Tankonempty.com: How far past the slash can you go?

In an episode of "Seinfeld," Kramer and a car salesman vowed to drive a Saab 900 "into the slash" just to see what would happen. Kramer said he had done it once but blacked out and woke up in a ditch with a full tank of gas. There's now a website that would have benefited from Kramer's experiment. Tank On Empty is collecting stories and experiences of how far each model of car can go past the slash before running out of fuel.

So let's say you drive a Dodge Intrepid. According to Tank On Empty, the most mileage after the low-fuel light has come on is claimed to be 99. The least is zero and the average is 36.4. Unfortunately, there are no distinctions made for any difference in engines, model years, options or geographical location. And, it turns out, 99 is the most miles users are allowed to enter and drivers are not required to push their cars until they're dry.

The site has a good idea trying to compile this kind of data. But it's fatally flawed methodology offers results that are, unfortunately, completely worthless.

Instead of a light, what we need is to go back to the system Volkswagen once used. Until 1962, VW Beetles didn't have a fuel gauge. Instead, when your car's tank ran empty and sputtered to a stop, you flipped a lever that activated a small fuel reserve that would hopefully give you time to find a place to refuel. Classic VW owners quickly learned how to calculate their remaining travel time.

[Source: tankonempty.com via gumball144.com]