Thursday 1st September 2011

PH Fleet Update: Infiniti G37 S Coupe

Why a fuel gauge can make you angry

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L55 UST looking all innocent...

There are many facets of the PH Fleet Infiniti that I will defend to the hilt - I love its relaxed cruising gait, its air of quiet, unpretentious luxury (though some will disagree with that), and I'm constantly impressed at its ability to pick up its skirts for a twisty-road run.

But there is one thing that irritates me - its fuel consumption. Actually, scratch that - it's not the fuel consumption that's the issue (it'll do something between 24mpg and 29mpg, depending on how much stick you give it), so much as the fuel gauge itself.

Much as any sane human being I like a constant, measured range-meter - I want to know how far I can go before I fill up. For some reason, however, the G37's prediction of how much fuel it has left fluctuates wildly, depending on how you are driving at that precise moment.

...while this simple readout causes misery

Thus, when I left my house this morning it told me I had 43 miles left before I needed to find a petrol pump. This then went up to 47 miles before plunging to just four miles. With another 15 miles of my commute left to run. This, admittedly, was when I was haring around one of those endless curved sliproads that join to motorways (just to wake myself up, you understand), but the trip computer really should have been aware that I wasn't going to drive like I was escaping the police for more than a few seconds.

The computer then recovered its dignity over the next section of road - to the point where it told me I had 41 miles as I trundled into PHHQ. The most frustrating thing about all this is that the needle on the conventional dial follows the same path as its miles-to-empty digital cousin, meaning it's surprisingly hard to work just how much fuel you really have in the tank.

Now, I'm sure that there are all sorts of valid reasons - both physical and electronic - for this fluctuation. But the fuel gauges in most other cars I drive don't seem to be so sensitive - so why is the Infiniti's? It's maddening...

Previous Articles:
PH Fleet Update: Infiniti G37 S Coupe
PH Fleet Update: Infiniti G37 Coupe
PH Fleet Update: Infiniti G37 Coupe
PH Fleet: Infiniti G37 S Coupe

[MattDell]

I would like to add another layer of irritation to the fuel gauge (range meter)... it disappears altogether if you don't put wiper fluid in!

Edited by MattDell on Thursday 1st September 13:39