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Full tank vs frequent visits to petrol station

FrankC21

Hi,

One of my mate at work - a big car enthusiast - gave me an advice against puttin €20 each time I go to the petrol station, he said that I should fill up the tank up to the brim. I usually put €20 and when it nearly gone put another €20, I kinda think I will save money this way.

His reason is that if I do not do this, I keep releasing the built up/gas pressure each time I visit the petrol station and that pressure/gas is the actual diesel i paid for, evaporating out into the air.

Is that an actual fact? He recently change his car from 2007 petrol RAV4 AWD to a nissan 1.5 dci deisel and a full tank will last him 2-3weeks.

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Doctors room ghost

Your friend is talking pure waffle

Atlantic Dawn

There might be some saving if you were driving in an urban area passing multiple fuel stations so no risk of running out and kept tank at 25% full, each litre of fuel is an additional kg weight in the car, savings would be in the single figure €'s over a year.

bazz26

FrankC21 wrote: »

Hi,

One of my mate at work - a big car enthusiast - gave me an advice against puttin €20 each time I go to the petrol station, he said that I should fill up the tank up to the brim. I usually put €20 and when it nearly gone put another €20, I kinda think I will save money this way.

His reason is that if I do not do this, I keep releasing the built up/gas pressure each time I visit the petrol station and that pressure/gas is the actual diesel i paid for, evaporating out into the air.

Is that an actual fact? He recently change his car from 2007 petrol RAV4 AWD to a nissan 1.5 dci deisel and a full tank will last him 2-3weeks.

pippip

argument is usually the effects of carrying the extra fuel of a full tank around versus not.

Personally I pass alot of fuel stations so will only full fill when I notice a good lower than average price.

FrankC21

bazz26 wrote: »

He change his car cause the RAV4 is very thirsty, he lives in wicklow and works in Dublin, he switch to diesel cause of the commute.

He owns about 13 vintage cars mostly mercedes. Mad fella.

GreeBo

If a petrol station is on the way home to your house then no real difference, but if you have to go out of your way to fill up then you are actually wasting money/fuel.

Bass Reeves

OP friend is fairly right. First starting and stopping a car uses more fuel. Even the act of pulling into and out of a garage uses fuel. 20 euro's worth is equivalent to about a quarter tank of fuel. That is four fills to every full tank of fuel. OP is starting and stopping a car 4 times instead of once.

Filling a tank is equivalent to carrying a half a tank of fuel with you all the time. A quarter tank is equivalent to carrying an eight of the tank all the time. It's equivalent to carrying an extra 20 kgs around in your car. This will have very little different on fuel economy.

On OP friends point about trapped gas he is correct. If you spill a small bit of petrol on the ground it evaporates. An empty tank will fill with petroleum gas. That why you should never smoke when filling you car with fuel especially petrol.

At best Op you are saving nothing however IMO what you are doing is costing you money

frozenfrozen

I get range anxiety if I don't have a few hundred kms of fuel so it always gets brimmed

[Deleted User]

I always just fill to the brim.......... usually from 1/16th full.

grogi

FrankC21 wrote: »

Hi,

One of my mate at work - a big car enthusiast - gave me an advice against puttin €20 each time I go to the petrol station, he said that I should fill up the tank up to the brim. I usually put €20 and when it nearly gone put another €20, I kinda think I will save money this way

Savings are there (you are not ferrying around weight of the fuel) but it is minimal.

You're however wasting a lot of time getting to the gas station three times as frequently as needed.

Akesh

This is completely false. While there would be some evaporation when you open your tank, the benefit of carrying less fuel would greatly offset this impact.

Thinkingaboutit

FrankC21 wrote: »

Hi,

One of my mate at work - a big car enthusiast - gave me an advice against puttin €20 each time I go to the petrol station, he said that I should fill up the tank up to the brim. I usually put €20 and when it nearly gone put another €20, I kinda think I will save money this way.

His reason is that if I do not do this, I keep releasing the built up/gas pressure each time I visit the petrol station and that pressure/gas is the actual diesel i paid for, evaporating out into the air.

Is that an actual fact? He recently change his car from 2007 petrol RAV4 AWD to a nissan 1.5 dci deisel and a full tank will last him 2-3weeks.

I just fill up as I don't like having to go to a petrol station stinking of fuel and bad food.

Bass Reeves

grogi wrote: »

Savings are there (you are not ferrying around weight of the fuel) but it is minimal.

You're however wasting a lot of time getting to the gas station three times as frequently as needed.

Not just time but fuel as well. The physical act of stopping and starting a car uses fuel. And IP friend is right about fuel evaporation when it turns to into a gas especially in hot weather. Why do you think there is such a deal on fuel tanks

FrankC21

But if you have a full tank, you're more likely to "pedal to the metal".

Alun

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

There might be some saving if you were driving in an urban area passing multiple fuel stations so no risk of running out and kept tank at 25% full, each litre of fuel is an additional kg weight in the car, savings would be in the single figure €'s over a year.

