General B57 Trying to run out of fuel - first try, unsuccessful

[alexandruast]

Hello everyone,
I prepared myself mentally and logistically to run out of fuel, to be able to check several things:
- How does the IG behaves when out of fuel, early signs, if there are any.
- What is the real capacity of the fuel system.
- How easy it is to get it back on track.

This first try was on a road I drive twice a week, late evening, close to midnight. The usual trip is ~83Km and 1h15m, mostly rural with a few roundabouts and intersections. My usual average fuel consumption on the IG is 12L/100Km.

Before heading back home, the IG was showing "Refuel Now", the fuel gauge was at 25% displayed in red, ODO at 6632 and the estimated range was 50km. Fist pic taken a bit after leaving:

Arrived at gas station 87Km later with remaining range 63Km (I drove like grandma, but the experiment was also about trying to get as far as possible with the remaining fuel):

Average speed:

Fuel consumption (I never ever got below 11.5 in the +6KKms driven in this thing):

Driven distance and fuel remaining in tank:

Fillup 88 liters until first click:

What I've learned from this experiment:
1. The fuel gauge is totally unreliable and erratic, on both fuel left and estimated distance.
2. The IG can really achieve 7L/100Km if driven like grandpa.
3. Driving like grandpa will still get you there and the time difference is insignificant, but the fuel economy is awesome.
4. Fillup capacity was odd, either I'll run out of fuel before reaching 0km range, or the fuel capacity is greater than 95 liters (TBD in the next run).

 

[Tazzieman]

I think someone surmised the tank is around 95 L capacity.

 

[DaveB]

Hello everyone,
I prepared myself mentally and logistically to run out of fuel, to be able to check several things:
- How does the IG behaves when out of fuel, early signs, if there are any.
- What is the real capacity of the fuel system.
- How easy it is to get it back on track.

This first try was on a road I drive twice a week, late evening, close to midnight. The usual trip is ~83Km and 1h15m, mostly rural with a few roundabouts and intersections. My usual average fuel consumption on the IG is 12L/100Km.

Before heading back home, the IG was showing "Refuel Now", the fuel gauge was at 25% displayed in red, ODO at 6632 and the estimated range was 50km. Fist pic taken a bit after leaving:
View attachment 7859267

Arrived at gas station 87Km later with remaining range 63Km (I drove like grandma, but the experiment was also about trying to get as far as possible with the remaining fuel):
View attachment 7859268

Average speed:
View attachment 7859269

Fuel consumption (I never ever got below 11.5 in the +6KKms driven in this thing):
View attachment 7859270

Driven distance and fuel remaining in tank:
View attachment 7859272

Fillup 88 liters until first click:
View attachment 7859273

What I've learned from this experiment:
1. The fuel gauge is totally unreliable and erratic, on both fuel left and estimated distance.
2. The IG can really achieve 7L/100Km if driven like grandpa.
3. Driving like grandpa will still get you there and the time difference is insignificant, but the fuel economy is awesome.
4. Fillup capacity was odd, either I'll run out of fuel before reaching 0km range, or the fuel capacity is greater than 95 liters (TBD in the next run).

I am a grandpa with 13 & 14 year old grandsons and a 3 year old granddaughter.
I can assure you that you will not get very good fuel economy driving like me.

 

[Clark Kent]

Fillup 88 liters until first click:
View attachment 7859273

What I've learned from this experiment:

I think I see the problem. You're running your vehicle on Pepsi

Their new brand slogan is "Thirsty for more" so I am definitely confused

 

[LeftCoastOverland]

I pumped in 90.9L last week.
My remaining range dropped off completely to just “- -“ before hitting 50KM….

95L tank would be nice to know. Not sure why the manual shows 90… maybe the remaining 5L fit in the filler neck?

 

[rovie]

I am a grandpa with 13 & 14 year old grandsons and a 3 year old granddaughter.
I can assure you that you will not get very good fuel economy driving like me.

But that's down to the grandpa, not the grandchildren.

 

[Shaky]

I pumped in 90.9L last week.
My remaining range dropped off completely to just “- -“ before hitting 50KM….

95L tank would be nice to know. Not sure why the manual shows 90… maybe the remaining 5L fit in the filler neck?

I noticed this, the range estimate will never go below 50, as when it gets there it just goes blank, so you really are flying blind after that.

