97 Outback Legacy Limited Automatic...why such HORRIBLE gas mileage ? Drive 75 miles from full tank and car then shows 1/2 tank !!!

Actual figures and circumstances will assist people in giving meaningful feedback. Cheers

My only thought it that you forgot to mention what your MPG is...we are not psychic. TG

Uphill, five passengers, towing two jetskis, with low tire pressure and the a/c on? Seriously, you need to provide more info. When did the "horrible" gas mileage start? Mileage? Service? Driving habits?

More informatin is needed... key thing is to determine or know what Miles per gallon your are getting. I am sure you have done it already, but if you have not... fill up the tank and get a least a 100+ on it. Fill it up again and divide your miles by the number of gallons.

I have a 97 Subaru Outback and its gas guage has slowly gotten less accurate over the years. It only takes about 30 to 40 miles to drop it from 1/2 to a

1/4. I then gets about 150 miles out of the last quarter before the light comes on. One thing I like to check is that the light is coming on at the right time. Your light should come on when there is still 2.5 gallons left. If you fill up close to when the light has come one, you should put in around 13 gallons as the car holds 15.5.

Please also include information on different sounds the car is making. Is the car lacking power? Are you noticing any smells or different color smoke coming from the exhuast? So on...

Yeah. If you can't supply any more information, go bitch at your dealer and leave us alone.

My gage has started behaving even more erratically. Recently it dropped from 3/4 to 1/2 in a couple miles. And on one 100 mile trip, started with plenty of gas. it dropped from 1/8 to well below E, stayed there for a while and then slowly rose to above E (a little) by the time I got home. Haven't run it to the low fuel light recently and on the above occasion it took 12.5 gallons.

Since the originator of this thread has never responded, maybe the idea of an erratic gage set off bells and answered his/her question.

Jim

Sorry All,

The car belongs to a friend. He drove over the weekend about 70 miles and he started on a FULL tank. Upon arrival, the gauge read 1/2 (after

70 miles remember). He is not so observant, so he could not answer all the questions you all asked above which I asked him already myself. He just stated the poor mileage has always been an issue. But I think that the gauge being faulty is an issue (I'll have him check the 1/2 to FULL amounts in gallons when adding to check the accuracy of the gauge).

I have never had exposure to Subaru (riding in, working on) till this past weekend so I posted the (information-less) post. I have only ever worked on every other Jap car since 1976 so I thought the Sub-posters could give some Brand-Awareness "hints and tips"

Thanks All !!!!

Jim wrote:

You posted here about "HORRIBLE" gas mileage on behalf of a friend who is not very observant about his gas gauge?!?!?!?

Yes that is true. Some people you know (including men not just woman) just know about where the gas goes and how to start and drive the car :)

The gas tank is NOT a cylinder or regular shape. It is cone shaped on the bottom... so the rate of change of the gauge on the dash is not a good indicator of the actual proportion of fuel left in the tank.

Also, a "top off" fill will use the line between the tank and the gas cap which is not counted in the gauge. So the first portion of a gallon does not change the level indicator at all.

You need to fill it all the way, then keep receipts and write the milage down on each one, then sit down and make a chart. That's the ONLY way to get an accurate idea of your milage. Then, of course driving style, drag, wind, moisture, city/country, etc. will affect the milage.

A drastic drop in milage can mean mechanical problems, but you won't find that until other factors are controlled for.

If you want to post useless shit, try "alt.wesley.die.die.die.die" or something.