Car with extra large fuel tank (or two?)

Transportation, Travel and Trips
21
Wow, lots of constructive replies! Thank you all.

Yes, moving house will be better but I have finally settled with friends etc where I am and changing the environment won't be ideal. I don't know how long I will have to do the commute as well, as I am temporarily changing someone, it could become permanent position or I could get back at my old office. When I bought my car I didn't have to commute so much.

I've never had a French car, but I am very scared to buy one, the engines seem solid but everything else breaks down.

And which Japanese diesel would you choose sir?

Yes definitely, when I bought my car I didn't have to commute. So the criteria was different than now. I know it will save me a lot getting a small car, but I don't know how long I will have to do this commute. Selling the current car - I will loose money as I bought it a year ago, getting a second one will make no difference in the fuel saving as I will have to pay parking/tax etc... Difficult to predict.

For quiet, they are quiet. I also love the torque at low RPM they give.

Yes the stats on the QashQai diesel are very good indeed. One thing that worries me is that French engineering.

Thanks for that, that Passat 1.6 TDI is quite something. I read months ago for a couple that did a world record in hypermiling with a Jetta in the US, diesel manual.

I don't really need a large 4x4 now for a daily commute, a normal sedan car will do it, the RAV was more of a weekend vehicle, I did try the QashQai back than but the plastics inside were so cheap that I couldn't stand it. The plastics in the Toyota are no BMW or Merc either, but way different than Nissan. Also the 2.0 petrol QashQai was as slow as ever.

22
I can get 1200 km out of my tank.......then again it is a 160L tank so all in all horrible mileage. (it is a gmc suburban)

Then my 2001 BMW 525 d wagon got close to a 1000km out of a tank (I think it was 70L but not sure) . It averaged between 5-7l/100km which was incredible for the size of the vehicle. It was rwd but even without 4wd it would outperform almost any in the snow as it has a brilliant design. finally got rid of it cause I moved with 280k km on the clock. (put a lot of money (close to 6k in the last 40k) in it though and we had it since new so maintenance was always done properly)

23
my choice for MY situation would be a nissan x-trail 170bhp dci model. But thats because i like to option of being able to have fwd, rwd, 4wd and diff lock and a good towing weight

i made a recent 3400kms trip in one with a 3 motorbike trailer so pulling around 800kgs or more and it returned 5.5 litres per 100 kms on the motorway run, loaded with 3 adults and kit.

most wont need this though.

i know a few people with a skoda octavia and they have provided good reports

24

Qahqai’s Japanese/UK engineering, not French. It just has Renault engines and they’re very good now.

If you think the Qashqai’s plastic (not my view) then for heaven’s sake don’t even look at a Maxda X5. Awful car.

25
Japanese design

French technique

Assembled in the UK

Sounds like hell on 4 wheels

26

Wrong again k_and_e! Great to drive and fun with it.

27
You could keep the RAV4 for fun at weekends, and buy something like a 2 year old Golf TDi, and use change over number plates.

28
Buy a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe, 7.8L V8, comes with a 120L (30 gallon) tank.

Won't help you much though, at a hefty 30L per 100km

29
Jaguar XJ with the 2.7L Diesel. Basel to Blackpool on one tank.

30
Man, that must be a lot of driving every day.

My Skoda 2.0L diesel will do 1000km on a full 50L tank (easy average of 5L per 100km).

If you were driving that car and refuelling every 2 days, you must be doing 330 to 500 km a day...!!!

Most cars are dimensioned to get 800km to 1000km on a full tank of fuel.

Under normal driving conditons.

31
My previous car, an Audi A6, 2.0 TDi, had an extra large fuel tank build in from factory as request from first owner. It could hold 80 liters so if I drove with "a light foot" I could go all the way to Denmark without refueling.

The driver however, had to take a leak every 2 hours though....

I loved that car.....should never have sold it

32
Not really. Pretty much anything with a half-reasonable power output, or many older vehicles, will likely be somewhat less than that. 600 plus I'd agree with.

Then again, I guess you could argue that 'most' cars excludes the aforementioned, in which case you're correct

33
Already a lot of good advice, so I won't go too much further.

If you want fuel to last, you need to consider:

- The power to weight ratio of the vehicle,

- Fuel consumption per 100km, and then of course

- The tank capacity.

I had a Diesel Toyota Land Cruiser in Australia with 2 tanks holding 95L and 50L in the AUX tank.

Fuel rate was 14L/100km

The vehicle was about 2,500kg with all the extra's.

The maths above suggests the vehicle will travel over 1,000km, but the reality was around the 900km at best.

What I'm trying to say is that bigger fuel tanks doesn't mean your life will be much easier.

However, I also have some experience with the following:

Toyota or an Isuzu Diesel engines are both good for Japanese design.

I used to trade in a Diesel 4X4 every 3 years or around 150,000km (whichever came first) so I've got a fair idea what will last.

We used to have an old work truck with over 850,000km on it (Toyota Diesel) and it still wouldn't die. It has to be well over the Million mark by now (if it's still around).

Basically, the Toyota Diesel motor was an expensive option, but long term maitenance costs were lower. Resale was significantly higher, and it was common knowledge that a 'high km' toyota diesel was far more acceptable than any of it's rivals.

Common problems were with timing belts (magically around the 120,000 to 150,000km mark) but if you budget for this maitenance there are few other problems.

I can't speak for European Diesel engines, but they typically don't seem to handle the heat...... not that this is a problem here, so I assume all is good.

Hope that helps.

34
My sister got a Q7 and it has a 100L fuel tank. I don't imagine she gets many miles out of it though!

35
You have a car with a relatively large frontal area, a non-turbo petrol engine and with an automatic gearbox - combine that with a small fuel tank and you will have to make regular trips to the fuel station.

Unless you have a specific type/size car in mind, the rest of the advice you have been given is all far too specific. So think along these lines:

- Frontal Area - SUVs/MPVs have a larger frontal area - going for a saloon type car will give better economy. Even an Estate car will use slightly more fuel due to aerodynamic in efficiencies compared to a saloon.

- Engine - depending on how many KMs you do in each journey - a modern petrol or diesel engine will return far better fuel economy. If you do a lot of driving in slow moving/stationary traffic (URBAN) consider a car with stop/start technology

- Fuel Tank - unsurprisingly the bigger the car the bigger the fuel tank. 5-series size cars will typically have a 65-70l tank. The days of 80l tanks are behind us unless you opt for a large SUV. A 70l tank with a 6l/100km car will see you going 1000km between fillups.

- Gearbox - the best modern automatics or double clutch gearboxes will out perform their manual rivals. But on older cars opt for the self shifting approach to ensure best economy.