I've been on a quest to see how much fuel my Element would hold, where "empty" really is on the gas guage, and how far I can really go on a tank of gas. Like others here I was disappointed the first time I saw the low fuel light with only 200-some miles on the tripmeter.

Since my current work commute is a whopping 1.5 miles, I felt felt more comfortable probing the lower depths of the fuel guage the last few days. I could almost roll to a gas pump most of the way if I should overshoot and run out of gas.

Today, with 363 miles on the trip meter ( hwy for for 2/3 of it, city for the last 1/3 or so ) and with just the slightest sliver of black showing between the needle and the low side of the "E" mark I stopped for gas.

Just putting the hose in and squeezing to the slowest setting the handle would stay at stopped pumping at 14.7 gallons.

Squeezing over and over again with the nozzle all the way in got me to 15.9 gallons.

Pulling the nozzle out and manually stopping and starting the flow until I could see the fuel at the top of the opening ( zero spillage ) got me to 16.9 gallons.

My conclusions:

The tank probably does hold the 15.9 gallons as claimed. Makes sense, I wouldn't expect Honda to lie about that.

The filler tube is pretty long and narrow. Holds a little over a gallon. I know a gallon for sure, but any more would be what I had in my tank when I pulled into the station.

The long tube contributes to getting the tank "not quite full". Depending on the pump, you may or may not get the tank full. This depends on the sensitivity of the pump and how much patience you have for going "ka-chunk" 40 times with the nozzle.

Gas mileage is going to vary a bit depending on your patience with the nozzle. More patience: lower mileage. If I'd stopped at 14.7 gallons my 360 mile would have been about 24.5 mpg. With the additional 2+ gallons my mileage is really 21.3. I'd filled the tank last time to the rim as well ( slight spillage ) so I know that what I put in this time was exactly what I burned over the 363 miles

My previous hwy best mileage was a hair over 26. If I could actually use 16 gallons ( .9 gallon filler tube reserve ) I could go 416 miles on a tank full. I've got a couple trips to CA in the next couple months, I'll see if I can hit 400. Seems doable if you make sure the tank is completely full. If you're shy the two gallons, there goes 50 miles.

http://www.elementownersclub.com/uploads/files/16gal.gif[/img]

be aware that overfilling can cause more problems than getting an extra few miles out of the tank.....any question, just pm me.......

[quote:a5294d8335=" "]

Gas mileage is going to vary a bit depending on your patience with the nozzle. More patience: lower mileage. If I'd stopped at 14.7 gallons my 360 mile would have been about 24.5 mpg. With the additional 2+ gallons my mileage is really 21.3. I'd filled the tank last time to the rim as well ( slight spillage ) so I know that what I put in this time was exactly what I burned over the 363 miles

My previous hwy best mileage was a hair over 26. If I could actually use 16 gallons ( .9 gallon filler tube reserve ) I could go 416 miles on a tank full. I've got a couple trips to CA in the next couple months, I'll see if I can hit 400. Seems doable if you make sure the tank is completely full. If you're shy the two gallons, there goes 50 miles.[/quote:a5294d8335]

Just to clarify for others:
Gas mileage will not vary based on how you fill the tank, however, your calculation of MPG will be more or less accurate depending on how you fill your tank. If you filled your tank to the hilt on the previous tank then filling it to the hilt again will give you the most accurate calculation, you are actually after the gallons of gas used to go XXX miles, which should be very close to the amount required to refill your tank if you fill it to a similar level as the previous tank.

IMHO there is no need to go to such extremes to fill the tank, you will get a pretty accurate calculation by just using a similar method each time you fill, ie. fill to the second click. The possible damage to the emissions sytem is not worth it, I would hate to fill the charcoal fuel vapor recovery tank with liquid gas and screw anything up. If you keep track of your records you can get a very accurate calculation by totalling up miles driven and dividing by total gallons used.

I have a hobby.
My time is far too valuable to ka-chunk a gas pump 40 times. Has anyone ever thought of where that extra gas goes? That maybe they are forcing an extra gallon of gas into places where it gets expelled almost immediately do to over pressurization? Like right out the fargin tail pipe, before you even pull out of the gas station? This is a guess on my part, since I haven't been a practicing engineer since the days of carburetors, but I know the fuel system is pressurized. I am assuming that if there is excess, it must be relieved.

