Why you shouldn't let your tank get more than half empty
 

Because if you wait, the price of gas will have gone up another dime. :cry:

Filled my car up at $4.07 per gallon for Shell 91 (rural CA). It was down about half way and the price had gone to $4.17. I didn't stop to fill it. Two days later it was $4.20 and the price of oil has continued to rise.

You got that right. Mine is half tank right now... :eek:

i have a bad habit of letting the gas run almost empty because my dad instilled this idea of making sure the gas tank is clean so it doesn't contaminate the new gas.

The fuel pump uses the gas that is present in the tank to keep it cool It is wise not to run it down. Since cars draw gas from the bottom of the tank, any older fuel will be mixed in with the new stuff and drawn from the bottom. Oh and the way gas is going up, you almost have to store 10 gallons in the garage before it goes up again.

I've always heard the opposite. You don't want to run it down because you will start picking up water and junk from the bottom. Both are probably urban legends.

I let mine get rather low recently, then hit my first 50 dollar fill up. ouch! It's a damn good thing I really like this car. If I'm going to spend a lot of money on gas it may as well be on a car that I enjoy driving.

Back in 2001, I borrowed my parents' S430 and offered to filled up the tank when I return it, it costed $50!! Can't imagine what they're paying now for a full tank. I think the tank was like 20+ gallons, so they must be paying close to $80 a tank.

And just think, it's not even Memorial day yet. The day that gas traditionally goes up 30 cents a gallon.

Assuming $5/gallon at a marina, it will cost me around $750 each fill up for my boat this summer. I get a comfortable 3/4-mile per gallon, btw. :cry:

I hate to say it, but I'm glad the price of fuel/gasoline is finally going up here in the US. Not enough people care about the limited resource/environmental arguments - hitting people in the wallet is the only way to change behavior on a mass scale. This will finally force the American 2-3 ton SUV/truck culture to start switching to more fuel efficient vehicles..... like the rest of the world already has 10-20 years ago. The MINI is a mid-sized vehicle in the Europe and Asia. Too bad Detroit didn't see this coming, they will be hurting bad.

There's no doubt that this transition will be painful for us all, but IMHO, it is just a bad tasting medicine that will improve the country's health in the long run.

If you continue to run your tank almost empty everytime, you could end up burning out the fuel pump. I have seen it happen and its not a cheap fix. :no:

I try to fill up with about a 1/4 to 1/2 tank left.

umm... just a minor thing. if you keep filling before it can get low, you are constantly adding more weight to the car. i read this in one of the mini2 magazines...

barely would make a difference but meh...

as bad as it is filling my cooper up at 4.19 a gallon this past weekend, I still congratulate myself that it's only a small tank. my previous vehicle was a suburban with a twin tank and getting only 11 mpg. at 42 gallons, that would have cost me over $200 for the fill-up!!!

snapper, I agree that gas should be expensive, what sucks is all the money is going to the gas companies and making them richer rather than going to some sort of tax to help find and produce alternative fuels. If I'm not mistaken, isn't the high price of fuel in the UK based on taxes and fees rather than corporate greed?

The Oil Companies and the Middle East Oil Countries are sticking it to use and we don't have the balls (United States) to do anything about it.

The number-one exporter of oil to the United States is Canada. But we're in the same boat. 91 octane costs the equivalent of just over $5/gallon here.

Still about $3.65/gal. for 93 in NJ... but it is climbing. :(

If you're that worried about an extra 37 lbs in your car go on a diet...:roll:

Gas weighs 6.15 lbs a gallon.

I've been paying $4+ a gallon here for almost 2 months now. Gas has been hovering around $3.75 since the beginning of the year. Yay, I love CA! :sly:

People biatching about high gas prices
 

while complaining about US dependance on imported energy is like an crack addict complaining about the cost of a fix....

Just a thought....

Matt

I've had to replace the fuel pump on my Sentra a couple times. Last time was due to me running it down to empty before filling up every time. Overheating the Napa brand pump.

One thing I noticed about the tank when changing the pump was how clean it was inside. The car has 217k miles on it now and the inside of the tank is spotlessly clean. No water or dirt of any kind, not even anything the size of a grain of sand.. Doesn't really prove anything but I maybe that is just a legend.

I kind of agree that the silver lining to these silly gas prices is that I think we're actually, finally hitting the breaking point. By that I mean drivers will change bad habits, consumers will re-think auto purchases and investors & companies will be forced to develop reasonable energy alternatives. I know that everyone was fuming a few years ago when oil hit a whopping $50 a barrel, but as we can all see, nobody changed their habits in '05 now did they?

I was recently reading an analyst's view that sees gas prices moderating after the summer season, as these prices are being driven by speculators, not OPEC or Katrina. The speculators can't keep the bubble rising forever, eventually it has to "self-correct," kind of like the housing market but in a good way.

Yup, cost me just about $700 to replace the fuel pump on my 99 Silverado. Cant imagine what it would be for a Mini.

If everyone switched over to a more economic vehicle vs. sport uts and other larger vehicles, i feel fuel prices would climb even higher. Wouldnt there be less fuel being purchased, thus give the companies more of a reason to jack it up? I feel we need the gas hogs on the road to keep suckn at the pumps to keep it down for us.

My truck has a 37 gallon tank. I can't even fill it if there is less than a quarter tank left...the pumps around here shut off at $100. There are two thoeries I use when filling it. Primarily I try to fill it and go as long as I can before filling again...this way I am burning cheap gas. This thoeory got me through a temporary price spike when Katrina hit.

Since gas is on a long upswing, I guess the theory changes to fill often before the prices go up higher. In the end, it really doesn't matter...you will be paying out the nose for it no matter what.

Yep, my MINI can't come soon enough. I figured the mileage savings based on my driving habits would be about $80/month. Unfortunately, the price hike is going to eat away at any realized savings so all I'm really doing is damage contol. But hey, I'm getting a fun car to drive so no whining!

In the 1970's gas prices skyrocketed in a short period of time. OPEC was exercising its muscle. This put world economies into recession and caused double-digit inflation -- reducing the demand for oil and negating some of the price increase benefits to oil suppliers. The Saudis started increasing production and prices came down a bit.

This was the period when small Japanese cars became very popular. As time went on, gas prices came down to about what they had originally been if you adjusted for inflation. As a result, people started moving towards bigger cars, and the SUV craze began.

It would be great if the current gas shortages led to a long-term move to smaller, more efficient cars, and alternative energy sources. However, oil producers can counter the trends by dropping prices and undercutting the desire for alternatives. We Americans don't seem to be good at long-term planning, so we will probably go with the flow...of oil. :sad:

Oh I welcome the price hike. I hope it hits $5 a gallon here soon, maybe then I'll be able to see driving down the street. Get rid of some of those stupid SUV's. :mad: