What's the most fuel you've put in?

alfiejts

alfiejts

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Just got back from a 540 mile round trip at the weekend and the car drank 55.1 litres at the pump - then I checked the manual and it says the capacity is only 55, so I must have been running on fumes....

The DIS had just dropped from 5 miles to zero and the needle was still slightly above the "empty" mark, so I had assumed that I had some in reserve, as guages and computers are usually pessimistic.

What's the most anyone else has managed to get into their tank?
Is there a bit in reserve over and above the quoted 55 litre capacity or was I really pushing it to the limit?
 
alfiejts said:
Just got back from a 540 mile round trip at the weekend and the car drank 55.1 litres at the pump - then I checked the manual and it says the capacity is only 55, so I must have been running on fumes....

The DIS had just dropped from 5 miles to zero and the needle was still slightly above the "empty" mark, so I had assumed that I had some in reserve, as guages and computers are usually pessimistic.

What's the most anyone else has managed to get into their tank?
Is there a bit in reserve over and above the quoted 55 litre capacity or was I really pushing it to the limit?
Click to expand...
I guess the actual tank is 55 litres but you could probably get upwards of another 1/2 - 1 litre in the pipes up to the filling cap.
 
alfiejts said:
Just got back from a 540 mile round trip at the weekend and the car drank 55.1 litres at the pump - then I checked the manual and it says the capacity is only 55, so I must have been running on fumes....

The DIS had just dropped from 5 miles to zero and the needle was still slightly above the "empty" mark, so I had assumed that I had some in reserve, as guages and computers are usually pessimistic.

What's the most anyone else has managed to get into their tank?
Is there a bit in reserve over and above the quoted 55 litre capacity or was I really pushing it to the limit?
Click to expand...
I've travelled 35km after it hit zero. It was the middle of the night and every station I passed was closed. Luckily I found one just before it cut out. I have a note somewhere of how much fuel it took to fill it afterwards. I'll try to dig it out. I think I've put more than 55 litres in it before though.
 
if top gear has taught us anything, its that the audi is a magician with petrol (the episode where clarkson drove to and from edinborough on 1 tank! in an a8)
 
I've never quite understood the principle of waiting for the light to come on before refueling. The car runs just as well on a full tank as it does on an empty one. So I'm the one who fills up when the tank is 1/4 full.

You must have been on vapor if you managed to put in more than the tank can officially hold!

I'd never risk running it that low. You're all obviously much braver then I am but I just could not imagine the embarrassment of being recovered because I ran out of fuel.

Having said all that I always get about 450 between fills.
 
Marms,

I agree with you about refuelling at Quarter tank. it's just sensible and removes stress and hassle. The reason one can get more fuel in than the stated tank capacity is because the expansion tank is not included in the tank capacity figure.
 
marms said:
I've never quite understood the principle of waiting for the light to come on before refueling. The car runs just as well on a full tank as it does on an empty one. So I'm the one who fills up when the tank is 1/4 full.

You must have been on vapor if you managed to put in more than the tank can officially hold!

I'd never risk running it that low. You're all obviously much braver then I am but I just could not imagine the embarrassment of being recovered because I ran out of fuel.

Having said all that I always get about 450 between fills.
Click to expand...

I have a fuel card, so I would usually fill it up at a particular filling station chain, as I get charged the wholesale price with the card - this can be a saving of up to 10p a litre, although it is usually 4 or 5p. There is one on my way home from work, so I would usually fill it up the next time I pass it after the warning light comes on. I wouldn't normally play fuel light bingo, however I have been caught short on occasion and had to run it almost on fumes - usually in the middle of the night when most of the stations are closed.

Also, a quick money saving tip.... according to the boffins at some university or other in America it is better to fill your car up early in the morning as fuel expands with heat - so the hotter it gets the less fuel you get. Apparently the pumps are not designed to compensate for the change in temperature.

The figures they quote are: "A 25-gallon fill-up of 75 degree F gasoline equates to a loss of nearly one quart. The same fill-up at 90 degrees F equates to nearly a half gallon."
 
if i filled up once i was quarter tank full, id be visiting the petrol station twice a week for deisel
 
killa_z said:
if top gear has taught us anything, its that the audi is a magician with petrol (the episode where clarkson drove to and from edinborough on 1 tank! in an a8)
Click to expand...

especially as the car was a 4.0 TDI :jump:
 
marms said:
I've never quite understood the principle of waiting for the light to come on before refueling. The car runs just as well on a full tank as it does on an empty one. So I'm the one who fills up when the tank is 1/4 full.
Click to expand...

