Quote:
Originally Posted by Idaho2018GTPremium
I rarely fill my GT up past 1/2 tank for weight savings since there's a gas station very convenient to me on the way to the freeway from my house, so a 16 vs 19 gallon tank is not an issue for me. If we go on a road trip, we take my wife's comfy Volvo XC90.
That said, for my car, EPA rates the GT A10 at 25 mpg on the highway -- however, my car's trip computer indicates 30+ mpg on the 7 mile stretch of highway between my house and downtown, but that's pretty flat so I realize a road trip would probably be less with hills, etc. Assuming 16 gallons @ 25 mpg = 400 miles per tank on the highway; that's not really nerve wracking for me if I ever had to take it on a long trip.
Most likely the 16 gal tank size was due to packaging requirements.
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Well, on a GT in purely highway driving, the tank size is fine. It's once when you get in town that you might get in trouble. On a GT350 and GT500, however, it definitely becomes an issue as their highway mileage isn't nearly as good.
Again, no one drives to 100% empty, so realistically I think you would get 350 miles on highways before fueling. On a track, you probably also don't want to go too low on gas as fuel starvation can happen as it sloshes around when it gets too low and lean spikes are deadly, especially on an engine with forced induction. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable with the needle below 1/8 of a tank on a track. 1/4 would get my attention already.
As for the weight reduction argument, can't say I agree with that. These pony cars are already a little front heavy and so a little fuel in the back is a good thing. And 50 pounds, which is how much half a tank weighs on a Mustang, isn't all that much in a car of that kind of power, and it's not to mention that's sprung mass. I don't even believe fuel weight played much role in acceleration in my RX-8, which is a lighter car(so the fuel amount would have much relative impact on the weight) with a slightly bigger tank(about 5 litre/1.3 gallon more) on the Mustang, and that thing has a lot less power and torque compared to the V8 ponies.
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