Biggest complaint -> Gas tank size

[nismo1013]

For me the fuel issue is a double whammy: tank size + premium fuel
Headed to Tuk, NWT in a few weeks and a fair amount of the planning is around fuel. Generally fuel can be found within tank range (good) but availability of premium is a real challenge (bad).

The longest leg with no premium is looking to be around 1150 miles, north of Dawson City. That will require somewhere around 80 gallons of premium fuel which is not to be found. The current plan is to bring 4 - 5g steel jerry cans of 101 octane street legal race fuel along to cut ~3:1 with the 87 octane available along the way.

Had a similar problem w/ premium fuel availability doing the ID BDR last summer and carried extra fuel accordingly. I'd sign up for an 87 octane de-tune and an aux tank tomorrow. All that said, I love the robustness and performance of the 392 package and although the fuel issues are a challenge, they've been manageable with a bit of extra effort.

I'm planning a trip through ID later this summer and suspect I'll be in the same predicament. Would welcome any recommendations for premium fuel stops if you recall them!

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

I had a 100-mile round trip from PA to TN last spring and didn't see any issues with refilling the tank, I just refill at 1/4 left and take a short break.

If you do overlanding and no gas stations nearby, some extra fuel would be a good idea.

 

[Bacon392]

For me the fuel issue is a double whammy: tank size + premium fuel
Headed to Tuk, NWT in a few weeks and a fair amount of the planning is around fuel. Generally fuel can be found within tank range (good) but availability of premium is a real challenge (bad).

The longest leg with no premium is looking to be around 1150 miles, north of Dawson City. That will require somewhere around 80 gallons of premium fuel which is not to be found. The current plan is to bring 4 - 5g steel jerry cans of 101 octane street legal race fuel along to cut ~3:1 with the 87 octane available along the way.

Had a similar problem w/ premium fuel availability doing the ID BDR last summer and carried extra fuel accordingly. I'd sign up for an 87 octane de-tune and an aux tank tomorrow. All that said, I love the robustness and performance of the 392 package and although the fuel issues are a challenge, they've been manageable with a bit of extra effort.

maybe just bring bottles of octane booster?

 

[Bacon392]

Your cost estimates are a little high. We took ours to FL for spring break a little over 1400 miles each way and our total gas cost for the entire round-trip was under $800.

That's great to hear! Did you happen to monitor your mileage over the trip? I've never reset the trip counters and monitored mileage for a long trip.

 

[GrizzlyBark]

Would octane boosters work for journeys through ‘non premium fuel zones’?

Rotopax are the answer for now until we get a proper custom auxiliary tank.

 

[@JC]

That's great to hear! Did you happen to monitor your mileage over the trip? I've never reset the trip counters and monitored mileage for a long trip.

15.1 on the way down and 13.7 on the way back as we had more headwinds especially the last couple hundred miles. It was a lot of 80-85 Interstate and some 65-75 US Highway.

 

[Leftfield]

maybe just bring bottles of octane booster?

Would octane boosters work for journeys through ‘non premium fuel zones’?

Rotopax are the answer for now until we get a proper custom auxiliary tank.

As near as I can tell, there are two main categories of octane boosters: 1) those that won't give any quantifiable improvement in octane or 2) the ones that actually work.
The first category is the kind that you buy at any store. Typical is the following response on a website FAQ:

The kind that actually does work has tables telling how many ounces per gallon you need to go from octane 'A' to octane 'B'. The brands I researched turned out "not approved for street vehicles" and generally contain MMT (methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl) which is death to catalytic converters and oxygen sensors.

A third option perhaps is adding toluene, available in bulk at paint stores. Although our pump gasoline typically contains some toluene, I found warnings that 'damage to fuel system components may occur at higher concentrations".

Hence extra cans of premium or if needed as an octane extender - street approved race fuel (100 or 101 octane) as my go-to solutions.

