Getting the best out of one tank

[Hotel California]

Lots of existing threads (some not all that intresting ) about the quality of diesel and where to fill up , sure not supermaketfuel ....
Well when i need to fill up i always take a station selling cheap(or just say normal) fuel , never used premium or whatever.
While coming home last night from France i did close to 1000km with a full tank .
I filled up at the French Leclerq supermarket when leaving .
I think i could have come home with one tank but in the end stopped at 100km from home to add 10l on the motorway as when getting thru Brussels ringway there are no gasstations and i would not take the risk .
The dashcomputer was saying i could make it home the whole time until i filled 10l extra but i was worried it suddenly would drop much quicker once on the Belgian motorway and Brussels cityringway .
Must say did a smooth drive for about 8,5h non stop on the French tollroads in to Belgium , before stopping only to pee and get 10l diesel , litlle traffic and with a gentle foot , trying to stay about 130 km/h where i could and it was allowed . We had a minor traffic jam heading thru the Lyon tunnels as usual ...
To arrive home in 9h40 minutes for 1000km is not bad .
Must say we where light packed since we are without the dog now it's just the two of us and had not that much stuff in , no waste water in and only half fresh water tank , guess i was at least 100kg under fully loaded


When about 5km from home i filled 70 l together with the 10 l on the motorway that makes 80l so it was probally best i topped up 10l ...
What's your best out of a 80l tank
T5 only as T6 is not all that compareble with diffrent engine addblue ...

 

[WelshGas]

947.9 km on 80 L, but a 180 .

 

[Amarillo]

Breaking the rules as I have a T6, but I cannot miss the opportunity to use the new spreadsheet function!

Amarillo has had six recorded tanks giving the van a range over 1000 Km.

Date	Range	Refuel	Laden/unladen
8 February 2018	1061 Km	80.29 L	Laden plus 4 bikes
28 February 2018	1008 Km	81.33 L	Laden plus 4 bikes
13 March 2018	1009 Km	71.16 L	Laden plus 4 bikes
22 March 2018	1023 Km	72.49 L	Laden plus 4 bikes
28 June 2018	1062 Km	74.12 L	Mostly unladen
26 November 2018	1083 Km	73.39 L	Unladen

Three consecutive refuels with a tank range in excess of 1000 Km on 28 February, 13 March and 22 March were all in Greece. Coincidence, or is Greek fuel superior?

 

[JonathanB]

Breaking the rules as I have a T6, but I cannot miss the opportunity to use the new spreadsheet function!

Amarillo has had six recorded tanks giving the van a range over 1000 Km.

Date	Range	Refuel	Laden/unladen
8 February 2018	1061 Km	80.29 L	Laden plus 4 bikes
28 February 2018	1008 Km	81.33 L	Laden plus 4 bikes
13 March 2018	1009 Km	71.16 L	Laden plus 4 bikes
22 March 2018	1023 Km	72.49 L	Laden plus 4 bikes
28 June 2018	1062 Km	74.12 L	Mostly unladen
26 November 2018	1083 Km	73.39 L	Unladen

Three consecutive refuels with a tank range in excess of 1000 Km on 28 February, 13 March and 22 March were all in Greece. Coincidence, or is Greek fuel superior?

Ambient external temperature improves fuel consumption in diesel engines. see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3707201/

 

[chez786]

Interesting thread . Different blends of diesel do give different efficiencies as well as temperatures. Would love to know peoples thoughts on uk suppliers

 

[vale46]

You lot need to get out more instead of creating these ridiculous spreadsheets if it bothers you enough to do one maybe you should have bought a ford fiesta

 

[Amarillo]

Three consecutive refuels with a tank range in excess of 1000 Km on 28 February, 13 March and 22 March were all in Greece.

Ambient external temperature improves fuel consumption in diesel engines.

Interesting. We were in Greece during February and March. We had a mix of weathers, including a very stormy period and snow in the mountains, although most of the time it was fine and dry with temperatures up to 25 degrees.

 

[TripleBee]

Went to Argelès-sur-Mer from Belgium.
First stop in Briare (Loire), second stop in Millau, just before Argelès I filled up a little to get to Argelès. Before the fill up I had driven 1189 km.
Highway is 100 - 110 km/h.
On another journey I managed to get this:

 

[willwander]

947.9 km on 80 L, but a 180 .

