GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Last week I filled up with 13.67 gallons USA bit more than the 13.2 gal. capacityI was really running on Fumes.What is the most you've ever pumped into your vibe?

quote:Last week I filled up with 13.67 gallons USA bit more than the 13.2 gal. capacityI was really running on Fumes.WOW! That is way low. I am really surprised you didn't run out! The manual states that it is a 13.2 gallon capacity for the Base and GT and 11.9 gallons for the AWD. If I were you, I wouldn't let it get that low again. Like Salsa said, it is not good for your engine and you just might be stranded next time and that would stink.

may be your friendly neighborhood gas pump is not so friendly !!!

Knock on wood - I've never run out of gas in my life. I use my odometer to tell me how many miles since the last fill-up. Operates as a good double check to avoid running low on gas. Unlike my PT Cruiser, this Vibe gas guage appears to be pretty accurate - if it says you are down 3/4 of a tank, you are down 3/4 of a tank. If you don't think you were running on fumes when you put 13.67 gal in, I'd report that pump to the local weights and measures office. The retail profit margin on gas is so slim that there probaly is some pressure to cheat, but things can get out of whack even if no one's trying to cheat.

Most people don't realize that all fuel pumps are corrected to 15 degrees C. Liquid gasoline expands and contracts with the temperature. If the outside temperature is below 15 degrees, you'll get less gas. If the temp is over 15, you'll get more gas. It is an industry standard that was agreed on so all pumps could be manufactured the same. The oil companies actually gain millions of dollars per year because of this. Another reason to hate the oil companies.

Err... I don't want to demean Vibe Rater's vast store of arcane knowledge, but this particular dirty little secret is written in the "squint print" on every gas pump...

quote:Last week I filled up with 13.67 gallons USA bit more than the 13.2 gal. capacityI was really running on Fumes.What is the most you've ever pumped into your vibe?In my old cars I could squeeze 0.5-2 gal of extra gas over the rated capacity. I have squeezed 13.5 into the vibe, but I haven't pushed it.

Other than nob being very good for the engine, it's not very good for the fuell pump either.The pump is normally immersed in fuel which acts like a coolant.If you're running on empty all the time, the pump can fail sooner than normal.

That is way too low. I have yet to pump in more than 12 gallons in mine - the light comes on, I get gas.

Thanks Salsa,I did check the owners manual, which is how I knew the capacity was 13.2I don't usually let my tank get this low and don't plan to again.Usually I fill up with 11-12 gallons

I was hoping for the gas prices to drop from 81.5, but I had no choice but to tank up....since I was running about as empty as the day the car was built. I tried just adding $5 to the tank, but I find, that if I don't tank up the car, it drinks the fuel so much faster (maybe it is just my imagination).

This could factor in a little bit. Gasoline weighs about 6 pounds per gallon. Water, by contrast, weighs about 9. So a full tank of gas can weigh almost 80 pounds. In auto racing, toward the end of the race they often try to make the best estimated guess as to exactly how much fuel they will need just to finish the race so they aren't carrying around extra unnecessary weight and fill up with just enough fuel. Sometimes you see cars running out of fuel right about at the end of the race because someone did the math wrong or they cut it too close and lost the gamble.quote:If the outside temperature is below 15 degrees, you'll get less gas. If the temp is over 15, you'll get more gas.You've got the right idea here, but the info is backwards. You get more gas on colder days because there are more gas molecules packed into a given space. Gases and liquids increase in density as temperatures are decreased. So one cubic centimeter of cold gasoline will have more gasoline molecules packed into it than will one cubic centimeter of warmer gasoline. A good friend of mine swears by this and would only get gas late at night during the warmer months because he believed he got more gas that way. I think that this really doesn't factor in as much as some believe because the storage tanks that the gas is pumped up from under the gas station are far enough down underground that the temperature in them remains pretty constant. Only in the coldest times of winter does the temperature of the gas in the underground tanks probably change noticably.

Be careful with measurements from gas station pumps. Some of them cheat.Two weeks ago, I filled up at a Chevron in TX where I got off the 10W to head up to the Carlsbad Caverns. Those *******s rang up 12 gallons, when I know for a fact the car only took 10!I am now boycotting Chevron.Burt