No it doesn't, fuel is quite heavy, it will accelerate better on a nearly empty tank:icon_thumright: On a standard day 55 litres of fuel is 44 kg in weight.
 
I just knew someone would come along with this one.

Do you really think that people who run 2.0 TDi engines are really interested in the 'extra' acceleration a maximum of 44 kg is going to make? We are not talking about trimming 10ths of a seconds of 1/4 mile times here. Are you seriously telling me you run your car empty so as to make the car accelerate quicker?


Arguing for arguing sake I'd say.
 
No I wouldn't normally let it get that low, but my local Shell station has just started stocking V-Power diesel.

I'd used it to refill a 3/4 empty tank before I set off on the road-trip and was trying to get back home with an almost empty tank, so I could fill it up completely with V-Power without diluting it with anything else, in order to see what (if any) difference it made.




And anyway, the wonderful DIS was showing 95 mile range when I was only 60 miles from home, so when I set off on the last leg of my journey, I thought I had plenty to spare......

I've been caught out by that before though.
 
just got my car back from the garage and it was almost empty the DIS said i had 10 miles to go so headed to nearest petrol station and it drank 55.6 litres of V Power.
 
Sorry for being stupid - how do I get it to tell me how many miles I've got left in the tank? All i get is the petrol pump symbol when I go low...
 
You can only get this if your car has the full DIS display.
You know, average MPG average MPH etc etc. Just use the little button under the wiper stalk to switch until you see the one for miles remaining.

Not sure which car you have though so it may not be an option on yours?
 
I used to have a friend who would put £3 of fuel in every day and then drive to work , why he could not just fill the dam thing I have no idea i think he had a phobia of spending money.:think:
 
marms said:
You can only get this if your car has the full DIS display.
You know, average MPG average MPH etc etc. Just use the little button under the wiper stalk to switch until you see the one for miles remaining.

Not sure which car you have though so it may not be an option on yours?
Click to expand...

Ah ok, I've got an 07 S3 - didn't spec anything like that so I guess unless it comes as standard....
 
KARL said:
Ah ok, I've got an 07 S3 - didn't spec anything like that so I guess unless it comes as standard....
Click to expand...
yeah you'll have two trip computers. pressing the button under the wiper stalk will rotate between trip1, trip2, digital speedo and menu. when you are in trip 1 and 2 for the first time the default setting is distance. if you press the button on the tip of the stalk it will rotate through distance, time, average speed, current mpg, avg mpg, distance remaining.

Trip 1 settings reset to zero after the ignition has been off for two hours. Both trip 1 and trip 2 values can be reset by holding the reset button underneath the wiper stalk for 3 or 4 seconds. you have to reset each value individually though - there is no master reset option.
 
I was under the impression that you should avoid running less than a quarter tank on turbo charged cars as it casues a slight loss in fuel pressure and slightly leaner running...
 
normski said:
I was under the impression that you should avoid running less than a quarter tank on turbo charged cars as it casues a slight loss in fuel pressure and slightly leaner running...
Click to expand...

sounds like a total myth to me, and a stupid one!

since filling up with shell diesel extra im now getting around 505 miles to my tank as the warning light comes on, not bad!! and i drive my car hard somtimes.
 
Mikey,

Yor'e right! This isn't a fuel supply system akin to the gravity feed water system in our houses. It's pumped.
 
Well forgive me if I am wrong...but I have been told this by a friend who owns my local scooby dealer, and the head technical chappy at the Prodrive testing ground at Balsall Common...what idiots eh?
 
I imagine your all measuring what you all put in by the read out at the station. I wouldnt trust the pumps readout particularly. I wouldnt be suprised if it overreads to make you think you get more for your money.
 
MarcQuinlivan said:
...you have to reset each value individually though - there is no master reset option.
Click to expand...

I think you can reset them all by going into the compter menu and resetting the whole lot with the Comp1 or Comp2 parent tick box.
 
I go by money.
Near enough £50 is the most, but that was running on air and then filling it up until it ****** all over the forecourt.
 
bowfer said:
I go by money.
Near enough £50 is the most, but that was running on air and then filling it up until it ****** all over the forecourt.
Click to expand...

I got £60 into my S3 a few days ago, at 103.7p per litre for Shell V Power, that equates to 57.85 litres :faint: And i still think i could've put a bit more in :)
 
marms said:
I just knew someone would come along with this one.

