Question

[verba1]

can someone advise please;

i read in the Noble handbook that you must not drive the car with less than a quarter tank of petrol. What happens if you drive under this limit ?

cheers
S

Edited by verba1 on Wednesday 3rd November 23:42

[joust]

Bad idea if you are on track as you can get fuel starvation.

For normal road driving you can go down to zero on the gauge - you have 20-50 miles after that before you run out.

I'd generally make sure you have 1/2 or more if you are "pushing on"...

J

[verba1]

joust said:

Bad idea if you are on track as you can get fuel starvation.

For normal road driving you can go down to zero on the gauge - you have 20-50 miles after that before you run out.

I'd generally make sure you have 1/2 or more if you are "pushing on"...

J

Thanks Joust

[verba1]

joust said:

Bad idea if you are on track as you can get fuel starvation.

For normal road driving you can go down to zero on the gauge - you have 20-50 miles after that before you run out.

I'd generally make sure you have 1/2 or more if you are "pushing on"...

J

Thanks Joust

[honestbob]

joust said:

Bad idea if you are on track as you can get fuel starvation.

For normal road driving you can go down to zero on the gauge - you have 20-50 miles after that before you run out.

I'd generally make sure you have 1/2 or more if you are "pushing on"...

J

The tank is said to hold 60 litres. When my tank reads empty I can only brim it with 42-45 litres which in theory should give you up to 80 miles + in normal road use extra.

I have asked this question before and not had an answer " who has run out of petrol?"

[bernhund]

I suppose there's always the potential for pulling a load of crap through the fuel line the lower you get on fuel.
I got very low on fuel once in an area full of speed bumps and the car ran like a dog for a few weeks after. I couldn't be 100% but I'm convinced that was the reason.

[YellowShed]

honestbob said:

" who has run out of petrol?"

Chillidog ran out at a race at Silverstone in 2008. Somebody didn't get the required fuel right for the race. Does that count?

YellowShed

Edited by YellowShed on Thursday 4th November 07:55

[RobP]

bernhund said:

I suppose there's always the potential for pulling a load of crap through the fuel line the lower you get on fuel.

You don't have to run low on fuel to get crap in the line - just use cheapo supermarket fuel.
Whatever fuel you use make sure your fuel filter is replaced (not just 'cleaned') annually. For those with motorsport pumps a classic sign of a cloggged filter is the continuous angry bee sound even when the car is cold.

[joust]

honestbob said:

I have asked this question before and not had an answer " who has run out of petrol?"

Must have missed that. I was running out because it was cutting out on anything except a mm of throttle, as I drifted into the petrol station in Dorset. I'd done about 50 miles after the gauge hit zero, and the needle was well under the 'tick' mark for zero.

Never again. I don't believe the tank holds 60l - has anyone that's had it out checked it?

J

Edited by joust on Thursday 4th November 08:10

[Jim O.]

I measured the capacity of one of our modified tanks, and got 15 US gallons = 56.78 liters. Our modifications reduce the tank size slightly, so I'd estimate an unmodified tank would hold around 58 liters or so...

[S B C]

My gauge shows empty after about 120 miles. I got fed up with refilling after about 120 miles, so, knowing that it should take 60 litres ( about 13 gallons) and therefore be good for about 260 miles at a conservative 22 per gallon, I pushed it to 220 one day to confirm that I could do much more than the gauge was telling me.
I now drive it on the trip meter and fill up at about 200 miles.

The worst I've had on track is 8 mpg so I always start with a full tank and fill up again during the lunch break for the afternoon session!

I can see that thrashing round a track with a low tank can cause fuel starvation, but I've never understood the argument that you suck up muck from the bottom of the tank if you run it too low. Surely as the fuel outlet pipe is at the bottom of the tank, you are always taking fuel from the bottom, irespective of how full the tank is. So, if there is crap in the bottom of the tank it is going to sucked through anyway.

Edited by S B C on Thursday 4th November 11:06

Edited by S B C on Thursday 4th November 11:07

[brb]

my record is 60.8 L after 300 miles. driving very slowly.
after a standard use drive, it's 45 L for 220 miles.

[bernhund]

I can see that thrashing round a track with a low tank can cause fuel starvation, but I've never understood the argument that you suck up muck from the bottom of the tank if you run it too low. Surely as the fuel outlet pipe is at the bottom of the tank, you are always taking fuel from the bottom, irespective of how full the tank is. So, if there is crap in the bottom of the tank it is going to sucked through anyway.


Yep, not sure about that myself, perhaps it's just nonsense.
I assumed that you'd end up with the crap at the bottom mixing with less fuel and consequently becoming more saturated the lower you go?

[gunghochef]

just changed my fuel filter, bloody thing was practically welded on to the rubber hose, had to cut it off, luck there was plenty of slack.
Before the change it was buzzing like a teenager in rave!!

[andygtt]

I modified my tank earlier in the year and so took it out.... it was absolutely full of alloy fileings, it was like looking at a tin of metalic paint.
I washed it out about 3 times and replaced my fuel filter (£50).

I have put 56L of fuel in the car before and it had not run out... but the tank is poorly baffled so you will damage the engine if your low on fuel and hoon it around corners.... Im currently considering fitting a swirl pot with an in tank lifter pump.

[daddysumo]

The worst I've had on track is 8 mpg so I always start with a full tank and fill up again during the lunch break for the afternoon session!

Edited by S B C on Thursday 4th November 11:07

[/quote]

8 mpg..... I wish ! At Spa when I did eventually get on track, without using full revs, I was getting through a gallon a lap (4 miles -ish) !! With two pickups and pumps (Robp) ran it down to the empty (4 litres left measured) without any loss of fuel pressure luckily !!

[R0162]

Whilst replacing my fuel filter the other day i was shocked by how much crap had collected, my bad but it was the original fuel filter from when the car was new, but i could not belive it when i found alloy shavings in there which i can only assume is from when they made the tank.

On one of my trips driving through europe i miscalculated at fuel stop and was running on empty, it was 3am in france and could not find a petrol station the sat nav was taking me out into the sticks to petrol stations that did not exist, i was in a bit of a panic because the gauge was now reading below empty and i had a feeling it was going to run out at any time, after about an hour careful driving on empty i eventually found a petrol station and it was with a sigh of relief, when i filled it to the brim the tank only took 45 litres, which means all that panic was uneccessary as there was 15 litres still left in the tank after all that driving around on empty.

I am carrying out the tuxman mod, making the fuel pipes shorter and from the correct side of the tank but also reshaping the tank at the bottom to narrow it out, i think this way there is less of an issue with taking a corner fast with low fuel levels.