Track Day Fuel Solutions

[m3bs]

My “home track” is Roebling Road, and there is no on-site fueling available other than 5 gallon cans of race fuel at well over $100. Track crossings are limited so a quick run to the local gas station can cost up to an hour of valuable track time. I burned through two tanks (down to fuel cutout, at least) running less than half a day yesterday. I’m thinking about carrying two empty 5 gallon jugs in the car with me, and only filling them upon arrival. What solutions have you track guys used to deal with this? Recommendations for leak proof jugs? Issues with fuel odors driving home with empty jugs?

I could carry fuel on my trailer and tow the car down, but I’m enjoying the simplicity of driving the car there.

Sponsored

 

[HondaHoon]

Not having a convenient way to fuel at track is a total pain for sure. You could go about this by taking multiple 5 gallons jugs with you. Simply using Google, you will find a multitude of cans that claim they are spill proof. But, I will tell you this, holding 5 gallons of fuel shoulder level for an extended period of time is a small challenge when you are trying to not spill a drop with a factory fill neck. But there are cans to manage. Or you could look into a battery powered transfer pump that is designed to fit 5 gallon cans that has traditional fuel pump handle. That way it would be alot easier for you to fill without spilling. But you are still left carrying multiple fuel jugs. Of course, you could get larger containers, like a 16 gallon option with built in fuel transfer pump to sit on the paddock and fill from as needed. Fully filled you are looking at a 100+ pounds initially you are going to have to lift out of the car though. Probably going to need at a hand at track.

Bottom line, not having a convenient place to fill up your car at track is crappy. Maybe just venture to a new track to skip that hassle all together?

I found links to stuff, but honestly, it boils down to personal preferences. There is stuff out there for sure.

 

[m3bs]

Good point. Three 2-1/2 gallon jugs would get me through half a day, and I can drive out at lunch to refill the car and jugs.

I’m one of the few people it seems that really like Roebling. I’ve been going there for over 40 years and haven’t gotten tired of it yet. This car really does well there as it’s a fast track but not a HP track.

 

[Rhorn]

I have a 5 gallon jug that I bought at the gas station. Im pretty sure all fuel cans leak even the VP ones. I would highly suggest bringing extra rags, mine only leaks while I pour the 1st gallon

Do you have a good estimate of how much fuel your burn during your sessions? I know that for me at my home track 20 minutes equals ~4 gallons gone.

I always get scared that I will overfill the gas tank whenever I'm filling up because theres no way to really measure what Im putting in. And on the times I dont do a full 20 minutes I lose track of how much fuel I have left.

There is something really weird with the fuel sensors with this car. Honda tuned the car to extremely conservative with the fuel and ECM because the fuel guage is slow to update.

Its a 12 Gallon tank bit whenever you are near empty it only goes up to 8 gallons. It holds on the last 4 gallons for dear life and will do the fuel cutout.

My BRZ has 13.2 gallon tank and goes up to 10 gallons on near Empty.

 

[dkhm3]

I haven’t tracked the car but I have been using a 5 gallon tank to refill the gas on occasion.
what I have noticed is on street driving 5 gallons adds 115-125 miles of range.
conservatively I max the full range at 290 miles. So, I use this method to fill my tank without overfilling it.
I use a transfer pump from Amazon, a 5 gallon tank takes about 2 min 15 seconds to complete.

Figure out what others are getting mpg from a track session and do the math.

 

[dkhm3]

Did a quick search and people are getting 8-9mpg, which means on the measly 12.4 tank it’s about 110 miles of computed range on a full tank. Lol.

 

[m3bs]

I started a session with over 3/4 tank indicated. Four laps in, I got fuel cutout, so I left the track for fuel at the next opportunity. It was showing 1/4 tank heading to the gas station. Definitely need to keep up with miles or laps driven. The gauge really lags. I get relatively good mpg at Roebling since it is all 4th and 5th gear, so 60 miles was my limit to take 7-8 gallons. Lots of long, high-G corners, so cutout happens early. At CMP I could only go about 45 miles.

 

[MooMoo]

The gauge on this car is the worst I have ever used. It lags so much and on track that does not combine well. I basically fill up after 2 sessions depending on how long they are.

I have a VP racing jug but I think its meh, also definitely not leak proof. I have heard tough jugs are much better than VJ from many but have not yet tried one

Sponsored