1 litre of water weighs 1kg, petrol is less dense and weighs around 770g per litre.

[Deleted User]

Leaving the fuel difference aside

Why would you want to go to a pump twice a week when you could only need to go once Bi-weekly

Just wasting time alone at a pump, other pump users , the inconvenience of a few mins when you can just sail on to your destination with a healthy tank !

Islander13

Surely the time wasted faffing about in a petrol station and these days being exposed to COVID risks (however minor) mean filling to the brim a no brainer

WacoKid

I always take the approach:

Don't continually run on low fuel as you are dragging the dirt from the bottom of the tank through the system.
Let the tank run somewhat low before refueling so you are not keeping old fuel in the tank. Constantly filling up from 1/2 to full means there is fuel there that is never getting burned off, or a least taking a long time to do so.

Boardnashea

There is also the risk of dropping an extra €5 on coffee/choc/flowers for the Mr/Mrs (or both). Think of the waistline!

[Deleted User]

I fill to the brim every time because, frankly, petrol pumps are disgusting and the fewer times I have to have one in my hands the better

[Deleted User]

frozenfrozen wrote: »

I get range anxiety if I don't have a few hundred kms of fuel so it always gets brimmed

You're going to have a heart attack when we all have to drive EVs so!

The J Stands for Jay

My parents looked into this in the 80s, on a diesel Peugeot. They drove something like Sligo to Dublin only putting in a bit of fuel at each stop, and then on the way back brimmed it. No decent roads back then, don't was a long journey. Not filling it was actually cheaper, but they decided they'd rather have a slightly higher cost than stopping more often.

yabadabado

I always fill it up and then let it get near empty,I pass several stations going about my daily business but wtf would you want to be messing around with filthy pumps more than is necessary.

CoBo55

WacoKid wrote: »

I always take the approach:

Don't continually run on low fuel as you are dragging the dirt from the bottom of the tank through the system.

Let the tank run somewhat low before refueling so you are not keeping old fuel in the tank. Constantly filling up from 1/2 to full means there is fuel there that is never getting burned off, or a least taking a long time to do so.

First part yes.
Second part no, the new fuel mixes with the existing fuel.
I let mine down to when or just before the light comes on usually 1000 to 1100km put in my 60ml of miller's diesel additive and fill her up it's always very close to 60 litres. Couldn't be bothered with 20 here and a tenner there...

Del2005

WacoKid wrote: »

I always take the approach:

Don't continually run on low fuel as you are dragging the dirt from the bottom of the tank through the system.

Let the tank run somewhat low before refueling so you are not keeping old fuel in the tank. Constantly filling up from 1/2 to full means there is fuel there that is never getting burned off, or a least taking a long time to do so.

As you pour the fuel in it'll be mixing with the old fuel and once the car moves then it'll be all mixed together, all fuel is millions of years old.

At the end of the day it's a trade of off saving a few cent by not hauling extra weight in fuel* vs having to spend more time at petrol stations. If your tight for cash and have loads of time stick €20 in, if your tight for time brim it.

* For the majority of people who stick €20 in they'd save more by checking tyre pressure, getting the car serviced and emptying all the crap they have out.

Leonard Hofstadter

Life's too short to be spending lots of time at petrol stations re-filling a car all the time. This is one of the reasons I don't like EVs, even the ones with decent range still need at least half an hour to recharge when low on battery.

Aside from that, brimming every time means it's possible to work out exactly what the fuel economy is, so it's much easier to pick up on whether your car has an issue if you know how much fuel you've used since you last filled it up - and the only way to do that accurately is if you fill it every time, note down how many litres were needed to re-fill it and the distance travelled since the last fill up.

hashbones

filling your tank to the brim, your literally burning fuel to carry your fuel. if the distance you have to travel to the station is out of your way then thats a different matter based on how far that is. if your passing the station daily then small fill ups are the way to go.

purely from a factual point of you. i dont think the majority care either way

tayto lover

Any savings would be less than a €1 I’d say.
Hardly worth the trouble.

CoBo55

Leonard Hofstadter wrote: »

Life's too short to be spending lots of time at petrol stations re-filling a car all the time. This is one of the reasons I don't like EVs, even the ones with decent range still need at least half an hour to recharge when low on battery.

Aside from that, brimming every time means it's possible to work out exactly what the fuel economy is, so it's much easier to pick up on whether your car has an issue if you know how much fuel you've used since you last filled it up - and the only way to do that accurately is if you fill it every time, note down how many litres were needed to re-fill it and the distance travelled since the last fill up.

Good point about the fuel economy, mine always improves as we move into this time of year.

Bass Reeves

hashbones wrote: »

filling your tank to the brim, your literally burning fuel to carry your fuel. if the distance you have to travel to the station is out of your way then thats a different matter based on how far that is. if your passing the station daily then small fill ups are the way to go.

purely from a factual point of you. i dont think the majority care either way

You are forgetting to factor in momentum, mass from physics and the physical starting of an engine.