 

[bemax]

I don’t agree that the fuel gauge is erratic. It might be a little bit inaccurate in the lower section, but it does not behave strange or unpredictable.
I see the point in your test and I appreciate it as it gives all of us some more information for the one trip we miscalculated the quantity of fuel wrong (for any reason).
In my opinion you had all the information that the calculated range had been affected by a style of driving that was completely different than the normal one. So it had to recalculate and correct the consumption over and over.
As all manufacturers Ineos will do the range calculation with a good safety margin at the bottom. Furthermore they probably only count the fuel in the tank itself and not in the filler neck.
I can easily put in another 4 litres after the first „click“ this is an extra of more than 50 km the way you drove the last part of the trip which will be out of reach for calculation in the first 95 % of the total mileage.
Those are only my thoughts about this topic and I am keen to get more information about the max capacity of the tank (combined with the information whether it had been filled to the top of the filler neck or not)
Best regards
bemax

 

[DenisM]

Not sure why one would want to run the tank to "fume" level. My local service manager "hinted' to me that the tank capacity was indeed slightly in excess of 90L... but he wasn't certain exactly by how much. The slight excess may well be to protect the in-tank pump which relies on surrounding fuel for cooling. Overfilling, as mentioned previously, can cause issues with the carbon vapour-filter and trip fuel level sensor code P0416....
Prudent fuel planning and management has some benefits...

 

[LeftCoastOverland]

Not sure why one would want to run the tank to "fume" level. My local service manager "hinted' to me that the tank capacity was indeed slightly in excess of 90L... but he wasn't certain exactly by how much. The slight excess may well be to protect the in-tank pump which relies on surrounding fuel for cooling. Overfilling, as mentioned previously, can cause issues with the carbon vapour-filter and trip fuel level sensor code P0416....
Prudent fuel planning and management has some benefits...

I won’t be playing the bottom of tank game again any time soon.
Reading in the manual: emptying the tank will cause fuel pump damage. That’s the extent of the info offered.

But good to know 90L can be burned and she’ll still tick a bit longer.

 

[Tazzieman]

Reading in the manual: emptying the tank will cause fuel pump damage.

I'm not sure whether the pump is cooled by immersion or fuel flow but either way, it requires fuel to stay cool.
Fry it and things might get inconvenient & expensive.

 

[landmannnn]

And modern diesel fuel injectors will overheat without fuel running through them.

 

[DaveB]

I pumped in 90.9L last week.
My remaining range dropped off completely to just “- -“ before hitting 50KM….

95L tank would be nice to know. Not sure why the manual shows 90… maybe the remaining 5L fit in the filler neck?

My Mercedes had a 69 litre tank.
Plus a 10 Litre reserve that wasn't registered.

 

[NQ94]

Running the fuel too low constantly is not good for the injectors as modern low sulphur diesel does not lubricate as well as the less environmentally friendly diesel of the past add the far tighter injector tolerances and multiple injection events for each combustion cycle there is less lubrication as the fuel in the tank increases in temperature. The returning fuel does not appear to go through any fuel coolers back to tank.

 

[DaveB]

I'm not sure whether the pump is cooled by immersion or fuel flow but either way, it requires fuel to stay cool.
Fry it and things might get inconvenient & expensive.

The driver also requires fuel to stay cool.
Standing on the side of the road with an empty fuel tank does not make one look cool........more likely looking like a fool.

 

[Jean Mercier]

@alexandruast , my car is a petrol, but the fuel tanks are most probably the same.

My record was 0 remaining stripes on February 20, see the picture in this post:

https://www.theineosforum.com/attachments/20240220_112919-jpg.7844709/

And I could fill it to 91.87 liters, see my purchase ticket here:

https://www.theineosforum.com/attachments/20240220_133217-jpg.7844710/

I never overfill it, I always stop when the filling fuel pistol disconnects.

In June in Romania, also 0 red stripes but "only" 91.13 liters.

What did you do with your Grenadier today?

Where I live the council have always been fussy about which vehicles can use the tip, sometimes you can "buy a pass" from the tip rats. The end result being most of the local lanes have a pile of mattresses and sofas on a Monday morning. I took a load of hardcore down that they used to take...

www.theineosforum.com

 

[Quartermaster]

Thank you for this helpful information. But: How can you be so brave to drive it somewhat like empty? Just interest?

 

[Jean Mercier]

Thank you for this helpful information. But: How can you be so brave to drive it somewhat like empty? Just interest?

Like @alexandruast , I want to know what my car is capable to do. I am not that brave at all, I always "take the risk" when I know that there are gasoline stations not too far away.
Apart from only one time, when I left the motorway in Germany close to the border in Luxemburg. I hoped to reach Luxemburg, but it was like "hell, I won't make it". Only to find out that the nearest petrol station was still some 25 km away in ... Luxemburg. But I managed to reach it (90.94 liters!)

This "taking risks" allows me to be quite confident in other "almost empty" situations, where I still have to drive quite some kilometers to find a petrol station. With zero red stripes I know that I still can do some 20km! Perhaps more!

 

[Tom D]

Mine gives the range: _ _ _ when there are still 4 or 5 bars remaining. Today I drove to Edinburgh (40 miles) with _ _ _ and when I filled up I only got 82l in it.. I reckon I have close to 100 miles left when the gauge goes _ _ _.

 

[Tom D]

Ok I now know how far I have got once the gauge goes red. Today I did 75 miles on red, when I filled I got in 90 litres to the first click and 92 litres to the third click. Thats as far as I'd like to push it. But it's good to know that I have 70 odd miles left when it goes red.