As far as user experience goes, having a non-linear gas gauge is, for me at least, infuriating. My 94 Accord had a fairly linear gas gauge, I knew that when I got to 1/4, there was roughly 1/4 tank of gas left. Now, in my new Mazda 6, there's a definite non-linear effect, and have been surprised more than once by how little distance I get out of that last "1/4 tank."
I find it somewhat dangerous to have a non-linear gas gauge, especially at the bottom end if you're not used to it. Let's say I just drove 150km and used a 1/2 tank of gas, then I see a gas station and a sign that says that the next gas station is in 100km. Given that I've got a 1/2 tank left, I should have 1/6 of a tank to spare when I get there right? Well, no, turns out that it's cutting it really close. My gas light goes on when I'm about 10km away from the gas station. Not a pleasant experience at all.
I'm seriously considering doing some math can hooking up some sort of microcontroller to the gas gauge to undo the "calibration" done at the factory. Really wish there was some kind of bolt-in mod for this.
What I do is to ignore the gas gauge completely. I keep track of the miles driven. My driving is fairly consistent, and I know the rated capacity of my fuel tank, so I can fairly easily determine when I should fill up based on how many miles I have driven.
I like your style. However, this can be a problem when you're switching between city and highway driving. My vehicle gets 1.5x the mileage (300 miles vs 200) on a full tank when I drive on highways as opposed to in a city. So it is helpful to have a sense of what the gas gauge is telling you.
300 miles? The tank in my 1.6 VW Golf is 55 litres (12 imperial gallons) and I get between 420 and 500 miles out of a full tank (I get around 37mpg combined and 42mpg on highways). Do your cars generally use more fuel than European cars? Do automatic cars really affect the gas usage /that/ much?
I don't grasp the benefit of this approach. You have a gauge that (albeit not particularly accurately) tells you how much fuel you have left, and in doing so, gives you a clue as to when to fill up.
It would be like working out how much to pay for heating by remembering how warm you keep your house, and how good your insulation is. Why not just look in the little cupboard and get the number off the meter?
I find it somewhat dangerous to have a non-linear gas gauge, especially at the bottom end if you're not used to it. Let's say I just drove 150km and used a 1/2 tank of gas, then I see a gas station and a sign that says that the next gas station is in 100km. Given that I've got a 1/2 tank left, I should have 1/6 of a tank to spare when I get there right? Well, no, turns out that it's cutting it really close. My gas light goes on when I'm about 10km away from the gas station. Not a pleasant experience at all.
I'm seriously considering doing some math can hooking up some sort of microcontroller to the gas gauge to undo the "calibration" done at the factory. Really wish there was some kind of bolt-in mod for this.