More cargo space. More fuel. More people prefer the former. And is it really that big a deal going to the station 2-3 extra times a year?
Why such small gas tanks in newer cars
- Thread starter walterjay
- Start date
back in the days of <100 horsepower sports cars, I had friends who only filled their fuel tanks to half full. to lessen weight and improve performance.
Im not sure what this means. Type of vehicle? Type of fuel?
Sorry if I dont understand and do not know your measurements.
I assume 663 in the morning first line is Km which would be 411 miles
I have a 2017 Chevy Traverse with a OEM tow package that will go 440 miles on a tank of gas. Not for you but others in here I think.
I admit, I cant figure out overseas metrics *LOL* I have learned two months ago that a lot of people from Australia vacation in the Philippines! *LOL* We met a lot of them on the isle of El Nido... your country isnt far away. It took us just over 30 hours and 3 airplanes to get there form the East Coast of the USA! One leg of the trip was for 14 hours and 7,300 miles non stop
I recall taking my Tundra on a family trip, all day drive each way. Morning had the usual number of pitstops. But the afternoon? For some reason we had settled in and were very comfy. I was in a nice line of traffic, just booking it along. Realized I was getting below a quarter tank and in an unfamiliar area. Nobody needed a pitstop, other than the truck. 16mpg and I want to say, fuel light comes on after 20 gallons was used out of the 26, but I was filling up around quarter tank, don't remember how many gallons that was, but it had only been something like 3 hours since the last stop. Reluctantly I stopped, filled up, hit the road again. Different sort of traffic, going slower, and lost time due to the stop.
Singular event I know, and I didn't take that trip often. I normally fill up every week, and when range drops below 500 miles, that can mean twice a week.
FWIW it was 4F (-16C) when I woke up this morning... this time of year I don't enjoy filling up, regardless of how long it's been!
Our 04 Escape has a 15 gallon tank while the BMW X3 has a 18. After driving the Escape for 20 years its strange to have such a long range. And the x3 gets better mileage. I’d say its model.. make dependent?
Not a good idea. Adding after the pump clicks off might flood the charcoal canister with liquid gasoline. That ruins them, and replacing them ain't cheap.
It shows the date I put gas in, how many km (you might be able to convert to miles/gallons), how much fuel, what type of fuel and if there's something that I feel could have influenced consumption I put it in the notes aswell. Also, I don't travel on the highway much, less than 10% of miles driven generally. I average about 30 mph.
It's a crossover, make and model are listed. gm ecotec 1.5Tgdi engine
Somewhat off original topic, but I'll add to this:
Frequent voiding may be a sign that enlarged prostate is preventing complete emptying. Time to get things checked out.
Incomplete emptying can result in stretching the size of a bladder causing it to increase in size. Some patients end up with extremely large bladders because of this. Some as large as 2 liters ( 2000 ml ). This results in loss of ability to contract and void, and the patient ends up having to use catheters to completely void. Such patients have to void verry verry often because they void so little each time they go without using a catheter. Something like every 20 to 30 minutes in some cases. Talk about having to go often. It's a down right life changer.
700 - 750 ml with ability to completely empty is much better than a larger bladder that requires the use of catheters to completely empty. Catheter use results in infections. And if not treated can infect the kidneys. That can be fatal.
The grass is green on the side of the fence you are on. Patients with 2 L bladders that don't contract would be verry happy to have a normal 700 ml bladder that does contract.
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@JimPghPAIf you're of a certain age, you might look into getting checked out for BPH.
I can only assume everyone here is getting annual PSA checked once over 50 ... I assume it is that way down under?
I have a long story to start another thread on this, I have been VERY proactive 4 biopsy's and MRIs in 7 years, last one turned up cancer, and just 3 days ago had the latest recently approved (2023) state of the art PSMA PET SCAN to see if the recently discovered cancer has spread... just thought I would mention it here for those who dont read my upcoming thread which I will do once all results are in. Im not sure once they come in if I will look until after Christmas.
Being proactive is key and I have no idea what lies in my future with certainty other than it has to be dealt with. The scan (the new gold standard in scans) will reveal exactly how much. (I wont comment further in here so I dont mess up the thread) If something is suspicious get to your doctor and stay on top of it, jump at any chance (even ask for) further testing. I did. Its not going to go away and the sooner the better, normally it would be known that I caught it at a very early stage but something is bothering the 3 specialists that my wife and I just met at Dukes well respected cancer center, which is the reason they ordered a full body pet scan.
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People don't want to gas up their cars more than once a week but at the same time they want to eat at least three square meals with snacks and libations in between every day. The car gets the oil change at 3,000 miles on the dot but a dental checkup is one black tooth away.
You could always rock extra fuel storage like Max did with his Interceptor.
You could always rock extra fuel storage like Max did with his Interceptor.
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The Elantra is almost ten years old and has a 13 gal tank. The Malibu is one year old and has a 15 gal tank. 
Seems comparable enough to me.
Seems comparable enough to me.It's more about range than capacity.
The HAH will go a lot farther on a smaller tank than the Forester can with another four gallons of capacity.
To me, if you can get at least 400 miles out of a tank then that seems okay.
Anything less would start to get a little annoying.
The HAH will go a lot farther on a smaller tank than the Forester can with another four gallons of capacity.
To me, if you can get at least 400 miles out of a tank then that seems okay.
Anything less would start to get a little annoying.
Mrs RhondaHonda’s 2024 Yukon XL has a 28 gallon tank but the low fuel light comes on with something like 4-5 gallons still in there. I’ll check next week when we take a trip. I wish it had a 36 like my Raptor did.
On top of that, UK gallon is also different size than US gallon, so 1 mpg UK is not the same as as 1 mpg US.
True and we buy petrol in litres but no one talks of fuel consumption in miles per litre, we still use MPG which first entails converting litres to gallons. Road speeds and distances are not likely to change to metric units any time soon if ever due to the cost of converting. Other examples where imperial units have been retained or mixed. Beer at the pub is sold in pints but if you buy it bottled or canned at the supermarket it's in litres. The same supermarket sells milk in pints but soft drinks in litres. People of of my generation at least express their height in feet and inches but body weight is now mostly Kilos rather than stones and pounds.
Our mistake was doing a partial conversion to metric. It should have been the whole thing or not at all. This has been going on a long time. When I was at school the woodwork shop and the metal work shop were next door to each other. I was taught woodwork in inches and metalwork in millimeters. That was 59 years ago and I've been converting ever since.
Yes, I've averaged 27.1mpg since new which is 32.5 UK mpg. Wish I got the UK number as my home mpg.
I’d say it’s a variety of factors, all already covered here.
First off, packaging. Designing a car is complicated and the bigger the tank the more effort you have to put into finding a place to put it while avoiding drivetrain components without encroaching on the interior or cargo space of the vehicle.
Next, safety… it’s easier to protect a smaller fuel tank from a crash.
Next, cost… parts cost money. Smaller tank is cheaper.
Finally, fuel economy. I don’t know how the fuel economy tests are done but if we assume they are done at a fixed percentage of fuel in the tank the smaller tank will mean a lighter vehicle which will mean better MPG results.
First off, packaging. Designing a car is complicated and the bigger the tank the more effort you have to put into finding a place to put it while avoiding drivetrain components without encroaching on the interior or cargo space of the vehicle.
Next, safety… it’s easier to protect a smaller fuel tank from a crash.
Next, cost… parts cost money. Smaller tank is cheaper.
Finally, fuel economy. I don’t know how the fuel economy tests are done but if we assume they are done at a fixed percentage of fuel in the tank the smaller tank will mean a lighter vehicle which will mean better MPG results.
