Miles to empty 2020 RTL

[Jcummins]

I know this has been discussed before on here but I thought I just passed this on. I had an errand to run in town and when I left I had about 173 miles to empty, and about 35 miles on this tank of gas. I took the long way home back on some country roads and in that time I saw miles to empty go to 229 miles. By the time I got home it read 151 miles to empty. I drove approximately 50 miles.

Really BRP, you can't do better than that?

[UtahPete]

I know this has been discussed before on here but I thought I just passed this on. I had an errand to run in town and when I left I had about 173 miles to empty, and about 35 miles on this tank of gas. I took the long way home back on some country roads and in that time I saw miles to empty go to 229 miles. By the time I got home it read 151 miles to empty. I drove approximately 50 miles.

Really BRP, you can't do better than that?

The analog gas gauge isn't much better, unfortunately. Or, the AM/FM radio. Electronics doesn't seem to be BRP's strong suit. Thank God they didn't try to build their own nanny system.

[rjinaz86323]

What they are doing is calculating DTE based on your current usage. So if you are going slower than normal the DTE will increase assuming you maintain your slower speed

[Snoking1127]

What they are doing is calculating DTE based on your current usage. So if you are going slower than normal the DTE will increase assuming you maintain your slower speed

What ^^^^^ he said!

[UtahPete]

What they are doing is calculating DTE based on your current usage. So if you are going slower than normal the DTE will increase assuming you maintain your slower speed

True. Which makes it a pretty misleading and therefore useless 'app', I think. Needless complexity.

[Peter Aawen]

Those 'miles to empty' indicators are calculated off your most recent gas consumption, so if you coast down a long enough hill using just a tiny amount of gas, your 'miles to empty' reading will look a whole lot better than if you just accelerated hard to get on the freeway and have been maintaining high revs @ hwy speeds since. So what you tell us isn't beyond the realms of possibility Jcummins. Altho as UtahPete mentioned earlier, the gas gauges & other similar 'BRP in-house developed' electronics are quite renowned for their ummm, shall we say, lack of real usefulness?? You should see the variations I got in my gas gauge - sometimes it told me I used almost 5 gallons/20 litres of gas in just 200 yards from a careful fill-up; yet with the very next fill-up, the gauge might still've said it was FULL despite me having just ridden almost 200 miles on it - and that's with the smaller tank the V-Twins run too!!

So given that the 'miles to empty' info shown is probably well within the bounds of possibility if you were coasting or ryding gently/slowly, but also possibly based upon a potentially wildly erratic 'gas remaining' reading & what appears to be a fairly short view of the engine's 'recent gas usage', variations & readings like those you mention are not only possible, but really shouldn't be surprising. It's just the way these things work.... especially with BRP's electronics!!

Given that, I really wouldn't EVER rely on that 'miles to empty' reading!! Just Reset the Trip meter every time you fill, and then keep an eye on how far you've travelled since you last filled; maybe even work out your average mpg occasionally so you can get a pretty good idea of how far you can go while still leaving a quart or so of gas in the tank. It shouldn't take you too long/too much in the way of calcs to get a reasonable idea of what distance is safe and then never exceed that - you REALLY don't want to run these modern fuel injected engines dry too often, if ever!! It's not good for them and even just running them dry once might badly impact your fuel economy &/or power.... maybe even do something worse! Run it dry or very nearly dry too often and you will be almost guaranteed to be doing some permanent harm to your injection system &/or engine!

[ARtraveler]

I know this has been discussed before on here but I thought I just passed this on. I had an errand to run in town and when I left I had about 173 miles to empty, and about 35 miles on this tank of gas. I took the long way home back on some country roads and in that time I saw miles to empty go to 229 miles. By the time I got home it read 151 miles to empty. I drove approximately 50 miles.

Really BRP, you can't do better than that?

Yes, country roads at lower rpm's does improve the current mileage. It takes a few miles for the computer to catch up and re-calculate the better mpg. Keeping that in mind...miles to empty is just for information only, and I would not count on it to be right on. Keeping in mind that at primo mileage (40 mpg) as an average....Your tank (7 gals) should get you about 250 miles before running out. I always zero a trip meter at each gas fill up. We always refill between 150 and 180 or so...just to be safe. I have NEVER had the fuel light come on with either of my current F3L's.

[ButterSmooth]

I know this has been discussed before on here but I thought I just passed this on. I had an errand to run in town and when I left I had about 173 miles to empty, and about 35 miles on this tank of gas. I took the long way home back on some country roads and in that time I saw miles to empty go to 229 miles. By the time I got home it read 151 miles to empty. I drove approximately 50 miles.

Really BRP, you can't do better than that?

That's what my 2020RT started doing at about 6000 miles. Then the gauge (bars of fuel) started going whacky. About a week ago the dealer replaced the sending unit in the tank (actually the whole fuel pump module) and the gauge and miles-to-empty work great again. Up to the failure and since the repair my gas gauge has been very accurate.

[Jcummins]

YES I reset my trip mileage with each fill up, and used miles traveled and the gauge to judge gas used/left. I even thought about turning that feature off, but haven't looked to see if you can because of it's inconsistency. Anyone know if you can?

[Lew L]

.

I always reset the trip meters, always. Learned the hard way on my poor, old, slow V-Max. It get thirsty when its on V-Boost. I won't go over 200 miles on the but I'm ready to stretch my legs before that.

[bikerbillone]

Peter, always take special notice of your comments, especially this one. I need to practice the the trip reset method, just as I did on my old GW trike conversion. With all the fancy Dan computer systems on my 2020 RTL I subconsciously thought all the good stuff I see on the monitor must be close to accurate, except the external temperature, I know that is not right, but I don't depend on it. This is a wake up call. Ahhh for the good old days, well maybe most of them.

[Hoginedgewood]

Sad day! HD and Chevy don't do a perfect job either. I find the trip setting on the odometer of the HD gave me a good idea for the 100,000 miles I owned it. Around home I would go 160 miles on the tank, but traveling where I didn't know the next gas location I would start looking around 100 miles into a tank. Hope you don't let electronics detract from your experience.

[ES44AC]

My 85' V Max never felt slow lol.

[EdMat]

YES I reset my trip mileage with each fill up, and used miles traveled and the gauge to judge gas used/left. I even thought about turning that feature off, but haven't looked to see if you can because of it's inconsistency. Anyone know if you can?

It is a menu item that can be turned on and off.

It's pretty accurate on my 2019 RTL. When you first fill up, key off so everything resets internally, it uses the last miles before fill up to project a mileage you can achieve. I have no idea how many miles prior this is. As you drive it's calculation if based on x number of rolling miles and current conditions. That is why after a few fast miles on the interstate with a full tank it may only show 140 or so miles to empty but when you turn off onto a backcountry slow road it may go up to 230 miles to empty a few miles later. Both are accurate, but only at hat given time.

[Lew L]

My 85' V Max never felt slow lol.

So how did ya like that V-Boost?? Yes I know I'm drifting but us Maxers have to stick together.