There are usually two types of people in a relationship: Those who fill their gas tanks as soon as it crosses the halfway mark and those who tempt fate by driving as far as possible with the low fuel light on. A recent MarketWatch Guides report caters to the latter crowd, as it examined how far different vehicles travel on an empty tank.
Before going too far, it’s worth noting that some of the vehicles on the list come from international markets. So, while those empty-tank mileage numbers might not translate directly to U.S. models, they are close enough to get an idea of how comparable vehicles would perform here. Having said that, it’s still not a great idea to push your gas tank as far as it can go.
The Toyota RAV4 Icon FWD offers the best mileage with an empty tank, traveling more than 73 miles after the fuel light comes on, according to the study. That’s more than enough to get to the next gas station, and may even tempt some owners into driving for days with the fuel light illuminated. The top 10 vehicles include:
- Toyota RAV4 Icon FWD: 73.2 miles
- Ford F-150 XLT SuperCrew 4WD: 72 miles
- Honda Accord e:HEV RS: 69.4 miles
- Toyota Camry LE Hybrid: 68.6 miles
- Ram 1500 Tradesman 4x2 Crew Cab: 65 miles
- BMW X3 M50: 63 miles
- Audi Q5 40 TFSI Quattro: 57.1 miles
- Mini Cooper Two-Door: 54.3 miles
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class C200: 54 miles
- VW Tiguan Allspace: 53 miles
MarketWatch didn’t drive every vehicle to come up with these figures. The organization divided each car’s fuel tank capacity by ten to come up with a 10 percent fuel capacity number and then used the fuel economy ratings to determine how far they could travel. A number of factors can impact that estimate, however, including driving style, the weather and any loads the vehicle is carrying.
