Quote from danowat :

Why is that?

Run a diesel out of fuel and bits break.

I always fill 'er to the top as I live miles (9 to be exact) from my station of choice, and because I record all MPG readings which you (ideally) need a full tank to do.

Quote from danowat :

I did think about those "energy" tyres next tyre change, do they actually make that much of a difference?

Do you really want low-friction tyres?




Yes fuel weighs more, but 50 KG is of fuel is not huge in a 1.6 ton car + fluids & me.

Plus I often have to go out at a moments notice so no fuel would be a PITA!

I only ever fill up about £10-25 worth of petrol.

Although I worked out that at current prices I lose about half a mile for every pound compared to say a year ago (i.e a £20 fill up used to get me around about 100 miles, whilst it's between 85 and 90 miles now).

I only fill up when the trip computer things says I've got about 10 miles left (about a month ago I stayed with friends in canterbury and decided to not fill up whilst there, when I finally pulled into my drive on the way home it said I had only 1 mile left), it's never a problem as I live about 100 yards from a petrol station.

My trip computer says zero even before the fuel light comes on!!!.

As for the "energy" tyres, surely they don't have much (any?) less grip than a normal run of the mill tyre?

If there wasn't a downside to more energy efficient tyres, surely they would all be made that way?

Dunno, haven't really given it that much thought TBH!!!!

Michelin state you actually get better wet grip with "energy" tyres.

Quote from Jakg :

Run a diesel out of fuel and bits break.

I recently ran out of fuel with my VW Polo Tdi. Nothing broke...

Quote from jibber :

I recently ran out of fuel with my VW Polo Tdi. Nothing broke...

Bit of an urban myth really.

Only problem you normally have is having to hand pump some diesel through once you've run out.

Going back to the tyres, I can find no evidence of "energy" tyres having much (if any) less grip than a "normo" tyre.

Full, because it`s gone in a week or less and I cba to make extra trips to the gas station.

Always full. Even if refuelling only the half part is slightly cheaper because the car is lighter (I dunno) my time has more value than that

Quote from Matrixi :

Usually I refuel with either 20 or 40 euros, depending on how much I have to drive during the week.

And just to note, I try to never let the fuel gauge drop below half.

£20 fills my car up to just under half a tank.

Always full, saves time as you don't need to visit petrol station that often. I was trying also "middle fuel" strategy and with my Aveo 1.4 I didn't notice any drastic saving so I just don't care anymore.

Quote from ATC Quicksilver :

£20 fills my car up to just under half a tank.

Cost me £60 to fill mine this morning, and that was before the 4p a litre hike they put on in lue of the budget, thieving bastards.

Quote from ATC Quicksilver :

£20 fills my car up to just under half a tank.

My vehicles for years have been in the 18-20 gallon range. I recently acquired a little Honda Civic last year. I filled it the first time and I overfilled it because I only had $16 or so on the meter. In my other vehicle, the nozzle shuts off all the time before it is full, so I'm use to that along with the $30 it takes to fill it. I didn't believe it was full at $16. 11 gallon tanks are tiny little things.

£56 to fill mine completely, a 50 litre tank. I never actually bothered working out how far I got on that though.

Quote from ATC Quicksilver :

£20 fills my car up to just under half a tank.

Don't worry, costs me 108 euros (a bit over 72 liters) to fill up my nissan with shell 99 octane here.

What are these so-called energy tyres supposed to do? How do they effect MPG etc. ?

Just a figure I got from a paper lying around in the pile of papers I call my library: If you plot the average consumption of cars over their total mass you get a linear slope of about 0.7 litres/100 km per 100 kg of additonal car mass.
For the US-folks that abould be about 0.18 additional gallons per 62 miles caused by 220 pounds of weight.

Also, tyres with a higher maximum speed rating have a lower rolling resistance. However this only effects the range above 50% of their maximum speed, where aerodynamics cause most of the resistance anyways.

Vain

Quote from danowat :

Why is that?

Might not relate to countries with petrol of good quality, but I always try to have more than a half of the tank because:

- Having low fuel level will increase the load on a fuel pump
- Fuel in here is quite dirty, and all the additional crap that gets into tank, all these impurities are laying on the bottom of tank. The less fuel you have, the more of that crap is getting into fuel filters.

- my own reason: fuel tank on my car is flat and fuel is waving all around it and at low level the lamp of the fuel gauge is blinking, kinda annoying

I only have a 1.8 and with a full tank and my toolbox in the boot the car feels slow and heavy.... With the boot empty and under 1/2 a tank the car feels more nimble and overtaking things is much easier...

I dont think it would make much of a difference to economy but makes a huge difference in the way the car feels...

Even when i had a v6 Astra u could feel the difference with the toolbox in the boot and its much lighter than 1/2 a tank of fuel....

Quote from brandons48 :

What are these so-called energy tyres supposed to do? How do they effect MPG etc. ?

They create less forwards drag/friction/grip/call it what you will, so the idea is you can get up to speed with less effort. Sideways grip is unchanged. But your braking distance can increase slightly (depending on the tread pattern) as a result.

Quote from Jakg :

Run a diesel out of fuel and bits break.

Not really. You might need to just prime the system again to get it started. I ran out of diesel and she started fine, didn't need to do anything other than put some fuel in the tank and so did my brothers car.

Don't believe every nightmare story or piece of advice you hear. If you know you running low and it stops then stop straight away and don't try and start it until you filled up.

....all this half/full tank, energy saving tyres is bollocks, you're only be looking at a tiny saving, just drive in a more economical way.

Quote from garph :

....all this half/full tank, energy saving tyres is bollocks, you're only be looking at a tiny saving, just try in a more economical way.

I wouldn't disagree, more so with tyres. Their extra retail expense doesn't cover the savings you make so in turn end up worse off. Just don't get a set of super grippy tyres and you'll be fine.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

They create less forwards drag/friction/grip/call it what you will, so the idea is you can get up to speed with less effort. Sideways grip is unchanged. But your braking distance can increase slightly (depending on the tread pattern) as a result.

So... we're meant to sacrifice grip for a small MPG saving?

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

Just don't get a set of super grippy tyres and you'll be fine.

given the choice between paying a little more on petrol (not that i bought my car with economy in mind anyway) and potentially crashing into something thanks to reduced braking though rubbish tyres id rather pay a little extra

Since I moved into the city I just put £30 in at a time which usually does me a week and a half. Before when I stayed 20miles out the road I just filled it up because it be gone in less than a week!!

I just can't believe how expensive fuel is getting and how few people seem to be moaning!! We're paying 113.9p at the moment :|