LF

 

[Bacon392]

As near as I can tell, there are two main categories of octane boosters: 1) those that won't give any quantifiable improvement in octane or 2) the ones that actually work.
The first category is the kind that you buy at any store. Typical is the following response on a website FAQ:
View attachment 20056

The kind that actually does work has tables telling how many ounces per gallon you need to go from octane 'A' to octane 'B'. The brands I researched turned out "not approved for street vehicles" and generally contain MMT (methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl) which is death to catalytic converters and oxygen sensors.

A third option perhaps is adding toluene, available in bulk at paint stores. Although our pump gasoline typically contains some toluene, I found warnings that 'damage to fuel system components may occur at higher concentrations".

Hence extra cans of premium or if needed as an octane extender - street approved race fuel (100 or 101 octane) as my go-to solutions.

LF

I did not....know any of this. Thanks for the education. I guess I'm spoiled....I recently found 94 octane 10 mins from my house and absolutely every station around me has 93, 91, and 89.

 

[Leftfield]

I'm planning a trip through ID later this summer and suspect I'll be in the same predicament. Would welcome any recommendations for premium fuel stops if you recall them!

All the larger towns and even the small towns along major highways will have premium fuel. GasBuddy.com or other sources can be helpful to verify.

Where we ran short of premium fuel was well off the beaten track. Towns like Lowman, Yellow Pine, Pierce, Elk City, Warren. If you get out in those areas best to carry 10-15 gallons of premium. I'd usually add just enough to get to the next town, maybe stretching it a little by adding a gallon or two of 87. If the next town didn't have any I'd repeat and cross my fingers for the next town.

Warren is a great example, cool old mining town. Had lunch there and met 80% of the town's residents. As in 4 out of the 5 who live there. Gas (87) was out of a steel barrel and $11/gallon, which I thought was downright reasonable as it had to be hauled out 90 mile round trip from McCall.

We ran the Idaho BDR route, about 1200 miles of back country from the Nevada border to Canada.
https://ridebdr.com

A ton of fantastic scenery, wildlife, and history. Sections that I found particularly enjoyable were the Lolo Motorway and the Magruder Corridor. You'll have a great trip!

LF

 

[Ted392]

I believe one reason the DTE is off a bit is that perhaps the manufacturer does not want the in-tank fuel pump to overheat from not being submerged in gasoline.

 

[Hayabusa]

I did not....know any of this. Thanks for the education. I guess I'm spoiled....I recently found 94 octane 10 mins from my house and absolutely every station around me has 93, 91, and 89.

I'm in PA, across the river from @Bacon392 and also spoiled, have 93 available everywhere.

Thanks @Leftfield, was not aware of the octane booster info you shared!

Was driving my daughter to school last week and the 392 showed 18 miles until out. School is 2 miles and gas a mile beyond so I'm saying to myself "Self, it's cool, drop off and fuel up". Within a mile the display starts dropping miles rapidly until it changes to "LOW" and amber alert color, I guess it means below 10 miles left on my 12 mpg rig.

BING tone...and my daughter chanting "Dad's gonna run out of gaaaa aaasss..." over and over, emphasis on aaasss. My anxiety level was high, fueled by the nerve plucking chant

Besides a few additional gray hairs to go with my Sting Gray, it ended fine. It took 19.4 gallons on a cool morning, surprised me.

 

[Leftfield]

Was driving my daughter to school last week and the 392 showed 18 miles until out. School is 2 miles and gas a mile beyond so I'm saying to myself "Self, it's cool, drop off and fuel up". Within a mile the display starts dropping miles rapidly until it changes to "LOW" and amber alert color, I guess it means below 10 miles left on my 12 mpg rig.

BING tone...and my daughter chanting "Dad's gonna run out of gaaaa aaasss..." over and over, emphasis on aaasss. My anxiety level was high, fueled by the nerve plucking chant

Similarly, I was on a lonely stretch of highway and had gotten to around 17-18 miles DTE. Fortunately my daughter wasn't along to lead the chant, LOL
The next fuel stop happened to be very near the predicted DTE. It took very close to 20g to fill the tank. It did however make me pucker up a bit when the gauge went 'low/amber' and the chime went off

I don't like to run that low, but for now the DTE number is what I use to estimate where I would have to start walking...