes on. But on a road trip with miles between exits the newer cars can catch you with few refueling options.

The VEs are certainly less problematic in that regard, but some of the CR engines have a history of HPFP failures. May not be as rampant as some would think, but it DOES happen, and on all the TDIs on a hot day you can monitor fuel temps and see that they are higher with a low tank than one near full.

Why VAG chose to not use a fuel cooler on the CR engines is a mystery to me. They used them on some of the PDs and VEs.

 

[ezshift5]

You do realize - I think - OH, that that HPFP issue assumes substantial weight when considering the buyback and 1.8 TSI/5M route after nearly 5 years of flawless fuel
numbers, mucho torque plus VTEX, space galore and a fine 6M with clutch to match..........


ez (no real complaints at 49,000 miles) sends

 

[xabjw4]

2015 Golf SW TDI fuel range

I agree with a few others that you can drive past the point when the miles left go to 0. I have gone 50-70 miles past the 0 and saw it count-down by 5 mile increments to 0. I ran to 590 miles at 48 mpg on computer and filled 12.8 gallons which checked to about 46 mpg. My calculation is I could go appx. 110 miles past the 0 if I had too.

Now, learning that the HPFP likes more fuel rather than less for temp. concerns I rather fill sooner. I do sales and like to stop as little as possible for fuel which I why I got this car.

3300 miles, quick oil & filter change with the right product (because I don't believe that you have to leave any oil in for 10,000 on the first run) but do go 10,000 miles after the 10k change

 

[ZippyNH]

I agree with a few others that you can drive past the point when the miles left go to 0. I have gone 50-70 miles past the 0 and saw it count-down by 5 mile increments to 0. I ran to 590 miles at 48 mpg on computer and filled 12.8 gallons which checked to about 46 mpg. My calculation is I could go appx. 110 miles past the 0 if I had too.

Now, learning that the HPFP likes more fuel rather than less for temp. concerns I rather fill sooner. I do sales and like to stop as little as possible for fuel which I why I got this car.

3300 miles, quick oil & filter change with the right product (because I don't believe that you have to leave any oil in for 10,000 on the first run) but do go 10,000 miles after the 10k change

10,000 miles on oil in a diesel is pretty safe....
Heck most larger diesel have been going 20,000 or even 50,000 on conventional oil for YEARS with 1.5+ million mile life expected....
If I recall right I have read the euro cars use a 15,000 mile oil change interval, and the 10k in the USA is more due to market sentiment....and making the dealers some $$.
My suggestion...do take a sample of the oil at you next oil change...send it out..you will be amazed when you read it and see that after 3k a good oil is about 20% used if you go by the TBN numbers and oil dilution specs.
Your money, and your car, but I would strongly suggest a proper, but less frequent oil change as opposed to a quick one with a higher Ash oil that might shorten the life of the DPF (like the jiffy lube type places might toss in and tell you it is an "approved oil".

 

[brownnugen]

I just wanted to clarify that it was not my intention to see how close to empty I could get. I really wanted to make it back to my home in Virginia, where diesel is about 40 cents less per gallon than where I eventually ended up in Maryland.

So it sounds like I would have easily made it to my regular diesel station, but since I am still getting to know this car (only 1500 miles on it so far), I didn't want to learn things the hard way.

 

[TurnOne]

My best mpg fill up was 12.775 over 747 miles. Car had 61k at the time.

Most I ever put in was 13.228 gallons. Reviewing my fuelly logs, seems mostly 10.5 -12.5 gallons at fill up time.

Definitely don't want to run below 0 as a habit, but I wouldn't think twice about driving 75 miles past 0 if needed.