Fuel fill up to max?

[KneesUp]

I fill up to the top when I do the supermarket shop. I can't be doing with the faffing about and filling with lesser amounts because I'd have to go out of my way if I did that which would defeat the object of the excercise. The exception would be on a day off and we're off out long distance and out of 'synch' food-shopping wise.

The supermarket is about 3 miles or so away and off a busy road. This being Sheffield, there is always the hilly terrain to be taken into account. I'd have to queue uphill, having just fuelled up, stop-starting. So it makes no sense to do this more often.

Off topic, but out of interest, I would imagine the average mpg in Sheffield (or anywhere else with similar topography as opposed to just 'size') is not as good as many cities or places that are flat. I do recall reading many years ago, possibly 1970s, that bus manufacturers used to put slightly larger engines in vehicles for South Yorkshire Transport, as it was back then, due to the steep gradients.

Sheffield is bad for fuel economy. Every set of lights is at the bottom of a hill, and of course every road is full of holes, so you have to keep slowing down and accelerating again. I used to live in Manchester, and in the early days of deregulation, I remember going along Oxford Road at about 30mph in a bus that was bouncing off the rev limiter. All the signs in it were in Welsh and English, and from this I concluded that buses in hilly areas had a lower final drive. I don't know if this is true, or if the bus was just knackered and was missing a few gears!

 

[Lonestar]

What car?

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

The buses that climb the hill towards Hood Green can't have that low gear. They wheeze to the top with smoke coming out of every orifice. I've seen a couple of them expire there.

 

[snorri]

All you cyclists driving dirty, dirty diesels. Tsk!

I'm waiting for the pendulum to swing back to the era when I bought my diesel. That was when diesel powered were considered to be more environmentally friendly than petrol powered. I can't be changing my car every 2 years on every environmental whim.

 

[KneesUp]

I'm waiting for the pendulum to swing back to the era when I bought my diesel. That was when diesel powered were considered to be more environmentally friendly than petrol powered. I can't be changing my car every 2 years on every environmental whim.

Oh come on! I bought one of the first common rail diesels, at a time when VW were still claiming pumpe düse was the future, but I knew it was producing more soot and stuff than the Ka it replaced. We were just kidding ourselves that because it was more efficient - and because the government were encouraging it - it must be a good thing, even though when I started my Alfa in my garage I could smell and taste that it was worse than the Ka

 

[rich p]

I sometimes fill it up and sometimes I don't .
Fab thread!

 

[Drago]

I'm waiting for the pendulum to swing back to the era when I bought my diesel. That was when diesel powered were considered to be more environmentally friendly than petrol powered. I can't be changing my car every 2 years on every environmental whim.

They were never considered that by anyone other than the political administration of the time. Scientifictypes of the time were screaming what a dumb idea the tax breaks for diesels were, but the public cared about nothing more than cheap car tax and mpg so decided to ignore them. It was a wilful ignorance by a large section of the motoring public, nothing more.

 

[Tim Hall]

They were never considered that by anyone other than the political administration of the time. Scientifictypes of the time were screaming what a dumb idea the tax breaks for diesels were, but the public cared about nothing more than cheap car tax and mpg so decided to ignore them. It was a wilful ignorance by a large section of the motoring public, nothing more.

Low carbon emissions were being touted, at the time, as a good thing, to the detriment of measures of pollution.

 

[Drago]

Touted by the government, and car manufacturers. The scientists were pointing out that lower co2 only occurred in a lab, and on the road they were as bad or worse as petrol, and even then they were making ominous noises about particulates. It's taken nearly 2 decades for their message to start sinking in with most people.

But the public decided to listen to their wallets, and hence chose to believe the government. Its funny how the great unwashed are happy to believe a government when there's something in it for them.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

But the public decided to listen to the wallets, and hence chose to believe the government

A friend of mine said at the time the government was pushing the lower CO2 claims, that diesels were now so clean you could put your mouth over the exhaust.
TBF, he was also the guy who said that RTCs should be immediately swept to the side of the road to allow traffic to continue unmolested, regardless of fatalities. I don't really see much of him any more...

 

[Drago]

Following the VW emissions scandal, some UK group (I forget who) did some live testing on a VW Passat diesel. Clean as a whistle in a lab, for reasons we now all know, but on the road was churning out more pollutants than an HGV tractor unit. I'd like to see him put his mouth over that exhaust!

 

[snorri]

Oh come on!

I bought the car long before the emissions scandal became common knowledge, and believe the most environmentally friendly option would be to keep it until it collapses.
I'm beginning to regret saying that last bit, it's going in for a funny noise investigation tomorrow.

 

[slowmotion]

On older cars you can stop the wipers vertically on the windscreen for better streamlining.

Top tip!

 

[fossyant]

Fill with £30 or £40 a time - enough for the commute for the week (no bike commute now) or £60 if going somewhere. Not often I fill up to the top - just fill with enough for the week.

Usually fill just before the dash light comes on - if the light comes on, fine, but if that and the big fuel pump warning on the 7" sat nav screen, plus the resulting bongs, and 'go to your nearest pump' message, then my missus goes mad !!

 

[fossyant]

I bought the car long before the emissions scandal became common knowledge, and believe the most environmentally friendly option would be to keep it until it collapses.
I'm beginning to regret saying that last bit, it's going in for a funny noise investigation tomorrow.

My car is 16, and I've had it since it was 10 months old. Now't wrong with it, so I'll keep using it.