Fuel

[nomadx38]

That can be worse for your car if they are constantly turning over the fuel because it disturbs the crap up at the bottom of the tanks mixing it throughout all the fuel. Its only after a day or so that it settles again. That gunk blocks up your fuel filter / pump real quick.

[Drooberius]

Just on a slightly side note... how far can you/have you gone when the fuel light warning comes on? I'm trying to run down the 95 that's in my tank as much as I can before filling up with 98; currently showing 30kms to go (city driving).

[Diesel_vert]

Just on a slightly side note... how far can you/have you gone when the fuel light warning comes on? I'm trying to run down the 95 that's in my tank as much as I can before filling up with 98; currently showing 30kms to go (city driving).

It's generally advisable to avoid continually running the tank low, as fuel is used to cool and/or lubricate components of the fuel system.

[PoloDave]

Saw 5th gear yesterday with an interesting piece about premium vs cheap fuel.

Results done with Golf 6 GTI ed. 35 on both dyno and road test.

fuels tested were BP 95, BP 98, V-power, Esso 98, and the cheapest they could find (some unknown brand)

Winner was V-power with 240.6 hp or so, loser was the cheapest brand, with 235 hp..
During hard driving on road test just slightly noticable, so I'm willing to bet none of us will ever notice anything other than the placebo effect

vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0K5UlmrmZc

[Diesel_vert]

Australia is fortunate that the cost difference between 95 and 98 is only 5 Australian cents per litre.

The average difference in Europe used to be more like between 10~15 Australian cents per litre (before the Australian dollar gained so much strength) depending on the country - I'd bet a lot less people in Oz would be willing to pay for 98 if the difference was as great.

[amazeer]

I've had mine on zero quite a few times. The most I have driven on zero is 25km and still didnt have any fuel surge. I've never read anywhere that officially states how many litres zero is for the polo. For the lancer it is 7 litres. If there is 7 litres in the polo at zero then I would guess 5 of them are usable so still got maybe close to 70kms.

[wai]

That can be worse for your car if they are constantly turning over the fuel because it disturbs the crap up at the bottom of the tanks mixing it throughout all the fuel. Its only after a day or so that it settles again. That gunk blocks up your fuel filter / pump real quick.

It's not the crap you can see that's the issue as it will get caught by the filters at the service station, but the crap you can't see as it can pass through the the filters.

There is a basket strainer to stop the large bits, and then a filter to remove the remainder as the service stations do not want to ruin their pumps either. They are expensive to repair.

The pick up point in the bulk tanks is low down anyway as the service stations want to be able to get the maximum out of it, so no matter what, you are always getting your fuel from the bottom of the tank anyway. Yes, when the tank is filled from a road tanker, it does stir things up, but again, the filtration systems will stop this ending up your fuel tank. There are documented instances of crap ending up in fuel tanks, but this has more to do with service stations not replacing filters (or even removing them) when they have failed than properly maintained systems allowing the crap to be pumped into your fuel tank.

[amazeer]

I have been told that the pick up is well above the bottom to avoid crud and water. And that it should be tested from time to time to see if there is water in it and have it pumped out. And that some dodgy independent stations will intentionally fill the bottom of the tank with water to not have all that money tied up with inaccessible fuel. I did some part time mechanic work in the Sutherland Shire and every time it rained we would get a couple of cars come in with water in the fuel, presumably because a local servo had his waterline too high and also water was somehow getting into the storage tank. All hearsay of course.

[wai]

In all the underground bulk tanks I have done, the pick up is as low in the tank as possible. Having it too high reduces the total usable capacity and will actually lead to a pool of contaminated fuel building up over time.

A properly installed tank should have no issues with water getting in. The vent should be high enough to prevent this.

This does not mean that there are tanks that are poorly installed. In the main, contamination is as a result of contaminated fuel being added to the tank.

[Mikefc]

I was talking to Calvin at out last meet abt the fuel consumption in the Polo - I am still only getting around 350K/tank of fuel on my daily drives (excluding highways when I am driving from Sydney to Melbourne where 7-8L/100Km). I drive mainly in hilly areas which doesnt help. I was wondering when the fuel consumption will settle down?