Really? You are aware, or maybe you are not aware, that when you let the gas get too low, below 1/4 tank, you are depriving the fuel pump of its coolant, which is gas, and you suck whatever debris is in the tank into the filter? Let us know the cost of a new fuel pump.

 

Bigger? Why? I can go from Phoenix to LA on one tank and still have gas left over. 5 hours. How much farther can you drive without a break!

 

Some parts of the country don't need much coolant these days.

 

Probably shouldn't wake up that sleeping dog. That discussion would go on forever...........again.


Back to topic.

 

haha!

yah, i was talking more surface road driving for daily...

 

OK, that makes sense.

 

This is not true for two reasons:

1. The pump is drawing from the low part of the tank which is were the debris and water will tend to accumulate. Running the tank low doesn't change this.
2. The pump is cooled by the fuel it draws through itself, not the fuel surrounding it. As long as there is fuel to draw there is plenty of cooling.

Now, if you run the tank dry the pump might be damaged by running without a load. I don't recommend this, but as long as there is gas for the pump to draw you won't have a problem. I routinely run my tank below a gallon remaining and have never had a problem.

The difference is in stopping for that break were I want



versus where there is gas:

 

Exactly. It's much easier and productive to plan stops in advance knowing the detailed capabilities of the car than to just wing it based on misinformation.

 

It's even easier if the car has greater range capabilities. During the Energy Crisis of the '70s I had a Datsun 510 with 25 gallons of fuel capacity. Having a range of over 600 miles was liberating both for local driving and long trips.

Unfortunately, getting large fuel capacities with a Fit is much more difficult.

 

Hmmm...in my auto tech school,, what I said was listed as correct.

 

Another issue with increasing the tank size is that the Fit already utilizes existing space about as efficiently as possible. If you add 5 gal to the tank, that cubic footage will have to come from somewhere else.

 

I agree. I go as far in the Fit as I do in my 18 gal Camaro. I fill up once a week. (I rotate the cars each week) difference is, the Fit costs half as much to go the same distance. I don't mind stopping at QT once a week and getting a drink after the fill up. Can't imagine having a problem with that.

 

The current tank is under the driver's seat, right? Is there some room under the passenger seat as well?

 

5 gallons is 0.66 cubic feet, or a rectangular tank measuring 20x20x5". Not a huge package to accommodate.

A bigger issue is weight. That extra 30 pounds and the structure to carry it around would probably cost a bit in mileage and performance.

It would be interesting for one of the automakers to suddenly offer a tank that is markedly larger than the competition. How many people would be attracted by not having to fill up as often?

 

Another two gallons would make my life a lot easier. Even one gallon would help most weeks.

 

Of course a more accurate calculation of the fuel bars and distance left would go a long way. I won't push it to see how close I can get to a true empty tank. So I expect the computer to continue tell me I am nearly out (1 bar and less than 10 mile left) when I fill up again...and then only fill up 8.6 gal. I'd much rather it tell me I have enough miles left for the 2 gals I really have left instead of the bizarre fantom amount it thinks I have

 

If it is that important to someone, they could always have a second tank installed. I had a friend who did that in a Caddy awhile back. He was really proud of how far he could go. Of course, it handled like a pig, and wouldn't out run a moped with all that weight, but he could sure go a long way without a fill-up!

 

My god, how big was that tank? Even a doubling of the Caddy's fuel capacity would only add 120 pounds of weight, an amount that most drivers wouldn't even notice in a Caddy.

 

25 gallon tank, on top of what would probably have been a 25 gallon tank that came with the car. Low, to the rear and certainly not good for the balance. 50 gallons at 6 lbs a gallon...300 pounds of fuel. Nobody said he was too bright...and can you imagine the fireworks if he got rear ended?! Remember, those late 70's early 80's GM cars were dogs under the best of circumstances

 

A caddy Coupe de Ville tips the scales at 4400 pounds. 25 gallons of gas would increase this by about 150 pounds to 4550 pounds. The trunk is hardly an ideal location for this weight but a road barge like this should be able to handle it without sagging.

A weight increase of 3% would decrease acceleration by the same amount. I doubt that a driver would notice it at all.

I did a similar thing by adding 12 gallons of capacity to my Datsun 510 which weighted just a bit over 2000 pounds. I couldn't tell the difference between full and empty for both tanks and the Datsun certainly didn't have a V-8 to haul it around.