Hi all,

Slightly odd question, perhaps but how much fuel can you get into your Superb?

I have had my car a month or so now and have filled up half a dozen times or so but have never been able to get more than 50 litres into the tank - IIRC the tank capacity is 60 litres. I usually fill up when the MFD says the range is 15 miles. If I still have 10 litres in the tank though that could mean I could drive another 70 miles -but I wouldn't like to find out the hard way!

Thanks,

Justin.

Hi all,

Slightly odd question, perhaps but how much fuel can you get into your Superb?

I have had my car a month or so now and have filled up half a dozen times or so but have never been able to get more than 50 litres into the tank - IIRC the tank capacity is 60 litres. I usually fill up when the MFD says the range is 15 miles. If I still have 10 litres in the tank though that could mean I could drive another 70 miles -but I wouldn't like to find out the hard way!

Thanks,

Justin.

I only use the MFD as a very rough guide, my fuel gauge seems near enough right if the tank capacity is an accurate 60 litres. I fill up when it is on the quarter full mark, top up to cut off is usually 43 - 45 litres. It is possible to sqeeze in about another 5 litres using the expansion space.

Hi,

For me when the fuel light comes on dash Computer says left 120 miles if I fill up full tank will be around 50-52 litters

The tank it self 60 Litters so everything right as let say 4.5 Litres per 60 Miles so

120 / 60 = 2 x 4.5 = 9 Litres 50-52 + 9 = 60 Litres

Regards

Inco

Personally, I wait until the MFD reads "0 miles", then aim to fill up within the next 50 miles. Adopting this method I've run out of fuel once only, within 300 metres of a filling station (engine died on an exit slip of the M6!). A very kind Asian guy in a Sprinter van stopped and gave me a lift to fill my fuel can. He even waited and insisted on dropping me back to my car. Who says there aren't good samaritans anymore? Whoever you are, many thanks again. I hope I can return the gesture someday.

Hi

Why wait until you nearly run out of fuel before filling up??

What if the motorway you are on stops and you have to sit there for hours and run out of fuel - you just compound the problem by not being able to move - or what if the fuel station you want to use has run out, has a power out or like on the M40 the other week burns down and is closed for 2 days??

Also as the car gets older sludge and stuff will be down at the bottom of the tank and could cause engine/fuel line probs.

I always fill up about 1/4 as I am never quite sure where I am going next if I am on call so dont know what will be open when.

In Germany I think it is an offence to run out of fuel.

But the main question was, I get about 45-50 litres on a fill.

Regards

Brian

Well, I try and fill up at my local Tesco as often as possible - not only is it one of the cheaper petrol stations around here but also last year I had £100.00+ worth of Clubcard points which have paid for countless magazine subscriptions and the odd day out etc. I'd also like to know how far I could theoretically run on a tank, if I had to for whatever reason.

I have only ever run out of fuel in a car twice and that was on the petrol station forecourt in a Peugeot with a gauge that was as vague as a politician, and once in my previous car, a Volvo S40 when the fuel line ruptured on the M40 and left me stranded with a pool of petrol running down the road.

Justin.

When MFD range is 0 I usually fill about 56 litres. S2 1.8 TSI.

I couldn't tell you how much fuel is required to fill the tank of my Superb. I would never dream of running it to less than a quarter full before looking for a refill. Running out of fuel causes all sorts of problems.

1) Cars with Cats do not like running out of fuel, it can damage the cat, and that can be expensive if it happens.

2) As the car gets older a lot of gunk collects in the bottom of the tank. This gunk can be sucked into the injectors and do a lot of damage, and that can be expensive if it happens.

3) As The Chemist says, "What if the motorway you are on stops and you have to sit there for hours and run out of fuel ".

As I said before, I run to about quarter full. At that stage I look for a filling station to fill up to about three quarters full. That way I do not risk running out of fuel, but neither am I carrying a full load of fuel around in the car to the detriment of performance and economy. That seems to work for me.

fill up to about three quarters full. That way I do not risk running out of fuel, but neither am I carrying a full load of fuel around in the car to the detriment of performance and economy.

This is such a typical Dieseldriver behaviour haha. Unbelievable. As if 15kg will save our climate or any mentionable amount of fuel.