Do you really think that people who run 2.0 TDi engines are really interested in the 'extra' acceleration a maximum of 44 kg is going to make? We are not talking about trimming 10ths of a seconds of 1/4 mile times here. Are you seriously telling me you run your car empty so as to make the car accelerate quicker?


Arguing for arguing sake I'd say.
Click to expand...

Not everyone nowdays runs a turbo diesel for enconomy. See these threads,

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=46534
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=45545
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=45439
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=45117
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=45015

I'm guessing these people are chipping and modifying their diesels and taking them on tracks to see what better economy they can get!:think:

No I don't run my car empty, but alot of the time I don't fill up more that 3/4 of a tank because the more fuel I put in the more fuel I burn, after all nowdays we're told not to carry extra junk in are cars because of the weight, so if you want to save the planet - every little helps. Better acceleration is just a bonus:eyebrows: Just trying to slightly offset running an S3 (and before someone complains I do less than 5000 miles a year so I produce less Carbon than some people with green cars and I do drive enconomically, most of the time!).
 
Can't say I've noticed a full tank making much of a difference to my car's straight line performance, but the car's much more fun with a near-empty tank, handlingwise.
40+ kgs hanging straight over the rear end will make a difference.
 
Ok lets put a twist on the guys who only fill up on 1/4 tank.

High Octane Fuel is heavy and goes to the bottom of the tank so all the rubbish sits on top of the good fuel at the bottom. The other thing about fuel is that fuel goes off quite quickly in your tank. What was sexy 98ron will become less than a cheap fuel in not a lot of time.

This is also a problem if you don't do many miles a month and you fill the tank. By the time you get to using the fuel it's no good.

This is not too much of a problem on standard cars other than the loss of performance but on modified car this can lead to alsorts of problems.
 
lol - that's the most entertaining thing I've read on here. I've just conjured up the image of the Administrators just putting a gallon in and furiously driving to a standstill before their fuel goes off.
 
m40rcd said:
I imagine your all measuring what you all put in by the read out at the station. I wouldnt trust the pumps readout particularly. I wouldnt be suprised if it overreads to make you think you get more for your money.
Click to expand...

I remember reading that Trading Standards do random checks on this. ????

I've put 59.87litres in my S3. I was driving like miss daisy to get the petrol station and when i opened the fuel cap there was a definite slight vacuum created!
 
Administrators said:
Ok lets put a twist on the guys who only fill up on 1/4 tank.

High Octane Fuel is heavy and goes to the bottom of the tank so all the rubbish sits on top of the good fuel at the bottom. The other thing about fuel is that fuel goes off quite quickly in your tank. What was sexy 98ron will become less than a cheap fuel in not a lot of time.

This is also a problem if you don't do many miles a month and you fill the tank. By the time you get to using the fuel it's no good.

This is not too much of a problem on standard cars other than the loss of performance but on modified car this can lead to alsorts of problems.
Click to expand...

Never new this, so if high octane fuel degrades to cheap fuel in a short period does cheap fuel degrade as well to something like 90 octane? And does the fuel degrade from manfacture, so by the time it gets to the petrol station then from their tanks into your car the fuel isn't quite as good?

I use Vpower and don't do alot of miles so maybe I'll fill up less otherwise I will not get such good mileage or performance:icon_thumright:
 
S3Daz said:
Never new this, so if high octane fuel degrades to cheap fuel in a short period does cheap fuel degrade as well to something like 90 octane? And does the fuel degrade from manfacture, so by the time it gets to the petrol station then from their tanks into your car the fuel isn't quite as good?

I use Vpower and don't do alot of miles so maybe I'll fill up less otherwise I will not get such good mileage or performance:icon_thumright:
Click to expand...

Pretty sure all fuel degrades and I read somewhere that got worse with unleaded.

I believe that fuel should be at the stated RON figure when it leaves the pump nozzle so in it's probably higher when delivered.
 
Fuel will degrade over a period of time. Anyone who has petrol powered garden machinery will note the suggestion that you don't leave fuel in the tank over winter. However, the main reason for this is the gumming it can cause in carbs etc. Whilst the volatility decreases over winter, in 30 years of using the machinery I've never had a problem with gumming or poor starting. If you drive your car everywhere like you stole it and a performance difference of a fraction of a second is vital to your pride and well-being then you may prefer fresh fuel. The rest of us will notice no practical difference.
 
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