You know that saying about hot rods and sports cars? "It passes everything but a gas station." Well, that colloquialism also applies to our 2006 Jeep Commander. Over the course of 6,500 miles, 90 percent of them on freeways, the vehicle is averaging 14.4 mpg. Combine this with the 18 gallon fuel tank and you're lucky to get 260 miles between fill ups...
That's a pain during regular in-town commuting, but it gets downright scary when driving across West Texas. Yesterday we pulled out of San Antonio with a full tank of gas, and before we knew it the gauge was below 1/4 and the mileage computer told us we had 52 miles before the engine sputtered to a halt. If you haven't driven through West Texas you may not know this, but 52 miles might as well be 252 miles in terms of how often you see a gas station. Things were starting to look bleak when a lone, ghost-town-like station popped up on the horizon. We thankfully had an Exxon fuel card, because there wasn't a human in sight (though several stray kittens were running about...). But the pumps showed signs of life and a slip of the fuel card got us over 17 gallons of sweet elixir (by this time the fuel computer was indicating 27 miles 'til empty). And yes, I'm fully aware of the irony of almost running out of gas in oil country (note the oil pump in the background).
Karl Brauer, Editor in Chief, Edmunds.com @ 20,005 miles
lmyers92123 says:
03:29 PM, 07/14/06
I believe the tank capacity is 20.5 so you may had had an extra mile or two available with the 2.5 gals. in the tank.
editor_karl says:
04:12 PM, 07/14/06
I think you may be right. I really pushed it by driving from Blythe, California to Ventura and the fuel computer was indicating "0 Miles to Empty" for the last 10 miles of the trip. The next day I filled up and fit 18.5 gallons in the tank, which is the most I've ever put in. I suppose if you're willing to drive with the fuel light on and the computer saying you're "empty" for around 30 miles you could get 280 miles out of a tank of gas...
blackjack says:
12:43 AM, 07/16/06
According to the specs listed elsewhere on Edmunds' site, the Commander's gas tank is 20.5 gallons. I'm not surprised that the gauge leads you to believe you're running on fumes after 18.5, though. In my experience most American cars, and many Japanese as well, have an extra 2 - 2.5 gallons after the gauge reads empty. I've always figured this is to help lazy drivers avoid running out of gas. In contrast, the Germans are stereotypically precise. On our BMW and VW, when the gauge displays "fewer than 10 miles to empty", we really are below 0.5 gallon.
nswindle12 says:
10:35 PM, 07/19/06
This is my second 4.7 the first was in a dodge durango it did great on gas and it was a 4x4, our new commander on the other hand is a totally different story, we are averaging 9.5 MPG around town and 15 on the highway. With gas prices going up it is almost turned into a second car payment. Someone please tell me it gets better the more miles it gets on it, right now it has just under 3000 miles on it .
cvyastro says:
11:27 PM, 08/ 8/06
i am not suprised that the new hemi's are getting bad gas milage. the only reson the hemi is getting better gas milage is cause the lower the comression intern giving you better gas milage but less power which means you foot goes down further more often
speedemoncw says:
12:22 PM, 08/11/06
SO WHAT BUY A CAR LIKE KIA