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 Onboard
trip computers are one of the best options in a tow
vehicle
0ne great feature in many modern vehicles is the driving
computer or driver's information system. Generally
these systems will display fuel economy, average speed,
range and such. Recently I was driving a friends relatively
new car, and I asked him what sort of mileage he was
getting with it. He said he never bothered to check
it. I mentioned that it was not a lot of bother as
all he had to do was push a button, and proceeded
to show him how the system operated. It got me to
wondering how many other people have these systems
and do not make use of them. When towing, they are
an extremely helpful tool.
 One
of the best functions is the or Range readout, or
Distance To Empty. This tells you how far the vehicle
can travel on the remaining fuel, based on the consumption
over the last 100 kilometres. They are very accurate
and allow you to use the entire fuel tank without
fear of running out. For example, you may look at
your gauge and see that it showing less than one quarter
of a tank, and feel that you should fuel up right
away. Checking the display, however, may reveal that
you have enough fuel left to go another 90 kilometres.
If you know that there is a town 60 or 70 kilometres
away, then you can keep travelling the additional
distance with confidence. Every one of these systems
that I have used has some margin for error built in,
and all have been able to go an additional 15 to 20
kilometres while towing.
You can easily check the accuracy of the computer
in your vehicle when you fill up with fuel. To do
this you need to know the vehicle's total fuel capacity
(which should be listed in the owner's manual), your
current average fuel economy from the display, the
remaining range indicated on the display, and the
number of litres to fill the tank.
For example, let's say your owner's manual lists your
fuel tank's capacity at 100 litres and you stop to
fill up when the computer says you have 30 kilometres
range remaining. If you are averaging 20 litres per
100 kilometres, then you should have six litres of
fuel remaining. If the computer is working properly,
it should therefore take less than 94 litres to fill
the tank.
Mathematically, you work it out this way:
...
(Read Andy's full article in the magazine.)
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