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filling up - wotspur
I do quite a number of miles a week, often filling up more than once a week.
Am i better off , doing as I currently do , fill up, drive 550 miles then when near empty fill up again, or fill half tank do 200 miles and then fill up - which is most economical.
Finally why are the pumps so slow to dispense the fuel, the lorry diesel pumps are fine, obviously quicker, but why are normal pumps so slow
filling up - cjehuk
Your car will use the same amount of fuel within reason whether you fill up weekly, daily or hourly. It's just the more often you fill the more time you waste queuing and paying, the time take to dispense 60l of fuel is the same whether one lot of 60l or two of 30l while actually pumping, it's the rest of it that takes the extra time!

My A3 has currently done 590 miles since filling up and I don't intend to fill up for at least another 40. I spend enough time crouched over pump nozzles as it is.
filling up - Bromptonaut
I'm not convinced, but breakdown recovery suggested that using low fuel light as a fill up prompt was partly responsible for the early demise of the low pressure (in tank) fuel pump on my Xantia.
filling up - type's'
I think I told you about my Father In Law only half filling his car each time because the weight of the other half (petrol that is not his wife) would reduce his fuel economy.
You do not want to go there.
I usually fill to full and then refill at just below quarter a tank.
filling up - Adam {P}
I put 20 quid in and then when the light's been on for some miles put 20 more quid in.

Not for economy reasons - just because it doesn't seem as painful. Although now that you think about it, it does stand to reason that having 20 quid's worth of petrol rather than 60 would be a lot lighter on the car.
filling up - Pugugly {P}
and less to lose if some toe rag syphons it.
filling up - type's'
Aren't most tanks anti-syphon nowadays ?
The last time I tried it was in my university days - the owner knew honest - he was lending me some petrol.
filling up - Pugugly {P}
They cut through fuel lines and into tanks around here as well.
filling up - Rats
Assuming that the mass of fuel is approx. 1kg/litre, maybe actually a bit more, carrying 40ish Kg more weight may reduce your fuel consumption, but, how many extra miles do you do to fill up 2 or 3 times as often, plus how long to you spend idling waiting for a pump, plus the extra stop/start cycles that are less economic???
filling up - Adam {P}
None whatsoever.

I drive past a petrol station every day. Granted I probably use it every day but that's another matter.

I'll use the nearest petrol station in an emergency - i.e. if the light's been on for 40 miles or so. And in the time I've had the car that's happened about 5 times.
filling up - Pugugly {P}
if the light's been on for 40 miles
You're a very brave young man.
filling up - Adam {P}
>>if the light's been on for 40 miles
You're a very brave young man.<<

I do it because I get bored otherwise. When the light's on and you have no idea where you are it creates a sense of excitment when you think at any moment you might break down and have to walk for miles to get petrol.

I can't help but think that if I had a life, I wouldn't have to do things like that.


By the way - best I've got is 44 miles from when the light came on.
filling up - Jonathan {p}
> By the way - best I've got is 44 miles from

You sould like Kramer from Seinfeld...

www.tv.com/seinfeld/the-dealership/episode/2407/re...l
filling up - Citroënian {P}
>>www.tv.com/seinfeld/the-dealership/episode/2407/re...l

Genius, love the ending when Kramer just walks away leaving the over-excited car salesman in the middle of nowhere.


-- You know, it\'s not like changing toothpaste
filling up - PhilW
"I do it because I get bored otherwise"

You need to give it a few more revs mate, and listen to the beautiful sound of that Focus engine and the valves bouncing (do they do that these days??)

"at any moment you might break down " - a diesel might be more reliable and less stressful??
Multiple smileys!!

--
Phil
filling up - Adam {P}
a diesel might be more reliable and less stressful??<<


In terms of reliability I imagine it would be. In terms of sounding like a Transit van, however quick it goes, it wouldn't be!

;-)
filling up - jase1
By the way - best I've got is 44 miles from
when the light came on.


