25% More Kms on a Tank

[vnx205]

I have discovered a way to get about 25% further on a tank of fuel.

It didn't involve changing my driving style, although that can certainly make a difference.

I didn't remove a lot of unnecessary weight or a roof rack from the vehicle, although that does help a bit.

I didn't change the time of my morning commute so that I struck fewer red lights and consequently had less stop-start driving.

I didn't fit a hiclone or add any magic potion to the fuel. In fact, I didn't have to modify the vehicle in any way to extend my range.

The method I used to get the extra distance works every time and gives me quite consistent results.

The way I am able to travel about a 25% further on a tank is astonishingly simple. What i did was, that instead of filling up when the fuel gauge was between the half and quarter mark, I started filling up when it was between the quarter mark and empty. So instead of getting about 500 km on a tank, I get about 620 km.

For the benefit of those who haven't yet worked it out, obviously this is not a serious suggestion. It is my less than subtle way of trying to demonstrate how useless a piece of information it is when someone announces that they get 650 km on a tank.

A statement like that is only of some use if everyone knows:

The size of your tank.
The point at which you decide to top up.
The accuracy of your fuel gauge.
AND
The extent to which your gauge indicates a higher level when going downhill or around a series of right hand bends.


Without all those pieces of information, the km per tank is about as meaningful as my boast about a 25% improvement.

How far you drove since you last filled up is not very helpful. What we need to know is how many litres it took to fill the tank at the end of the trip to exactly the same level as when you started. Better still, that figure taken over several fills is more useful in case your vehicle has one of those tanks that appears to be full when it isn't, either because froth fills the neck or a slight slope changes how much you can fit in.

So if you want to tell us something useful, tell us how many litres/100 km or else tell us how many kms and how many litres it took to fill the tank. If we are interested, at least we will be able to do the maths ourselves and get a meaningful figure.

I probably could have followed Chucaro's general advice and saved this pot stirring till happy hour, but I had a few minutes to fill in between mowing the lawn and getting my hair cut.
:D:D:D

[TimNZ]

but I had a few minutes to fill in between mowing the lawn and getting my hair cut.
:D:D:D

Do NOT mix up your tools today!

[Slunnie]

There are two types of people in the world, those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

[debruiser]

Unfortunately there are heaps of ppl out there that talk in such a manner :(

[Davehoos]

:)........

[uninformed]

I figure you would only need to know what capacity the tank was, and if we are talking about a set vehicle, then that may already be known.


Do people really say a "tank" and not mean the full amount :eek:

[superquag]

There are two types of people in the world, those who can extrapolate from incomplete data..........

:Rolling::Rolling::Rolling:


:clap2:


Thanks for that one, a perfect start for the day.

[superquag]

Do NOT mix up your tools today!

x2......

[Disco Muppet]

I get considerably longer out of a tank of fuel....
....by not driving the vehicle.....
:D

[chang]

Its saturday, i know i would of saved that time for enjoying a beer on the deck while admiring how good the lawn looks & celebrating not having to mow the thing for a couple of weeks.

[TimNZ]

I've found the best fuel saving device on the market is the "Block-o-wood":

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/948.jpg

It's fitted behind the accelerator pedal.

The same company has a similar product to reduce brake pad wear, and is fitted behind the brake pedal. However trials so far have given poor results due to all of the, (completely unrelated), crashes.

Cheers,

Tim

[bee utey]

My favourite tool for extracting 25% more distance out of a tank of fuel is this one (http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/msl_36hr_forecast.shtml).

[TimNZ]

Do you run some sort of sail bee utey?

[bee utey]

Do you run some sort of sail bee utey?

Could do.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/946.jpg

This was granddad's

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/947.jpg

[mistajoel]

The apparent "standard" measurement of a "tank of fuel" is a pet hate of mine, people tell me their car is great on fuel, tell me they get 500km to a tank, so i ask how much fuel that is, most common answer is along the lines of "oh it costs me $65"... yeah 'cos that is accurate too....

or my grandad, who can take the litres and kms, and tell me straight away how many miles to the gallons that is, which means nothing to 21yr old me, but he can't work out l/100km with a calculator :(

rant done :D

j

__________________
I only bother worrying when it stops leaking oil...usually means it's run out..

'96 Disco 300tdi

[chang]

The apparent "standard" measurement of a "tank of fuel" is a pet hate of mine, people tell me their car is great on fuel, tell me they get 500km to a tank, so i ask how much fuel that is, most common answer is along the lines of "oh it costs me $65"... yeah 'cos that is accurate too..

