GAS TANK CAPACITY

[BillGargan]

I managed to run out of gas today.

Luckily, I ran out in front of a house. Luckily, I actually knew the owner as a cook at a local ski area. Luckily, he had gas on hand and I was only about 1.5 miles from a gas station.

I put in some gas -- my guess would be less than a quart.

I drove to the gas station and filled the tank till the vents sprayed when running the pump fairly slowly.

It took 5.646 gallons. If my estimate was right on what I put in (say .2 gallons) and my consumption on the way to the station was minimal -- I put in between 5.85 and 5.95 gallons.

When you look into the filler when the tank is spraying, there is clearly a fair bit of room. With a steady hand and a veerry slow pump you might put another .3 to .5+ gallon in there.

I think this tank has a theoretical capacity of the 6.6 gallons that BRP says. But, for practical reasons we will never realistically put more than 5.9 gallons in it.

 

[NancysToy]

:agree: Larger amounts have been reported, but I wonder if those pumps read accurately.

 

[zeebill]

Yeah I wonder about those pumps too! I get about what Bill got in there too and the most I have gotten out of a tank was 172 miles, still right around 30.6 MPG regardless of how I drive it. I am getting ready for a trip to Oregon in 150 mile increments I guess? That is going to suck! They need better gas mileage or a bigger tank. Bill

 

[BumbleBee]

Bigger tank would be great!!! I never let my gas run that low, I am always making sure I got more then enough!!!

 

[NancysToy]

Yeah I wonder about those pumps too! I get about what Bill got in there too and the most I have gotten out of a tank was 172 miles, still right around 30.6 MPG regardless of how I drive it. I am getting ready for a trip to Oregon in 150 mile increments I guess? That is going to suck! They need better gas mileage or a bigger tank. Bill

I wouldn't stretch it that far. Figure on every 100 or 120 miles. More often if gas stations are scarce. Rule on that one is never pass a gas station while riding a desert highway.

 

[SpyderRyder810]

:agree: I agree with Scotty. Stopping for gas every 120 miles is the prudent thing to do. On our recent 5,000 mile trip out west we carried two 30 fluid oz MSR fuel bottles (backpacker style). We carried them EMPTY, but would have filled them if there was a possibility of not finding gas stations on our route. They are compact and safe enough to carry in the trunk of the Spyder. We bought ours at REI.

 

[bjt]

Yeah I wonder about those pumps too! I get about what Bill got in there too and the most I have gotten out of a tank was 172 miles, still right around 30.6 MPG regardless of how I drive it. I am getting ready for a trip to Oregon in 150 mile increments I guess? That is going to suck! They need better gas mileage or a bigger tank. Bill

I agree that better gas mileage would be nice. But on long road trips its nice to stop, stretch your legs, take a water or snack or bathroom break, etc. every two hours. The Spyder's tank size and fuel economy works perfect as a reminder of the two hour stop. Kind of like those ergonomic programs that they had / have on computers that would alert you to stop typing and do some sort of stretching every so often.

 

[smokster]

I managed to run out of gas today.

Luckily, I ran out in front of a house. Luckily, I actually knew the owner as a cook at a local ski area. Luckily, he had gas on hand and I was only about 1.5 miles from a gas station.

I put in some gas -- my guess would be less than a quart.

I drove to the gas station and filled the tank till the vents sprayed when running the pump fairly slowly.

It took 5.646 gallons. If my estimate was right on what I put in (say .2 gallons) and my consumption on the way to the station was minimal -- I put in between 5.85 and 5.95 gallons.


When you look into the filler when the tank is spraying, there is clearly a fair bit of room. With a steady hand and a veerry slow pump you might put another .3 to .5+ gallon in there.

I think this tank has a theoretical capacity of the 6.6 gallons that BRP says. But, for practical reasons we will never realistically put more than 5.9 gallons in it.

I have put in 6.37 gal

 

[Trypod]

Besides, it's still fun to stop every so often and answer :joke: mostly silly questions about your :spyder:, I have learned to add at least that extra 10 mins for every stop to my trips, so I don't stop for gas on the way to work. I've learned to fill up the night before. :lecturef_smilie: Good to be back folks, have been reading posts since was able to get back here, still lots to catch up on and dang the mods keep coming:gaah:. Oh well, will keep me busy during these FL afternoon rain storms.

 

[DannyS]

A bigger tank on the Spyder would not help unless they also installed a bigger tank in me. :roflblack:I am just fine stopping every 150 miles:thumbup: