MY19 B8 wagon Fuel tank capacity?

[Zart]

The specs say 68L .

However I've put 72L in twice now. Two different servos.
VW will only provide the figures from the specs.
I filled when the needle was on top of the thick red line both times. (half way in the last segment)
Last time the dash informed me I had 10km range left.
I suspect there is still around 40-50 km left, as that is about what the top half of the red gave me.

Can anybody through any light in this please?

TIA
Ron

[doc_777]

‘Usable’ volume and actual volume can be two entirely different things. VW likely quotes what they regard as usable volume - the volume that can be picked up by the low pressure delivery pump when the vehicle is on any reasonable angle. Actual volume is likely to be anything up to 7 or 8 litres more.

[Lucas_R]

I never let my cars go below 1/4 of a tank. You are just asking for trouble (fuel starvation) otherwise. Plus my anxiety kicks in with any less than 1/4 tank.

As mentioned above, the useable volume of fuel is what you need to be concerned with.

[Zart]

Thanks for the input guys.

It seems I've discovered a useable volume of 72+ Litres.

So I'm still looking for factual information on tank capacity.

[Lucas_R]

My guess is somewhere between 76-80L but I would not be too keen on finding out the answer.

The fuel tank on my Audi SQ5 is said to be 75L, but I fill up every 10-14 days and rarely put in more than 40-50L each time because I don't like it getting anywhere near empty.

[Zart]

Thanks for your input.
However as mention a couple of times now, I cannot understand why anybody don't use the full capacity of the tank. That's what it is there for. There are plenty of warning electronics built in. (Having a range of over 1000km is achievable with the 1.8L TSI) The electric pump is in the bottom of the tank, is it not, and will draw fuel from the bottom. Therefore. any thought of picking up dirty fuel is not possible, and with the filter attached. By (almost) emptying the tank, you overcome any problem problem of stale fuel being stored.
Filling up every 10-14 days should keep a fairly fresh supply, I must admit, but I wonder if you did get one batch of dirty fuel, it would still eventually block the filter later, than if used without "diluting" that bad batch with fresh fuel, and would show up ealier?

[Lucas_R]

Thanks for your input.
However as mention a couple of times now, I cannot understand why anybody don't use the full capacity of the tank. That's what it is there for.

We are all different - I don't like to, you obviously do. Some people will take off for a trip on the highway with 1/4 tank of fuel and fill up along the way, I will fill up before I get on the freeway. This way if there is a traffic jam / crash / some sort of emergency etc I know I wont run out of fuel. Neither way is right or wrong, just different strokes for different folks. I don't ever want to be that person who runs out of fuel on the side of the road.

And if you have ever had a car with a faulty fuel level sender then you will understand why I don't trust what the gauge says, especially as its nears empty.

My SQ5 regularly achieves 800km on a tank with our style of driving (another 200-300km out of the tank is possible on the freeway) but I feel comfortable knowing the tank is full and there is always fresh fuel going in the tank.

[Zart]

Thanks for you input Lucas. I understand your reasoning, about filling up before you leave on a trip.
On my last trip, I filled up at home, then some 800km into the trip (cheaper fuel available) then again at home after 1066km.
Tank took 74.5L. So maybe it's is 75L the same as the Audi mentioned above.

[Guest001]

I dont understand why people let it get down to the last few litres and then have to panic to find a servo. I had an occasion once to go a different way and mistook the distance and had to use Maori overdrive down all the hills to get to the next servo which on the road I was on was a long way away. Taught me a lesson and I never ever did that again. Same as where we live now. Get caught by an accident on the Bruce with an low tank and you may regret it

[dArK5HaD0w]

Might b a similar situation with the Passat - with the Superb, the brochure states it has a 65L tank, but Oz spec'ed Superbs gets the optional larger tank as standard. Bringing the capacity up to 75L.
I confirmed this using erWIN Online, which gives u an 8-pg report of every PR build code specific to ur car.
In some European markets, they get to option up to the larger tank.
Other markets don't get the option.
The Oz market does, but the marketing department here don't know that.

[XM640]

I also have pumped more than 70 litres of fuel into my B8 wagon's tank on several occasions (well according to the bowser that is). But there was another reason for this ...

Like Lucas_R, I look to fill up when the gauge gets close to 1/4 empty, for no reason other than convenience. And I always noted the DTE never got below 250km (giving a theoretical range of 1000+km).

I thought I'd test this recently in an attempt to determine the car's true range on a tank of fuel ... only to run out of fuel ... with indicated 1/4 tank and 250 km DTE ... on a quiet bit of country road ... smart eh!

Thankfully VW road service was less that an hour away. And that VW service centre was eventually able to diagnose and replace my faulty fuel sender, which the car had from new!

[Zart]

Bugger on the faulty sender. I'd carry a spare 5L if I was going to try that...which I may do soon.

Thanks for the input all.

[Lucas_R]

Another reason why I like to fill up early - on Sunday afternoon we got flooded in the relentless heavy rainfall which hammered Newcastle last week. My Subaru was written off (submerged in approx 52cm of water) but luckily I was able to save my wife's Audi due to it being parked on slightly higher ground at the time of the flood event and also the fact that its an SUV so it sits a bit higher off the ground compared to my Subaru.

Given that it was quite a stressful situation, with my wife away for work training, I had my young daughter (who was petrified) dog and cat to rescue all on my own - I was relieved that the Audi had approx 2/3rd's of a tank of diesel, so not only was I able to drive 30 mins without stopping to stay the night with family, but now I also don't need to risk filling up with diesel that has water in it (both my local BP's were flooded also) from the local service stations, because I have enough fuel to last me 7-10 days.

In this instance, I will run the tank down quite low to avoid for as long as possible filling up with contaminated diesel.

The pros far outweigh the cons for me.

[Lucas_R]

I thought I'd test this recently in an attempt to determine the car's true range on a tank of fuel ... only to run out of fuel ... with indicated 1/4 tank and 250 km DTE ... on a quiet bit of country road ... smart eh!

Thankfully VW road service was less that an hour away. And that VW service centre was eventually able to diagnose and replace my faulty fuel sender, which the car had from new!

Faulty fuel level senders are quite common. My mother in laws Ford Falcon ran out of fuel several times (why you would allow it to happen more than once I dont know....not the smartest people) with the fuel gauge and the digital display still showing reasonable range left. My brothers Mazda RX8 ran out of fuel several times with anything less than about 1/2 tank showing (turned out to be a valve that regulates fuel between the left and right side of the tank was faulty - common issue on the RX. I had to rescue him one night with a 10L jerry can on the freeway in the pissing rain - fun times.

Anything less than 1/4 and I start stressing out.

[Guest001]

B7 was 77L if that helps