2) As the car gets older a lot of gunk collects in the bottom of the tank. This gunk can be sucked into the injectors and do a lot of damage, and that can be expensive if it happens.

Where does this "gunk" come from? Why would running the tank lower mean that this "gunk" will be sucked into the injectors more than at any other time? If it's heavier than diesel, it will already be on the bottom of the tank - from where the fuel is drawn. If it's lighter, it will be on the surface. In either case, I believe that this is a much-bandied-about urban myth. I've never known a modern diesel car suffer from "gunk-related" problems that were not deliberately and maliciously introduced.

Ray

Edited 28 May, 201016 yr by Argee

When the MFD says 0 miles you can get another 44 miles out of a 170DSG for sure, not sure if it would do 70 miles or not!

I have not experienced "gunk" in the petrol tank before.

What is this gunk? Is it sediment in the petrol that forms over time? Surely you'd be better off burning as much fuel as possible in that case. If it is something inherent in the petrol at all times then it makes no odds if you leave a quarter of a tank or none at all as the sediment will always collect at the bottom of the tank regardless - surely the suction point of the fuel pump is in a fixed position near the bottom of the tank? This would mean that given time this sediment would flood the suction point and be ingested into the engine.

I have not experienced this in any of my cars, including the Volvo 850 2.5 petrol which covered 417,000 miles in our ownership - which is an awful lot of petrol in the tank.

Regards,

Justin.

This is such a typical Dieseldriver behaviour haha. Unbelievable. As if 15kg will save our climate or any mentionable amount of fuel.

You may think it is typical diesel driver behavior, but it is a habit I learned years ago, long before I bought my first diesel in November last year, and long before saving the planet was fashionable.

Believe it! Lugging around a full fuel tank saps economy and performance. Lugging around an almost empty tank can leave you stuck on the side of the road.

You did get a little bit, but a fuel filter tends to deal with it, so you might need a new filter.

I have not experienced "gunk" in the petrol tank before.

What is this gunk? Is it sediment in the petrol that forms over time? Surely you'd be better off burning as much fuel as possible in that case. If it is something inherent in the petrol at all times then it makes no odds if you leave a quarter of a tank or none at all as the sediment will always collect at the bottom of the tank regardless - surely the suction point of the fuel pump is in a fixed position near the bottom of the tank? This would mean that given time this sediment would flood the suction point and be ingested into the engine.

I have not experienced this in any of my cars, including the Volvo 850 2.5 petrol which covered 417,000 miles in our ownership - which is an awful lot of petrol in the tank.

Regards,

Justin.

You may not have experienced it, but it does happen. When you fill your tank at a service station, do you know the quality of the fuel your are putting the tank. O yes, it may be to this octane rating or that standard, but do you know if the tank it is coming from has rust on the inside or contains some water mixed in with the fuel because of a crack in the tank? It does happen, and when it does happen, you are unlikely to know until it gets sucked up and causes a problem.

Some of the contamination will be floating, some will be sediment in the bottom of the tank. Whatever, problems are more likely to happen when the tank is running low. As your car gets older, and there have been more occasions when you have put fuel in the tank, there is a greater likelyhood of this sort of material collecting in the tank. It can block filters and can damage injectors.

Some of the contamination will be floating, some will be sediment in the bottom of the tank. Whatever, problems are more likely to happen when the tank is running low. As your car gets older, and there have been more occasions when you have put fuel in the tank, there is a greater likelyhood of this sort of material collecting in the tank. It can block filters and can damage injectors.

Who does it happen to? Where? When? How frequently? It's time to stop digging and throw the shovel away. There's no supporting evidence that I can find, even anecdotally.

If you were to get fuel contamination in the way you claim, it would be instantly apparent. Water and sediment are both heavier than diesel (or petrol) and will, therefore, be immediately ingested by the action of gravity, combined with the fuel pump. You might get off the garage forecourt, but you're not going to get much further. Whilst a lower level in the tank will lead to more overall movement of the fuel (as will aggressive or "enthusiastic" driving, incidentally), the very nature of the tank's shape will mean that any such water or sediment cannot lay about on the bottom - it will graviate towards the lowest point which - by design - is the fuel outlet.