I've gone 75 miles with the light on before and *still* only been able to put 43 litres in on a 45l tank. Seems to depend on the car; mine seems to warn me when I still have a couple of gallons left, a good idea IMO.

I have to say though that I was extremely lucky on one occasion when I let the car run completely empty -- it started stuttering just as I was approaching my local Shell station. Relief is not the word -- when I stopped the car it wouldn't start again. I got the full 45 litres in on that occasion....
filling up - stevied
Adam, I can't help thinking we must be related in some way. Am I your (slightly) older brother?
filling up - Big Bad Dave
"I do it because I get bored otherwise. When the light's on and you have no idea where you are it creates a sense of excitment when you think at any moment you might break down and have to walk for miles to get petrol.

I can't help but think that if I had a life, I wouldn't have to do things like that."

Adam, it's the apetite for self-destruction that's in all of us.

I have to fight the urge to throw my wallet and keys overboard when I'm on a ferry.

I can't resist touching a wire when I see one poking out of a wall.

I like to touch things that I know are hot.

When I moved house recently, it wasn't enough to transport my fish in the boot with the tank half full and no lid on them - I had to pack all my computer gear around it.

Don't get me started on top-loading spin dryers that you can open while they're on full spin...
filling up - Adam {P}
>>Adam, I can't help thinking we must be related in some way. Am I your (slightly) older brother?<<

It's possible. Do you like pies but somehow manage to maintain a trim and svelt figure? Are you stunningly handsome, witty, clever most importantly, modest?

>>Adam, it's the apetite for self-destruction that's in all of us.<<

I think you're right.

< snip >

[surely the scintilating Chronicles of Adam belong somewhere else, far, far away from here - PG ]
filling up - Altea Ego
filling up - Adam {P}
filling up - type's'
filling up - Jonathan {p}
filling up - Adam {P}
filling up - type's'
filling up - edisdead {P}
Repeating what others have already said... In my experience, the best way to get the most miles from a tank is to go from brim full to runing on fumes in as few days as possible, ie. minimise the number of cold starts (other factors being equal). I have never experimented with half a tank, but I would imagine that twice as many trips to the gas station would negate any possible savings from not carrying a few extra kilos around. Plus I haven't got time to queue for petrol twice a week.

Suggest better way to minimise cost would be to use petrolprices.com and plan your fill-up to coincide with a visit to the cheapest station on your usual routes.

btw, I agree, wouldn't it be nice if the pump could spit out 45 litres in a few seconds - F1 style!

Ed.
filling up - legacylad
I personally fill up whenever most convenient ie passing a Shell station with no queues.There are 2 which I drive past regularly, and I normally run my van between 1/4 and 3/4 full.Now nine years old, with 102k on the clock, I do not know what sludge there is swilling around the bottom of my tank so I rarely let if fall below 1/4 full. Maybe I am just being ultra cautious. On the other hand I rarely fill it...no point in carrying extra 5 gallons around. The difference in extra mpg must be minimal,but there is a difference...like driving round with an unnecessary roof rack, low tyre pressures etc. This method gets me 350/400 miles between fill ups.
I use Shell because using both a Shell Visa card and PlusPoints Loyalty Card gets me plenty of AirMiles, and I am fortunate in having the 2 local filling stations.
filling up - Roger Jones
From the respective handbooks, the reserve capacities in my cars are:

MB W124 9 litres/55 miles
MB W126 12.5 litres/68 miles
Capri 2.8i 10 ltires/58 miles
(now departed) Golf VR6 7 litres/45 miles

On the few occasions when I've really pushed my luck, I have found the reserves to be understated, i.e. there was fuel left even when the needle was at the end of its range and I was sweating. I've never worried about tank sludge and never experienced problems, trusting in the fuel filter and its regular replacement. Fuel weighs 0.74kg per litre, so half an average tank is equivalent to the weight of a six-year-old child (perhaps a four-year-old next year, if recent statistics are to be believed).

