I ran down to the fuel light and noticed the same range left... about 25-30 miles at the current rate I was going...Light had come on about 1 mile before I got gas. My benz has a good 50-55 miles left when the light comes on...
I forget the exact gallon numbers because the receipts are at my parent's house, but that will be the only time I'll run it so low.
I think its an old wives tale or just applies to older pre OBD and OBDII cars... or maybe even just pre EFI cars...but my parents are firm believers, as am I now that it's not good on cars to run them on tanks that are low (Heck my parents freak the F out about going a little under the half way point on the gauge, thats a bit excessive). My accord and benz will never see below a quarter tank left unless we hit a late 70's fuel embargo like prices and folks start hording gas like John Denver.
Who knows, maybe running cars low on gas is as real as big foot is, but I've heard Click and Click (Tappet bros.) on Car Talk mention this a few times throughout the years ... it could just apply to cold temps and the such, but a 3/4 to half tank of gas feels like the sweet spot in both my cars.
so far , city driving has yielded 23-24 mpg and pure highway , cruise set at 78mph with one Interstate change over yielded a lil over 30mpg ...This was from the 400-1000 mile mark on my car.