Maybe you should reconsider having friends with roughly 50L tanks that annoy you all the time :p

[jx2mad]

Angel gear down hills with a tail wind helps too

[snowbound]

It's all small potatoes to me as I just doubled the value of my Rangie. I filled it up with petrol at Canberra prices! :o

[Stuck]

Was it Caltex years ago with their CX-3 formula that promised truckies more miles between refills ?. Their "secret" was an additive that reduced froth.;)

[chang]

Was it Caltex years ago with their CX-3 formula that promised truckies more miles between refills ?. Their "secret" was an additive that reduced froth.;)

Shell promise that with Diesel Extra, & BP with Ultimate Diesel. I Have not tried the Shell product but with BP on two occasions, the only thing I noticed was it took three times as long to fill the tank due to the slow as **** pump............which would reduce foaming a lot I suspect.

[debruiser]

Shell promise that with Diesel Extra, & BP with Ultimate Diesel. I Have not tried the Shell product but with BP on two occasions, the only thing I noticed was it took three times as long to fill the tank due to the slow as **** pump............which would reduce foaming a lot I suspect.

I reckon the woolies premium diesel gives just a touch more power.... no actually I'm being serious. I wouldn't know about BP, havn't filled up with them since they started using that ethanol rubbish.

[chang]

I reckon the woolies premium diesel gives just a touch more power.... no actually I'm being serious. I wouldn't know about BP, havn't filled up with them since they started using that ethanol rubbish.

I don't think I have noticed much difference at all, tried them all & roughly the same but a bit quieter/smoother running on regular Shell diesel. Also the ADF here use it so if its good enough for them, its good enough for the disco.

[mikehzz]

There was a dill on another forum who preferred to calculate his fuel usage per cylinder in the car. There were 2 cars that got 10 l/100 km but one was a 4 cylinder and the other a 5 cylinder. He went for the 5 cylinder because it used 2 l/100 km per cylinder instead of the other that got 2.5. He viewed the 5 cylinder as more economical. He said it didn't matter how big the cylinders were...he was thinking laterally....it was a rewarding argument. :eek:

[MR LR]

Bahhhhh you're just having a lend!

Here I was thinking you had a solution so I could get more than 130 km's between fills!

Cheers
Will :p

[Disco Muppet]

Bahhhhh you're just having a lend!

Here I was thinking you had a solution so I could get more than 130 km's between fills!

Cheers
Will :p

There is, it's called cut the brick off your right leg :p

[Kevin B]

There are two types of people in the world, those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.

And those ppl are known as Climate Change Scientists. :eek:

[Stuck]

There was a dill on another forum who preferred to calculate his fuel usage per cylinder in the car. There were 2 cars that got 10 l/100 km but one was a 4 cylinder and the other a 5 cylinder. He went for the 5 cylinder because it used 2 l/100 km per cylinder instead of the other that got 2.5. He viewed the 5 cylinder as more economical. He said it didn't matter how big the cylinders were...he was thinking laterally....it was a rewarding argument. :eek:
One of my workmates says it's better to use supermarket docket vouchers when the price of fuel is down as the 4cpl discount represents a better discount percentage wise on the lower price :eek2:.

[Mick_Marsh]

Several people have suggested to me, if you fill the car only in the mornings, you'll get more fuel than in the day as the fuel is cooler and therefore denser.
Theory is sound. Sometimes it's best not to explain the practicalities.

[Ranga]

A statement like that is only of some use if everyone knows:

The size of your tank.
The point at which you decide to top up.
The accuracy of your fuel gauge.
AND
The extent to which your gauge indicates a higher level when going downhill or around a series of right hand bends.


You forgot size of tyres/accuracy of odometer ;)

[vnx205]

You forgot size of tyres/accuracy of odometer ;)

:)

I also left out a few other variables, like one that caught me out once.

When I was in Yass, I had become accustomed in the Series III to being able to comfortably travel another 30 km after the point where the needle was definitely sitting on the empty mark.

I discovered one very hot day in Camden (with my wife and my mother on board), that the fuel gauge gave a slightly more optimistic reading when the ambient temperature was much higher. At a fuel gauge reading where I could easily have driven another 20 or 30 km in cool temperatures, the Series III spluttered to a stop. It was a hot 3 km walk home to get a can of fuel.

Maybe I should have also had a word to say about the people who claim that as they have driven 400 km and the gauge still shows half full, that they reckon they should be able to get 800 km on a full tank.

With that same blindness to the fact that fuel gauges (on older vehicles at least), tend not to move at a consistent rate across the dial, I could claim that I own two perpetual motion machines. I can drive 90 km in the Defender and the gauge still shows full. Using the logic of those people who think that the halfway mark on the gauge corresponds exactly to a half full tank, I could claim that my Defender can go 90 km without using any fuel at all.

