Drove the new Mini till the last segment was showing red. The computer told me I could travel 40 more miles. I filled up... with 13.86 gallons. So... if the computer was even close, and the fuel gauge was even close... it makes sense that I could have squeezed another gallon or more into the tank if I had run it dry.

So, 13.2 must be the capacity MINUS a reserve of about 1.5-2 gallons??

 

Wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.

My R53 routinely takes 14 - 14.5 gallons to fill after running until shortly after the warning light comes on.

 

1-i wonder how much fluid is retained in the lines and in the fuel pump
2-i wonder if the gas station you went to has had a calibration lately
3-i wonder if the gas station you went to is trying to rip people off :(

 

I was thinking the same thing about the county auditor getting kick backs for passing miscalibrated pumps, but after filling over 14 gallons in 4 different states/counties, I'm leaning more towards option 1.

 

yes that is wat it says in the Manuel

 

Most cars have at least 1-2 gallons of "Reserve" in the fuel lines and rail.

 

Obviously you need a refresher course in conspiracy theory.

 

I use to not wait until it was close to empty, however with gas prices as high as they are I wait to see it the price my go down.

 

LOL.

Just cause I'm not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me, eh ?

 

Just today I was only able to put 13.505 in mine today and the computer was down to 26 mi.

 

you'll see that there isn't tons of room in the filler pipe. It gets pretty narrow. Also, with FI cars, if you try to drive on only the gas in the pump and the lines, the car won't go. It needs the pressure that the pump provides to inject anything. This wasn't the case with carb cars with mechanical fuel pumps on the engine. That would happily slurp up the stuff in the tank and the lines and go till the diaphram was dry....

Matt

 

Dont fight it, keep your tank 1/2 full at all times.!!!

 

1-2 GALLONS in the lines and fuel rail? No way, Jose. I've changed a few fuel pumps/fuel filters in my day... and after draining/relieving pressure in the lines/rail I collected only about a pint, max.

 

I was under the impression that cars had a "reserve" but not in the lines and rails, but in the tank. It is just 1 or 2 gallons more than the tank is quoted holding.

 

I wonder what the variance in volume is?

Matt

 

That doesn't work out here, you're better off filling up every day. The only direction prices go in California is up .

 

Your #1 concept actually allowed the Donahue/Penske racing Camaros to beat the Ford Mustangs in the late 60s trans am races. They increased the diameter of the filler tube allowing a bit more fuel to be stored. It worked, they beat Ford by stopping less for fuel fill ups with this little trick

 

'04 Manual states...
Fuel tank capacity:
Approx. 13.2 gallons / 50 liters, of which
approx. 2.1 gallons / 8 liters are reserve capacity.

So... is it possible to suggest there is a typo in the manual and conclude then that the MCS tank could actually hold 15.3 gals (13.2 + 2.1 reserve)

...based on what was reported in another thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThumperMCS
I routinely ran my R53 down to the very last drop. I know i know, its bad...but oh well. I never ran out of gas and the range to empty never seemed to fail me. I got it down past '0 miles' numerous times. One time, with only one dash remaining of the '- - -' that comes after you pass 0. Whenever that happened, I'd always be able to fill it up with anywhere from 14.0 to 14.5 gallons. Always boggled me.

 

What's the point of letting your tank run dry, or waiting until it shows "0 miles to empty"? Sorry if I offend anyone, but it's a pretty dumb idea.

 

Hey, it's something to talk about.

My manual says the Cooper has a ten gallon tank, which I KNOW is wrong.

 

i also have a "10 gallon tank" which seems to be a little bigger.

 

I find it hard to believe there is 2 gallons of reserve.

Zero is zero, not zero +2.

That's how Germans make and do things.

 

Smokey Yunick did the same thing, only he took it to the extreme - two-inch diameter fuel line, snaking back and forth underneath the car between the fuel tank and the engine. This increased his fuel capacity by *five gallons* (and prompted NASCAR to define a maximum-allowable fuel line size in the rules).

 

Then again, 13.2 Imperial Gallons equals about 15.8 US Gallons...

 

With modern car manufacturers they build quite a bit into dumbing things down for the "Average Joe". Dummy coolant gauges, gas gauges that say you're out of gas when you can still drive 20 miles. And people still overheat cars and run out of gas!

I never understood the whole drive till it stops thing. When my gas light comes on I HIGH TAIL it to the gas station. I have no reason to try and set a world record on how much I can drive after my car tells me I'm out of gas .