Which side is your gas cap on?

[n8wvi]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
In case of an accident the fuel filler neck can get sheared off or broken, resulting in fuel spillage and a potential fire. You want that hazard to be as far away from the driver as possible. Tha's probably why you don't see it behind the license plate anymore.


Also, at least here in the US, in the unlikely event you run out of gas and are refueling on the side of the road, which side of the vehicle would YOU want to be standing on? I believe this is the reason why all late model Subaru's fill on the right.

Dave

 

[GrtArtiste]

ALLT ago, (mid 70s-early 80s, before self service was widespread) I worked in one of those no-name, high volume gas stations...the kind that was always involved in a gas war almost every week. I used to take a perverse delight in waiting on people who pulled in to the pump with their fuel door on the far side. I loved to stretch the hose out and slam their trunk lid with it, and then drag it across when returning the hose so it left a nice black mark. Some of them learned, some did not. Oftentimes, the ones who didn't were the same ones demanding that I pop the radiator cap and check their coolant while the engine was hot. After warning them of the consequences, I enjoyed the look on their faces when the coolant erupted like a volcano. Ahh---those were the days. I almost miss them.

GrtArtiste

 

[another Todd]

"there used to be the concern that in tight right curves, which outnumber tight left turns,"

How is this possible? If you have a tight right curve, and you turn around and go the other way it is now a tight left curve. So there must be an equal number of tight left and right curves.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

Originally Posted By: Towel_Rail
Originally Posted By: javacontour
How about the original VW Bug, with the tank up front

One reason of many why it's fun to drive an early Bug.

- Scott


Beat me to it... Also the old model T,A & B fords had the filler in the middle of the cowl right in front of the windshield.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
Automobile designers state that having the fuel fill opposite the driver side is the safest place to put it. It is sometimes placed on the driver's side as a luxury to the driver who doesn't have to "walk all that way" to the other side to fill up.

This also explains why Mercedes has it on the opposite side, since a lot of their designs stem from their safety-first
culture.


I own 12 mopars, 2 Caravans, 3 GCs, 7 cars. All the cars have the filler on the right, the vans have it on the left.

AFAIKT: All the newer pickups & minivans have the filler on the left.

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: another Todd
"there used to be the concern that in tight right curves, which outnumber tight left turns,"

How is this possible? If you have a tight right curve, and you turn around and go the other way it is now a tight left curve. So there must be an equal number of tight left and right curves.


Think roundabouts in the first instance. The two cornering events are very dis-similar...sprintman wight like to describe uneven tyre wear in the ACT.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: GrtArtiste
ALLT ago, (mid 70s-early 80s, before self service was widespread) I worked in one of those no-name, high volume gas stations...the kind that was always involved in a gas war almost every week. I used to take a perverse delight in waiting on people who pulled in to the pump with their fuel door on the far side. I loved to stretch the hose out and slam their trunk lid with it, and then drag it across when returning the hose so it left a nice black mark. Some of them learned, some did not. Oftentimes, the ones who didn't were the same ones demanding that I pop the radiator cap and check their coolant while the engine was hot. After warning them of the consequences, I enjoyed the look on their faces when the coolant erupted like a volcano. Ahh---those were the days. I almost miss them.

GrtArtiste


So you're the one that single handedly caused the country to go to self serve gas stations.

 

[moribundman]

1. Most turns are right turns.

2. There is a tendency to go faster in right curves than left curves (when driving a car with left-hand steering) when driving at high speed.

 

[sprintman]

Mazda LHS, Outback RHS. My tyres wear out so fast I never notice uneven wear. I drive it on the edge like my go kart particularly in roundabouts.

 

[Shannow]

sprintman, back in my silly days in my hot LJ, I had to do two laps of the giant roundabout near Woden. Ran out of opposite lock and missed the Civic exit.

 

[crinkles]

Originally Posted By: XS650
Originally Posted By: crinkles


That's my rule I work with and it always works out. --- gas cap on the kerb side of the country where the vehicle was designed.

In america therefore Toyota's Will have the gas cap on the left hand side, where the driver is, and on the side away from the kerb.




The rule I go by is 100% accurate.

Rule: It is where it is.


Rules are made to be broken

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: crinkles
Originally Posted By: XS650




The rule I go by is 100% accurate.

Rule: It is where it is.


Rules are made to be broken

That one is tough to break,

 

[Tosh]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
After reading this, I took a good look at my Buick Park Avenue's instrument panel.

The fuel icon has the pump handle on the right . . . but the fuel filler door is on the left (driver's) side of the car. Nope.

Yes, that makes perfect sense: The handle on the pump (on R) faces directly toward and is closest to the filler on the car (on L). Simple logic. We don't need any stinkin' arrows!

 

[javacontour]

My fuel filler is on the OUTside.

 

[crw]

I heard once that someone somewhere did a study and found that one side of a car was less or more likely to be in an accident than another, and so some manufacturer chose to locate their filler location to the side that received the fewest accidents.

I guess it was not universally adopted.

How about the (I think) '73 to '87 GM pickups that had fillers on each side? I kind of liked them... when pulling up to fill it generally didn't matter which side of pumps was easiest to pull up to, because either side would work. We don't need to get into the side-saddle tanks..........