My 1988 Camry is even better. It used to do 90 km without using any fuel, but in the last five or ten years it has improved to the point where my fuel gauge tells me that I can drive 190 km and the tank is still completely full. Pretty impressive economy! :p

[33chinacars]

Several people have suggested to me, if you fill the car only in the mornings, you'll get more fuel than in the day as the fuel is cooler and therefore denser.
Theory is sound. Sometimes it's best not to explain the practicalities.

This is why aircraft are fueled in Lbs ( weight ) & not lts or gallons

[Hay Ewe]

When my D2a TD5 tank is full, I can get a comfortable 900km from it
when the tank is half full, I should be able to get 1000km from it

why, because the tank of fuel is lighter when its half full, so it doesnt take so much energy to carry it!

(Think about, just playing with you in this thead)

Hay Ewe

[vnx205]

When my D2a TD5 tank is full, I can get a comfortable 900km from it
when the tank is half full, I should be able to get 1000km from it

why, because the tank of fuel is lighter when its half full, so it doesnt take so much energy to carry it!

(Think about, just playing with you in this thead)

Hay Ewe

So does that work like life expectancy? The longer you live, the longer you can expect to live. Your life expectancy increases as you age, so your fuel consumption should improve as the tank empties.

You might be onto something there. If you don't put any fuel in at all, the weight saving should allow you to go a long way.

[chang]

Just fill the tank to the brim & while driving start tearing seats out (seen a movie with a plane in it where they done this to get further) , dash out, have a release mechanism for the spare cause that's heavy too, so turf that. Glass windows are for chimps, heavy stuff right there! what ya need is Perspex all round & definitely take the front shaft out, full time 4x4 saps juice.

easy 1500Km:o..........

[joel0407]

You posted the problem but no solution.

Have a look at Fuelly. They have a mobile specific site so it's quick and easy to enter your fuel up with your smart phone.

Check it out.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/02/168.jpg (http://www.fuelly.com/driver/joel0407/discovery)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/896.jpg (http://www.fuelly.com/driver/joel0407/ct110)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/05/1341.jpg (http://www.fuelly.com/driver/joel0407/yeti)

I'm not real happy with the postie. The Skoda is well over 15 times the weight and only uses double the fuel. If only I could get a turbo diesel postie.

Happy Days.

[Mick_Marsh]

This is why aircraft are fueled in Lbs ( weight ) & not lts or gallons
Yes, however, the fuel tanks at a servo are underground. The temperature down there doesn't change much between day and night.

[33chinacars]

Mine's an above ground tank. Just saying

[Mick_Marsh]

Mine's an above ground tank. Just saying
At your local servo or a personal one?

[zulu Delta 534]

When I bought my current Fraud Ranger, the brilliant salesman promised that I could get 630kms per tank. I think that he may have been correct but I am not game to test it.
I fill the tank up (63 litre tank - miles too small to be at all useful!) after about 520 odd Ks or so when the little yellow panic light comes on that tells me I only have ten litres of precious diesel left in the tank.
Having driven a lot of Diesels in my lifetime where the keeping a certain minimal amount of fuel remaining in the tank is imperative to assist cooling of the fuel prior to injection, I always fill up just before or at least, as soon as possible after this light comes on for this very reason. To fill the tank usually takes just over 50 litres.
A little bit of mental calculation tells me that this motor is averaging around 10 litres per 100 ks and that equates to doing approx 630 ks on a tank of fuel, just as the salesman said, as long as one is prepared to have a bone dry tank at the end of that mileage. I have never been in the situation to find out what these common rail oil burners are like to bleed on start up from bone dry but somehow I don't think that it would be the ideal way to drive a car, day in and day out. But then again they (Dealers and manufacturers) feel that this is a legitimate way to advertise.
The local Fraud dealer and I have had words on the subject, plus some others more than once or twice before, but I am apparently one of "those hard to satisfy" ignorant members of the public that they have to put up with every now and then.
Regards
Glen

[Kevin B]

Best Fuel economy ever....

:Rolling::Rolling::Rolling: :wasntme:

[bee utey]

The tank you can do 25% more km on...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/10/846.jpg

[Milton477]

:Rolling:http://wwwhttp://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/smilies/arms.gif.aulro.com/afvb/images/smilies/icon_rolling.gif :arms:

[33chinacars]

At your local servo or a personal one?

Personal tank on the farm

[V8Ian]

Several people have suggested to me, if you fill the car only in the mornings, you'll get more fuel than in the day as the fuel is cooler and therefore denser.
Theory is sound. Sometimes it's best not to explain the practicalities.Quite true Mick, in the case of above ground tanks; the temperature in underground storage is pretty stable.