Fuel........always keep some spare or let it run down?

[Haggleburyfinius]

Willy Nilly said:

akirk said:

I stop at every petrol station I pass and fill up...
oh the joys of a RR v8 and an M5

I once filled my RR and XJS twice each in the same day - c. 80 gallons!

When I last filled up it said I could only go up to 99 quid, so how do you manage this level of thirst? 2 credit cards?

I always run my car down to under 10 miles on the range. There's a 24hr Shell less than a minute from my house so never a drama.

Anyway, my fill up is always more than £100. Never had a problem there.

[Second Best]

Normally fill up just as the needle dips below 1/4. Super unleaded isn't always available so it's a bit of a contingency to be able to move on if I can't use the garage, and I do the same in the car that uses normal unleaded.

Occasionally I'll let the Merc (on normal unleaded) get down as low as it can when I've got 3 litres or so of jerry can needing to be used.

[Mr Tidy]

I was up north last week - started the car to come home and it said 208 miles on the OBC so knowing the journey would be 205 miles I set off without refuelling.

I got to within 7 miles and the OBC said 4 miles left,but I bottled it and went for a splash and dash! (Well it was after 11 p.m.)!

[Riley Blue]

Jimmy Recard said:

langtounlad said:

Keeping a 5Ltr 'emergency' container isn't the best idea.
If it is just for emergencies, i.e. a very rare event, petrol may well have gone 'off' by the time it is required.

Just use it every so often and refill it? That's what I do with the jerry can I keep in the garage for emergencies

Each winter I drive my Riley into its garage and sometimes don't drive it out again for four or five months. It has never yet failed to start and run on the petrol remaining in its tank for that time.

[ianstoker]

matthias73 said:

Cars should be correctly POL'd after a trip.

Full tank, fresh water bottle, replen the sweets if required.

I work on the basis that I may receive a booty call at any time. I learnt the hard way once at 3am that I'd be sleeping alone instead of with a nyphomaniac due to my poor admin.

Wine Gums or Murray mints?

[GT03ROB]

When I come back from 4 weeks work RRS, Boxster & Fiat 500 are all well into the red, usually with ranges below 10 miles, usually on 0. After 4 weeks at home all are full, I get the impression that over 4 weeks each gets used until empty then onto the next!!

[akirk]

Willy Nilly said:

akirk said:

I stop at every petrol station I pass and fill up...
oh the joys of a RR v8 and an M5

I once filled my RR and XJS twice each in the same day - c. 80 gallons!

When I last filled up it said I could only go up to 99 quid, so how do you manage this level of thirst? 2 credit cards?

No issues above £100 - with a 20 gallon tank the RR is usually above that... maybe there was an issue with the petrol station or your card? Considering that gravel lorries fill up at the normal pumps at our local petrol station I assume that they can cope with considerably higher amounts...

[Pica-Pica]

ianstoker said:

matthias73 said:

Cars should be correctly POL'd after a trip.

Full tank, fresh water bottle, replen the sweets if required.

I work on the basis that I may receive a booty call at any time. I learnt the hard way once at 3am that I'd be sleeping alone instead of with a nyphomaniac due to my poor admin.

Wine Gums or Murray mints?

Werther's Originals, I would assume.

[alorotom]

akirk said:

Willy Nilly said:

akirk said:

I stop at every petrol station I pass and fill up...
oh the joys of a RR v8 and an M5

I once filled my RR and XJS twice each in the same day - c. 80 gallons!

When I last filled up it said I could only go up to 99 quid, so how do you manage this level of thirst? 2 credit cards?

No issues above £100 - with a 20 gallon tank the RR is usually above that... maybe there was an issue with the petrol station or your card? Considering that gravel lorries fill up at the normal pumps at our local petrol station I assume that they can cope with considerably higher amounts...

The only limit for £99 I have come across is pay at the pump, so when I fill the Q7 I have to select pay in kiosk and then it allows you to put in more than £99 ... full takes about £109 at the moment for me

[Halmyre]

I fill up when my range drops below ~30 miles. Even on the rare occasion I've stretched it out to zero miles (and below!) I've never run dry, touch wood.

My wife OTOH will drive on until the car's not just running on fumes but on the unburnt hydrocarbons from other people's exhausts.

My long-suffering permanently unserviced lawn mower runs on whatever dregs of petrol have survived the winter in a plastic can.

[Johnnytheboy]

Sometimes (usually in a work vehicle ) I like to see how long I can hold my nerve.

I managed to get more diesel in the tank of our Transit the other week than the handbook says it holds.

[Mike335i]

Light on = fuel in on both mine and my wife's cars. You are never far away from a petrol station and on both cars it means circa 50 miles left. Surprised that so much thought goes into it to be honest, although I get that with a very small range it makes much more of a difference.

What really surprises me is the comment that someone's wife is not confident enough to fill her own car up, or that another hasn't got time to do it and runs out! Surely that can't be true.

[Dannbodge]

I vary depending on where I am or what travelling I have to do.

If I've got a long journey and 1/4 tank left. I'll fill up.
If I've only got my commute to do, I'll wait until the car bongs at me (60 miles remaining)

[TooMany2cvs]

My record (without actually running out... <ahem>) is 91 litres into a car with a nominal 85 litre tank. That can't have been far off...

[kambites]

Since I don't pass a petrol station on my commute, I'll fill mine up if I happen to be driving past one and have less than half a tank left. The rest of the time, I'll run it down to about a sixth of a tank before thinking about going out of my way to find one.

I've quite often got 34+ litres into my "32 litre tank" but I suspect it'll actually take more like 40 including the filler neck.

[anonymous-user]

I always fill mine up then wait till the light comes on and fill up again. How the manufacturer designed it.

[Hol]

I'll fill up the next time I pass by a quiet petrol station and I am not in a hurry after the needle hits 1/3 of a tank.

Sometimes I don't get around to it until the warning light come on though.


I think a succession of cars that only gave 200 mile per tank. probably set that limit in my psyche.

[768]

I only get about 230 miles down the road before the low fuel light comes on.

Plus I hate it when the fuel station checkout people become overly familiar at both ends of your commute on different shifts. I wish pay at pump was everywhere.

So, as low as I dare.

[Monkeylegend]

When I was working I never set off on a journey unless I had enough fuel to get there and back. Now I am no longer working I never set off on a journey unless I have enough fuel to get there and back. Old habits die hard.

I always fill up when I am no lower than half a tank. I work on the basis that if I suddenly need to get somewhere in an emergency I don't want to faff around for fuel.

My other half on the other hand is a complete nightmare, but she is female

[matthias73]

Pica-Pica said:

ianstoker said:

matthias73 said:

Cars should be correctly POL'd after a trip.

Full tank, fresh water bottle, replen the sweets if required.

I work on the basis that I may receive a booty call at any time. I learnt the hard way once at 3am that I'd be sleeping alone instead of with a nyphomaniac due to my poor admin.

Wine Gums or Murray mints?

Werther's Originals, I would assume.

You're both right.

Mints for the nympho, wine gums for that energy boost and werthers in case it all gets a bit much.
Some little blue tablets and a quad pack of red bull too.

My motorbike on the other hand just has a handwritten note saying "man up"