Range reading very wrong what can cause it?
Posted by Cold_Ad_9784@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 11 comments
Bought a new car recently and its my first car that uses 91 and after filling up, my range only says 260 miles it has a 20 gallon tank and I average 18MPG so the math ain't mathing is there a chance somthing is broken 😅 or should I just ignore it and see if I actually only get that
blur911sc@reddit
Different cars are programmed differently as to how they calculate range. I could be the last tank was awful mileage because it was all short test drives in winter, then sitting idling. If it's based on that data it'll show low range. As you drive it'll update present mileage calculation, just some vehicles are quicker to do it than others.
Cold_Ad_9784@reddit (OP)
Thank you
SailingSpark@reddit
What kind of car? Also the computer can learn from your driving style.
Old-geezer-2@reddit
Yes. Reset the range. You can usually do this by resetting the trip odometer.
Cold_Ad_9784@reddit (OP)
I will try this
Cold_Ad_9784@reddit (OP)
Infiniti m37
fastbeemer@reddit
Most cars only use the previous 25-50 miles of use for calculations.
Equana@reddit
That is an estimate... and not a great one.
If I take my car to a track day getting 5.5 mpg, it will show a range of 90 miles. It takes a month to get the range back up to a normal 280 miles per tank.
It is not a scientific instrument, it is a loose guideline.
Comfortable-Study-69@reddit
Built-in car range calculators tend to be pretty rudimentary and fairly inaccurate. It’s probably just taking the fuel economy of the previous trip and multiplying that by the gallons in the tank, so if you were towing earlier or were driving in a city it would display your range as lower than it would be if you were just doing highway driving.
I would be concerned only if you have reason to suspect that you’re actually getting significantly worse fuel economy than the norm for the car.
MeyersonAdam@reddit
There’s settings usually for instantaneous or average range. Sounds like you are getting instantaneous I.e. how far it will go at the current fuel usage per mile and you want average.
ReversEclipse1018@reddit
Stop and go traffic burns more gas than highway driving. If your driving doesn’t include frequent long distances, you’re not going to get the most out of the gas you put in it. I have a 15 gallon tank and average about 26 mpg which should be roughly 400. I took an 800 mile trip over a span of three days (went down - 400, stayed a day, returned - 400) and my range reading got up to 560.