The Capri gauge is too unreliable to rely on the position of the needle, so after 300 miles from the previous fill-up I start looking for a Shell station.

Thanks for the reminder of Kramer, Jonathan. What a great comic actor Michael Richards is, especially in the physical dimension -- the door slide, etc. Time I went out and bought the whole set of DVDs.
filling up - Altea Ego
I use my local tesco. If the contents of my tank will get me to my destination and back, I drive there and back. If the contents of my tank wont do that, I start the via the tesco and fill up.

Does it really need to be any more complex than that?


MInd I have been known to get confused when my journey is bigger than my tank.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
filling up - DP
The Mondeo does 500-600 miles a week, so I always brim it. Otherwise I'd be at the petrol station every couple of days.

The fuel gauge is very unreliable in the last quarter of its travel (caught me out once and I ran out - embarrasing), so I now work off the trip meter motorbike style. Start thinking about refilling around the 550 mile mark, and won't push my luck past 600.

Cheers
DP
filling up - Big Bad Dave
I fill up when the computer says I have ten miles left in the tank.

I dread it. It takes so long to get a VAT receipt here, you have to give three different numbers from your business and they always imput it freshly each time as opposed to calling it up on a database.

I've started to use the unmanned garages that post receipts to your home but they have one terminal for every two pumps. I always get nervous that I'll type in a fifty quid maximum and the bloke at the other pump will nick my petrol.

I love that euphoric feeling of driving away with a full tank. The thought that you can go anywhere you like, drive to the coast, head off into the sunset...
filling up - Group B
The density of diesel is about 0.83kg per litre, so for me half a tank weighs about 25kg. Not worth bothering about IMO. Petrol is less dense at about 0.75kg/litre. With the mileage I do I prefer to fill up and get more range, and minimise the number of times I have to visit filling stations.

The handbook for my Saab TiD says the low fuel light comes on when there is 10 litres of fuel left. Which is silly, thats not low fuel at all, if I wanted to I could drive to work, back home, and to work again (75 miles) with the low fuel light on without any fear of running out. But I usually fill up when its convenient, when I've got around 30 miles left on the distance to empty readout.
Saab ones are claimed to be accurate, but my Dad had an Alfa 166 which used to run out of petrol when the computer still said 5 miles range! It happened about 3 times, then he decided he should watch the low fuel light and not the computer.

;o)
filling up - IanJohnson
The Accord is run from full to when the light comes on at which point it has 10l - or around 100 miles of fule left. Over 2 1/2 years it has proved to be as reliable as the rest of the car.

At present it has done 540 miles on this tank and the light is not on yet, will need filling tomorrow morning so a slight detour on the way to work tomorrow when it will have reached around 600. Rarely buy fuel anywhere else.
filling up - Martin1981
I average about 400 miles per week in my 306TD, meaning a fill up about every 9-10 days so I always brim the tank. I usually get about 550 miles (driving fairly sensibly) before the fuel warning light comes on, but I know it will run to over 600 miles before drying up completely. I got 570 miles on my latest tankful before the warning light came on and stayed on, filled up yesterday and it took 54 litres to brim the 60 litre tank so there was obviously about 5 litres left and so it would have run for another 50 odd miles, but I'm not prepared to take chances!

Martin
filling up - Xileno {P}
My car gives me some fun. On a tank it does 700+ miles but when the Range gets to 50 miles to go, it goes blank. So you then have to guess...
filling up - Vincent de Marco
I love that euphoric feeling of driving away with a full tank. The thought that you can go anywhere you like, drive >> to the coast, head off into the sunset...


And be forced to do an emergency stop in order to change a broken coil ;)
- - - - - - -
Free enterprise is the basis of western economy.
filling up - ffidrac {P}
if the light's been on for 40 miles or so.


My Kenari doesn't have a light but when the needle gets to the empty side of the red zone I watch the odo and do another 100 miles before filling (usually only getting 35L into the 40L tank)

At 400 miles + to a tank full this makes the bottom of the red zone the quater tank mark!