Good going for the 180. Lovely to drive...but a bit thirsty.

 

[WelshGas]

Good going for the 180. Lovely to drive...but a bit thirsty.

Compared to the Mazda RX8 and Land Rover Puma I had previously it just sips the fuel whereas they gulped it down

 

[motacyclist]

28 February 2018. 1008 Km. 81.33 L. Laden plus 4 bikes

You’re disqualified for pushing the van after the tank was empty!

(Or did you tow it with the 4 bikes?)

 

[Amarillo]

You’re disqualified for pushing the van after the tank was empty!

(Or did you tow it with the 4 bikes?)

It is curious that 81.33 litres can be squished into an 80 litre tank. Google seems to know more about me than my ageing memory can recall and looking a Google Maps timeline I refuelled towards the end of a long return journey between Argos and Athens Airport.

My best guess is that an empty tank warmed by a long motorway journey expands and can hold more than its rated capacity.

Either that or the petrol station had doctored its pumps so that they deliver less than they say.

 

[motacyclist]

Either that or the petrol station had doctored its pumps so that they deliver less than they say.

Yes, that’s a possibility. I wonder what the legal tolerances are for fuel delivery.

 

[motacyclist]

Loads more trivia about effect of temperature on fuel delivery here

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/685831/standard-temperature-accounting-displays.pdf

 

[TripleBee]

Almost every tank fillup for me is near or over 80 litres when I keep driving untill the spare fuel light lights up.
In my Golf IV I could even let the air escape and fill up to 60 litres in a 50/55 litre tank.

 

[Calibus]

Diesel passes through an injection rail that gets hot, even to the touch as it sits on top of the engine, after it has passed through this rail it is then returned to the fuel tank, after a while of driving the diesel in the tank will expand, either on a hot or cold day there will be an increase of expansion in the tank, more so on a hot day.

Image of fuel route.

This doesn't affect the performance as the sensors make sure the injected fuel delivery remains the same, however the fuel tank gauge will differ slightly, maybe not to the naked eye on the dash but definitely in the tank.

Side note, if a fuel pump is in direct light the residual fuel in the big black hose expands, thus giving you an ever so slightly different amount from the displayed amount, were talking decimal points of a penny. Petrol doesn't expand as much as diesel.

 

[2into1]

Biggest single factor I find is tyre pressure. Running mine at the fully loaded figure always sees a big improvement although on my 215s that’s over 50psi so I feel the bumps more.

 

[Martyn]

I've found that the Diesel Power fuel additive improves engine responsiveness and add 3 - 4 mpg

 

[TripleBee]

Biggest single factor I find is tyre pressure. Running mine at the fully loaded figure always sees a big improvement although on my 215s that’s over 50psi so I feel the bumps more.

The maximum tyre pressure on my 215/65R16 is 3.95 bar. So I put them on 3.9 bar, and indeed, you feel every bump and that is not always comfortable, but the tyre wear is almost even, so I take it none the less.

 

[motacyclist]

Hopefully, with the tyres pumped up to 100psi (and a soft cushion to sit on), a gallon of additive in the tank, and a bar magnet in the fuel delivery rail, we might be able to get 70mpg!

 

[AlanC]

I had to drive to and from London on Sunday. There is a new veeery loooong roadworks past Reading now. Which means cruise control is locked at 50mph.

The only good thing was my consumption figure improved enormously both to and from London. 37mpg while in it and 32mpg overall, up from 27mpg at the start of the day.

Alan

 

[TripleBee]

Once I came back from south of France. After 400 km I came across roadworks with a speed limit of 70 km/h.
Cruise control on for a couple of kms. Suddenly I could drive on for another 1100 km. So if I had driven 70 km/h from the start It must have been possible to get 1600 - 1800 km. With only 80 liters of polluting diesel!

 

[Tim T]

I find that the onboard average fuel consumption often reads 40+ mpg but if I go by how much I actually put in the tank against actual milage then 36-38mpg. I find it a little annoying the onboard is that far off, (must've been programmed by the same guys as...).

So about 1000km/tankful, it's fairly consistent.

 

[MattBW]

If you really want to know how to get the best out of a tank, you should try this show:
https://www.tanks-trucks-and-firepower.co.uk/