Just wondering if anyone else finds the fuel tank to be relatively small in capacity?

My previous car - a petrol Pug 206 would hold £60+ if I brimmed it after pottering to the petrol station on fumes and using most of the reserve tank (Again another sin I know).

Yet the Fabia, which bearing in mind diesel being 5 or so pence more a litre than petrol, only holds just under £50

Definite improvement in the economy of things obviously, but also a definite difference in the capacity of the tank.

JRJG

I believe the Fabia tank is 45 litres from empty which is the typical size for a small car. The Octavia and Superb are both 55 Litre tanks for comparison.

 

My Audi takes a whopping 90 litres, and that gets me about 430 miles before I need to put in another 90 litres.

Really? I've put over £60 in before, like you say, when I drive into the station with 0 miles to empty showing on the trip computer, then brim it and fill the reserve too, I've had over 46 litres in there. That's on a standard VRS. Maybe it's a badly calibrated pump when I've done that but I've done it a few times for sure.

 

Also, why wouldn't you fill the reserve?

You can top the fabia up with about 50 litres but I wouldn't advise it unless you do long journeys all the time. Had issues of it expanding in the summer!

...and that gets me about 430 miles before I need to put in another 90 litres.

 

Ouch

Comparing value of fuel in tank on a car you used to own vs the car you now own isn't accurate, especially on different fuel types. The numbers you are interested in are tank capacity in liters and tank range as fuel prices change, that's why it's measured in volume as that's a fixed point for comparison. The fabia is a small family car, a tank range of 500+ miles seems more than reasonable. Also the myth about running on reserve is exactly that, fuel is drawn from the lowest point in the tank, running on fumes is no better or worse for the engine than having a full tank, exceptions used to exist but so did manually switching the tank over to reserve before the carbs drained and you stalled. You can fit circa 56ltrs in using a vented fill, this is not a reserve tank, it's filling the space designed for expansion and leftover from the petrol version.

The "main tank" is 45 litres.

I put 54.08 litres in my Fabia last night. ****ing cost me £72.95!

I've had 58 litres in before which puts the expansion tank at 13 litres or so. Gives a theoretical range of over 600 miles. If you do put 58 litres in then don't expect it to stay there, it's called the expansion tank for a reason...

I've squeezed 50 litres in before using the vented fill, never taken my fuel down to zero miles left sod that, my tank pings at about 70 miles left so make my way quickly to a garage for a refuel as soon as. best I can squeeze on a refuel was about 540 miles, so well worth vented fill, Tesco fuel about £1.34 a litre atm. Morrisons fuel I don't get much miles out of the tank but get a lot more when filled up with shell.  

Fill up once a week with just over £70 of diesel @ 1.34. i get over 500 miles before the light comes back on.

Get the fuelly app - its great - apparently im getting about 54mpg

Thanks for the heads up about overfilling I will keep that it mind for sure.

Out of interest - if you've overfilled and the fuel expands due to temperature - where does the excess fuel go? There isn't an 'overfill drain' like on a sink surely?

JRJG