Of course, the caveat - IMHO

I guess I'll explain this once, slowly...

You're wasting your time, and possibly gas if you feel like spending time at every fill up trying to get the gas to the brim. Don't believe I recommended that or suggested that.

Many threads here pondered the possiblity of a too-small gas tank. I thought that too when my first tank flashed the low fuel light at a little over 200 miles of travel. I posted the receipt for those who life is to doubt.

How much does it hold? Only way you're going to tell without tools and a measuring cup it to fill it up to a known level, burn all the gas, then fill to the same level. Theoretically, I did that once, not counting whatever dregs were still in the tank. You're not going to get a "known level" if you can't see where the gas is.

If you have a sensitive pump that shuts off early, expect to be up to 2 1/2 gallons shy of full. Full doesn't mean spilling out. The tank isn't smaller, you just put less in it.

If your *apparent* mileage varies by 10% from tank to tank, it's probably more to do with the variation in gas pumps than whether you pumped up your tires an extra 4 psi.

So, the long fill tube seems to increase the chance of the gas pump shutting off before you're full, and the low fuel light is really pessimistic. Together you may see a range 250 miles, when in reality it's better than that.

A $1.45???????????????
only in my dreams żżżż!!!!!!!!!!!

All those topping off beyond the first click of the gas pump, Please Stop Now. Not only are you defeating the vapor recovery system of your automobile, you are defeating the vapor recovery system of the service station. You are needlessly releasing pollutants into the atmosphere, and chances are that due to the design of the station's recovery system, some of that additional gasoline may actually be going back into the gas station's storage tank. How does that affect your gas mileage?

<stepping down from environmentalist soap box>
Here are just a couple of links for reference on the subject.

http://phoenix.about.com/cs/car/a/gas.htm
In most cases, it should be evident whether a gasoline station has Stage II Vapor Recovery in place. Many stations in compliance with the rule have this blue decal posted at the pump. Often the decals are affixed visibly to the pump near the hook. Also, many vapor recovery nozzles have a "Do not top off" warning printed on the back of the nozzle.

http://www2.anr.state.vt.us/dec/air/AirToxics/htm/Stage2.htm
Gas nozzles are equipped with an automatic shut off valve. When you are filling your tank and the automatic shut off valve activates, the extra gas you are trying to put in your gas tank may actually be returning to the gas station's underground storage tank and NOT in your vehicle. Topping off your tank can also block the vapor line which may create problems for the next customer. Finally, topping off your gas tank isn't good for the environment.

[quote:e857a1500c=" "]I have a hobby.
My time is far too valuable to ka-chunk a gas pump 40 times. Has anyone ever thought of where that extra gas goes? That maybe they are forcing an extra gallon of gas into places where it gets expelled almost immediately do to over pressurization? Like right out the fargin tail pipe, before you even pull out of the gas station? This is a guess on my part, since I haven't been a practicing engineer since the days of carburetors, but I know the fuel system is pressurized. I am assuming that if there is excess, it must be relieved.

Of course, the caveat - IMHO[/quote:e857a1500c]

No fuel injected car is going to expell gas out of the exhaust due to overfilling. First, regardless of the amount of gas in the tank, the fuel pressure regulator is going to maintain pressure dictated by engine conditions. As I am in the process of getting an Element, I don't even know if it uses a recovery line back to the tank. If not, then the tank itself is not even pressurized, as the fuel pump will only pressurize downstream flow. Either way, a high volume of gas in the tank does not equate to an increase in fuel system pressure.

Aside from all vapor system concerns (which are over rated, go to your local marina and see the sights if you want REAL concern), in my search for how far 'beyond E' you could go... with the key off the needle rests on its stop, when you turn on the key, you can see it move toward E. I took mine about two needles width BELOW E (not entirely on purpose), when I turned the key off and on, it moved off the stop about a needle or so, had over 370 miles since the last 'auto stop' refill. Filled up and manually slowed down the pump when i hit 15 gallons to a slow but not crazy slow flow, went to 15.4 gallons when the auto shut off kicked in. I figured that left less then .5 IN THE TANK or about as close as i want to go. Without the 40x pump dance described earlier you can get pretty close to a real full tank by just slowing down as much as possible with a slow flow until the auto kicks off...

I agree with the posts on mpg calculations, i suspect some of the 26mpg posts are not accurately filling / refilling or driving 55mph on the highway!