Full tank or 1/4 tank - Honda Prelude Forum

zameoj · 06-11-2004, 02:01 PM

Do you guys auto-x with a full tank or do you race on fumes?

PilotSH · 06-11-2004, 08:31 PM

I race on a 1/4 tank in the lude. You could prolly get around with 1/8 tank, but I tend to toss the car around quite a bit and get fuel starvation once in a while. I'm not the smoothest driver though, or so I'm told :P

KB798 · 06-12-2004, 03:33 PM

Do keep a gallon of gas after the race so that you can get to the nearest gas station?

Jacques · 06-13-2004, 10:56 AM

I go 1/4 tank on autocross days. Full tank on lapping days.

Darth Luder · 06-14-2004, 06:20 AM

I do the same as Jacques.

Mugenlude · 06-14-2004, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jacques
I go 1/4 tank on autocross days. Full tank on lapping days.

Qitto... You can get by with way less fuel (1/4 tank) for track days if you bring extra gas to fill up between sessions. The reason for the full tank is so you don't have to run to a gas station, the car will run with less fuel.

vtecspd · 06-14-2004, 09:13 AM

With the 4th gens:

Autox single person 60 second course = 3 bars
Autox two people 60 second course = 4 bars

You can run lower but why risk running out of gas for a 7 to 14 lb weight saving. If you need to lose that little weight, go on a diet or driver better.

Track days
you can run low, 5 to 7 bars but watch out for long, high g, right hand sweepers for fuel stravation. At BeaveRun the last 5 laps I had no bars showing at all, none. But BeaveRun does not have any high g right hand turns that were long.

I have fuel straved at Blackhawk twice and on autoxing. nothing more frustrating when the engine cuts out and you have to wait for the gas to slosh back over to the pump. Plus I guess the pump could suffer some damage by straving it.

Mugenlude · 06-14-2004, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vtecspd
nothing more frustrating when the engine cuts out and you have to wait for the gas to slosh back over to the pump. Plus I guess the pump could suffer some damage by straving it.

that happened this weekend with the Civic.... so frustrating just waiting...

Toretto · 06-28-2004, 05:31 PM

I am pretty sure 8-10 gallons of gas weighs more than 14lbs, I think its closer to 60lbs.

fleshbox · 06-28-2004, 09:59 PM

I think he was referring to having an exrta gallon or two...

KENLUDE97 · 06-29-2004, 06:32 PM

I have often thought about this. 2 sides of point in my mind.

1/4 tank... "Lighter is ALLWAYS better"
Full tank... Balance is key

With the car being lighter... Well its lighter!

And with that full tank you have better front to rear weight bias, but you are carrying a extra ~72 lbs!

I allways err on the side of the same setup and lighter.

I run a 1/4 tank.

vtecspd · 06-30-2004, 02:56 PM

As I understand it 1 gallon of water weighs about 8 lbs. With gasoline containing alcohol which is lighter than water I would guess:

1 gallon of gas = 7 lbs. - just estimate.

PilotSH · 06-30-2004, 06:54 PM

To be a little more precise:

1 gallon of gas = 6.5 pounds :P

to be even MORE precise, it weighs between 5.8 to 6.5 pounds, depending on the density of the fuel (which is dependant on the temp of the fuel).

But as a pilot we're always taught to use 6.5 pounds per gallon when doing weight and balance calculations to err on the side of caution

LudemanDan · 06-30-2004, 11:50 PM

I've raced my 4th gen on like 1 bar of fuel, maybe even with the fuel light coming on intermittently, and have never starved it. When your fuel light first comes on, you actually have like 3 gallons left. At least on my car.

Racing with a full tank can be annoying because you can hear it slosh around more, and I think that huge mass of gasoline can throw you off when entering corners. As in, you throw the car into a corner a little ungracefully, and then the 200 lbs of gas sloshes against the side of the tank and changes your rear slip angle.

Dan

aklucsarits · 07-01-2004, 09:52 AM

1/8 tank or less in the Prelude, the S2000, or the Sentra. I've never gotten fuel starvation on any of them. I've never been able to run the S2000 on R compounds yet... I have a feeling I may need more fuel in that car when I do.

Andrew