2009 Mazda 6i Grand Touring: DTE That Works

So it says zero but you're still not walking.

Told you it's not accurate under about 30 miles.

I would rather have no data than bad data.

Knock on wood!

No walking because you rode your bike instead? j/k

I don't know about the Mazda6 but for my car the manual says when the DTE reads 0 that means I still have the one gallon reserve fuel left in the tank. Which tells me I have about 20 miles left and should fill it up ASAP.

I rather have some data than no data and use my head to make an intelligent decision.

When it gets that low it doesn't know how much gas you have left, it's just a guess.

It's a bad idea to give people the illusion of accurate distance number when the data is based on an estimate.

Intelligent decision, when the guage says less then a 1/4 tank.... buy some gas.

...or you could just fill up at one of the *numerous* gas stations you must pass during your commute. It's not like we're talking about getting biodiesel here...

Yeah, how much gas did you put in?

I think it makes logical sense to have the DTE at 0 with at least a gallon of reserve petrol at hand. Who in there right mind would want the car to shut down when the DTE hit 0?

"Who in there right mind would want the car to shut down when the DTE hit 0?"

I would! otherwise it's not DTE is it? It's just distance to some point that we pre-determined you should get gas. If that's all it's saying what was wrong with a fuel light and a regular gas gauge?

+1 to firstwagon and estreka.

BTW, I think we've found the source of all the idiot lights that have crept in to cars - automotive journalists who won't do the simplest tasks to keep a car running unless a display tells them they must do it NOW. Sigh.

You're my kind of guy Josh. It's exciting not knowing when you might run out of gas and just pushing it to the very last drop of gas.

I don't like the DTE or digital fuel bar gauges. Just give me a plain old needle and a gas light to alert me when I'm almost out.

Who needs a gas light? Look at the gauge. If it is 1/4 of the way to "E" then that's a good time to think about filling up. As it gets closer to "E" you really need to consider filling up. Must fill up before "E". Really isn't that difficult.

so you plan to make a habit of this?

Josh- it's inaccurate so get over it. I have the same trip computer on my 3 and there is still fuel left when it reads zero. Common sense tells you when you're gauge reads E and the light comes on, you need to get gas soon so if you wanna waste your time trusting this read out, so be it. But don't hate on cars that choose not to diplay faulty information.

Does that display say "reming" instead of "remaining"? Bizarre.

I'm with the others here: I fill up at 1/4 tank at the very worst. I have yet to run into a situation where I need to go below 1/4, and I do a lot of long highway runs with few gas stations in between. Making a 10 minute stop to get gas just makes sense. Well, it makes more sense then a 5 hour walk/hitch-hike to a gas station.

"Josh- it's inaccurate so get over it."

On a side note: Chavis, why do you have to be such an ass?

Why can't you just say you don't agree, but do it in a pleasant/diplomatic way? I don't understand why commenters on these blogs go out of their way to be rude to the staff. I can't imagine that being rude is going to get us MORE posts. And whether or not you agree with them is irrelevant because after all, we're all here every day reading and posting. What is the point of logging on every day just to bitch about how the editors are always wrong? If you don't like it, don't stick around.

This little rant isn't only directed at Chavis, he just happened to set me off.

doug- sorry you are so senstive today but I doubt Josh gives a darn about me being an a$$. I don't know him and he doesn't know me but I'm sure his skin is as thick as mine.

The reason for the tone of my comment is that we have gone over this point already and many have confirmed how pointless these readouts are and why some manufacturers have deemed it down right dangerous to mislead drivers into thinking the trip computer will accurately tell them how miles they have until empty. Some editors choose to beat the dead horse and revisit topics that have already been thoroughly discussed so I reserve the right to react accordingly. I hope your day improves.

stovt001 +1

"Josh- it's inaccurate so get over it."

Again, I am not speaking for the Mazda6 but I once filled out the tank when my car reads 0 DTE and that took 15.1 gallon. Guess what, the manuals says when the DTE reads 0 that means I have one gallon of reserve fuel and my car has a 16-gallon tank.

I don't know about you but that's accurate enough for me.

