Dubious fuel tip debunked
While posting in his blog about ways to increase fuel economy, der5er goes into considerable depth covering the offbeat tip of buying your gas in the morning instead of the afternoon. The theory goes that fuel is denser in cooler temperatures and that you get more fuel for your money if pump in the morning when the temp is low and the fuel is denser. der5er, suspicious of the tip, did some research and after considerable effort finally found Chris Lawson's calculations on the subject. It turns out that it might be possible save 45 cents per gallon of gas if stations stored their fuel above ground, which most don't, and you were filling a tank the size of a KC-10 refueling aircraft. Still sounds like something Jamie and Adam would have fun disproving on MythBusters.[Source: der5er, chrislawson.com]
UPDATE: changes made
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim Russell 2:29PM (5/19/2006)
I've heard the only real reason to fill your tank when it's cooler is to cut down on escaping gas fumes.
Reply
JF 8:15PM (5/20/2006)
The size of what you're filling up doesn't matter if you're saving $.45 PER GALLON. That saving is still real and the cost decrease, in percentage, is exactly the same.
Reply
sensitive_man 10:23AM (5/21/2006)
I'm with #1
Reply
Tyre 11:41PM (5/21/2006)
If it is a per gallon calculation, then why does the tank size matter?
Reply
Korey Klier 8:30AM (5/22/2006)
Not K-10, but KC-10. I was an extender mender...
Reply
Greg Epps 11:23AM (5/22/2006)
CORRECTION: The calculations show saving 45 cents PER TANK, not per gallon. Joel, please update...
Reply
robert 3:09PM (6/16/2006)
If this was really true, your gas would expand inside your gas tank as it got up to ambient temperature (assuming you didn't burn it up fast enough) and build up a lot of pressure.
Reply