Off Topic Living on the edge :)

[UFI]

When the last bar goes out you've got about 2l left. At 5l/100km, that's about 40km of range left. Hardly living on the edge. I normally drive about 20km past the last bar and have 1l left at that point.

Conversley, refilling at 1/4 tank essentially means carrying 10kg of ballast at all times.

When I was at Uni and always short of cash, I developed a sixth sense for being able to drive on fumes. At least twice I pulled up at the bowser 'dead stick' because she stalled with nothing left. Never actually ran out though. I miss accurate analoge instruments. I also learned how to coax 8l/100km out of a 2.6 petrol 4x4.

At the other end of the scale my Merc shows empty with 25l (!) left in the tank. First time it got hot and the A/C was on, I ran out of fuel about 800m from safety. I was normally refueling at well over 500km (650 being the record), but with the A/C I only made it 450km. Drivng blind for 200km isn't ideal...

Of course in the old days, you had to get out and check your fuel with a dipstick.

 

[Mercky]

I can remember back in the 80's in my 1972 500 being able to open the bonnet, screw off the filler cap and actually look down in to the tank to see how much was left, the original 500 had no gauge and had only a red low fuel light. As I was a student I generally went and 'borrowed' some petrol from the lawnmower which would keep me going for a day or two!

 

[sludgeguts]

I used to have a mazda pickup with a split tank - split as in holed!
The tank was constructed in two halves, upper & lower. The tank had a leak at the seam - and (as sod's law dictates) the hole was in THE most inaccessible part. Even the nuts & bolts securing the straps which held the tank were damned hard to reach.
So, I did away with the tank. I had a secure tool chest in the back so I simply put a couple of 5 gallon plastic beer makers pressure barrels (from my beer-making days) with a clear pipe fixed to the taps to enable the barrels to share the fuel. I then simply re-routed the fuel line up through the bed & into a barrel

When I eventually got a newer model, this tank had the same fault - but this time, the hole was accessible - just. 2 part body filler claimed to be petrol proof - and so it was. I daubed a load of underseal all over everything to cover up the repair.