Since you seem to want to have it both ways, "floating contamination" is - presumably - lighter than diesel or petrol and will, therefore, never get ingested until the tank is on its very last drop, although it would, in all likelihood, stick to the tank bottom as the fuel ran out. However, if it is floating, how did it get from the garage tank into the fuel tank in the first place? - that seems to be a physical impossibility unless the garage tank has its contents sucked off the top (and of course they don't!).

There was a situation last year when water got into fuel at the refinery/storage depot. That caused such an immediate problem at the outlets it was possible to track it and prevent further difficulties. It was nothing to do with longevity, or cumulative amounts of contamination. Fuel is sold to a standard and prosecutions would result if these were not met.

Garage pumps have filters too and the officials from Weights and Measures (probably now part of HMC&R) regularly sample contents. This may have been a problem many years ago with a few petrol-engined marques, due to the lack of fuel filtration and poor-quality tank materials. However, modern diesel tanks never have such problems because of the inherent lubricating effect of the fuel combined with fuel filters which remove anything else (unless - as already stated - it's introduced deliberately and/or maliciously). If this contamination blocks filters, how does the fuel get to the injectors to damage them?

Please stop trying to perpetuate this myth any further.

Ray.

name='the chemist' date='26 May 2010 - 20:54' timestamp='1274903676' post='1997522']

Why wait until you nearly run out of fuel before filling up??

Because I aim to fill up as few times as possible. Every time I stop to refuel it generally takes a minimum of 10-15 mins, dependijg on queues.

What if the motorway you are on stops and you have to sit there for hours and run out of fuel - you just compound the problem by not being able to move - or what if the fuel station you want to use has run out, has a power out or like on the M40 the other week burns down and is closed for 2 days??

I usually carry 5-10 litres in a metal jerry can for such purposes.

Also as the car gets older sludge and stuff will be down at the bottom of the tank and could cause engine/fuel line probs.

Myth.

I always fill up about 1/4 as I am never quite sure where I am going next if I am on call so dont know what will be open when.

Life if too prefictable as it is. With a little planning, it is always possible to find fuel before running dry. I like the challenge of seeing how far I can travel on a tank of fuel. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

In Germany I think it is an offence to run out of fuel.

I believe it is an offence to run out of fuel on a motorway in the UK. It's a good job then I ran out of fuel of an exit slip!

But the main question was, I get about 45-50 litres on a fill.

I usually fill up with 57 litres.

Edited 29 May, 201016 yr by veloplus

I only fill my car up to about 50% each time, unless I'm going on a long journey, because fuel = weight = worse MPG.

So I have to fill up to 50% every 7-10 days, so what? It's a chore, but I'm only carrying what I need to carry & no more, it also ****es of fuel thieves!

I only fill my car up to about 50% each time, unless I'm going on a long journey, because fuel = weight = worse MPG.

So are you actually able to measure the difference? If so, how, and how much difference did you see?

I haven't measured it yet.

I'm trying out what several people in the trade have told me, only fill it right up if you need to, otherwise you're carrying more fuel than you need to & which you in turn use quicker because you're carrying excess weight.

So don't carry more weight than you need to & that includes fuel.

15kg of 1500 kg = 1%

How much of the mpg depends on the weight only?

So we are talking about how much gas a year? Funny how some ppl have time to think about such things.

Or 60kg of 1500kg for a full tank.

I'm the only person in the car usually.

Or 60kg of 1500kg for a full tank.

We are talking about the DIFFERENCE it makes when fueling only partly like described earlier. How can you seriously argue with the whole capacity? :no:

I haven't measured it yet.

I'm trying out what several people in the trade have told me, only fill it right up if you need to, otherwise you're carrying more fuel than you need to & which you in turn use quicker because you're carrying excess weight.

So don't carry more weight than you need to & that includes fuel.

Yeah, no arguing with the logic but I'm not sure the difference would actually be measurable.

By way of a test, a spare wheel conveniently weighs about the same as half a tank of fuel. I always do a brim to brim measurement and consistently return 48-50mpg. I wonder if I took out my spare wheel for one tank if I'd be able to measure the difference, as that's roughly what you're talking about. It's just not a huge amount of weight, it's around 1.5% of the total weight of the car.

This is what I'm following: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheaper-fuel