The allure is to see how many miles you can drive on a single tank of gas. It's fun to test your vehicle's limits. That is, until you actually run out of gas. Maybe if you're going to do this, carry along a two-gallon gas can so that if you do run out of fuel, you have a second reserve.

I'm just amazed that this many people apparently care about this "issue". Wow.

I prefer the old cars without a light or anything, that way you have to remember just how far below the bottom of the Empty line you can go before it dies.

It's just for a general reference. Shouldn't this be obvious? It's not going to be exact. Reference the two episodes of Top Gear where they run it down long after the DTE shows zero.

Heh, when I see this many comments about gas gauges, I know I'm in the right place.

That's nothing! Our Armada stops counting after 20 miles to go. The best part is that it has a big bright warning on the cluster display, a low fuel light, a bright yellow triangular warning and a big assed warning on it's nav screen!!! If you fill it up right when it's telling you that the world is ending you might get 25-25.3 gallons in. It holds 28. Even on my worst tank that is over 36 miles left. My Expedition that preceded this vehicle, though, only gave you 30ish miles notice and all only with a low fuel light on the guage. Somewhere in between the two would be nice.

After owning any particular car for a few months, you will get a good gauge on how much gas is left when your light comes on. I think DTE is a pointless trip computer function because it really means nothing. If I really have 0 miles left to empty, that should mean I'm riding on fumes. The car is trying to protect you and itself by suggesting you fill up ASAP. If a trip computer stops giving numerals at 30 DTE or 0 DTE, the end result is that you need gas, correct?

"What is the point of logging on every day just to bitch about how the editors are always wrong? If you don't like it, don't stick around."

why are you more sensitive than the people who post here? You need to ease up on being the personal protector of the bloggers. They know what they are getting into. This DTE thing is viewed as silly by most posters. Just because Josh wanted to post about the 6's capability (which isnt accurate) doesnt mean people have suddenly changed their mind. Driving until your trip computer reads 1 mile to empty is stupid and most intelligent people are not going to do that. As chavis said, none of these systems are going to let you run out of gas so you are not going to get a true reading of 0 on the DTE meter. Since its not accurate it has no point. When you get low you need to find a gas station. Also, having such a function is only potentially usefull when in an urban environment where gas stations are plentiful. What use is having DTE down to zero miles if you are cruising on a highway in the middle of Nebraska or Iowa?

"why are you more sensitive than the people who post here? You need to ease up on being the personal protector of the bloggers. "

Just decided to respond now, a week later?

edit: fail. 3 days later, not a week. almost a work week anyways, and I assume we both post at work.

Owned/drove a 2001 VW Golf IV Euro-spec. Didn't have a DTE guage, but had the idiot warning alarm which sounded. It is illegal to run out of fuel on the autobahn and since the only fuel station that accepts military rations is Esso (Aral on the autobahn used to take them, but with the new rations card, only Esso will accept them), it was essential that I know how much further I could drive on the proverbial 'EMPTY.'

Suffice it to say, those wacky German engineers designed my Golf to squeal 'uncle' with fuel enough to travel another 60 klicks(about 36 miles)...providing I did not exceed 160kph (100mph). I loved being able to drive 700 klicks (~ 420 miles) on a tank of gas (60 liters or ~ 16 US Gallons) with a completely laden-down vehicle (4x footlockers, 5x cases of bier, 4x cases of wine, 2x stuffed duffelbags of gear, 2x tents, 2x sleeping bags, a small cooler, an Infinity 14" powered subwoofer, and an assistant driver - all INSIDE - no roof carrier) Can't argue with 26+ MPG @ ~ 111mph (185kph)

Some people recommend running to empty at least once a month, to eliminate all the crud in the fuel tank, but after living through the Cold War, I still find myself cringing when I get below 1/2 of a tank...never know when you will have to run a roadblock, evade a would-be kidnapper, get stranded in a stau, or get caught in a blizzard. ;)

Just my 2 pfennig, er...$0.02

I have a mazda 3 with the functionality, what I figured out is that the 0 represents the point where you start using your fuel reserve. I think that is about 2 gallons.