Reserve fuel tank

[Me?]

Hi all, hope you're well

For reasons that I won't go into (partly because they're a little whimsical), I was wondering today what the reserve fuel capacity in an A4 2.0 tdi (57 plate s-line if that helps) is? I've got 30 miles to empty, and potentially have 60 miles (just under) to go until, for utterly sentimental reasons, I'd like to top up. This is the first time I've let it run this low in over a year of having the car, and I intend to top it up fully with the VPower stuff, but will it last?

[Steve Q]

Well an old rule of thumb was once the car was showing empty on the gauge you'd still have maximum 20 miles of range left. This will depend on your driving style. Ironically my wife did test the theory and ran out at over 20 miles in one of her old cars. 

[Magnet]

Well Steve, 

' For reasons I won't go into......' intrigues, since it seems you are prepared to run out of fuel to be able to 'fill up with the VPower stuff...' 

Surely a gallon or so of the nearest petrol station's  'best' is better than no petrol at all! 

I can only wish you good luck.

Kind regards, 

Gareth. 

p.s. As the Irish would say.. ' I wish you good luck, or if you can't get good luck - bad luck, since bad luck is better than no luck at all!   

I trust this doesn't offend - on the principle that the Welsh and the Irish are prepared to laugh at themselves. 

[Me?]

@Steve Any word on a minimum? I was working it out yesterday, and if all goes to plan, I'd have 20.4 miles to drive after 0. Obviously I'd rather work to a minimum rather than a maximum though, just to be safe. I've had a google, and for the same car somebody mentioned 70-80 miles after the light comes on. The range shows 50 when the light first comes on, so that sounds ok.

@Gareth you're not actually far off, so I'm not offended 😉. I know it doesn't seem rational (especially in this weather), but I was going to fill up a few days ago, and the thought of how much I can get out of it suddenly came over me. Tbh, I'll probably be asked to give someone a lift and will have to cancel the whole experiment.

[Magnet]

Well Steve,

For this to make some sense, you must have some betting money on this!?? Otherwise, I'm seriously missing something in this hypothetical question. 

Might be worth thinking about something else to worry about. 

Anyway, good luck if you do attempt to test it out. 

I'm going to have a quiet contemplate now Steve!

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. With a bit of humour in mind, I notice you first posted this about 1 o'clock in the morning. Might be worth trying a double rather than a single to get off to sleep! 

 

[Steve Q]

Minimum fuel could be 5 miles! Needless to say I try not to run empty as you ring the risk of running out and knackering the fuel pump.

[Me?]

Just an update for those who are interested: I bottled it at about 4 miles showing (it showed 5, but only went down in multiples of 5, and I had driven a mile after it had changed) and filled it up as much as I could. This came to 63.71 litres. I can't find/be bothered to look for my owners manual, but with the help of google I have managed to realise that I have 63 litres with a reserve tank of about 6-7 litres, which should get me 30-40 more miles (at 0) from my (loose) calculations. So now you know.

P.S. as mentioned, I used google for those figures. As we all know, google is hardly the source of all knowledge, so if anybody has any other information from perhaps a more accurate source (a previous owner etc) I will stand corrected.