How Full of a Gas Tank for Track Night

Question for the Group

How much gasoline in the gas tank for a Tack Night?

Full Tank is 16 Gallons.

8#s per gallon is app 128# rear weight

Run with the tank full, top it off after each session

Tank 1/2 full

1/4 full with 3 gallons in a spare jug

Forget the whole think and just allow the rear weight to decrease as the sessions progress

Thanks

IMO you're overthinking your Track Night. Show up with a full tank and never think about fuel again. Track conditions and traffic will have way more impact to your lap times than fuel level. Since it's not a time trial I think trying to hit the minimum fuel level without getting into starvation is a waste of time and mental space. 

Full tank of fuel.

Fill it beforehand and send it.  

One less thing to worry about. 

Full tank. You'll have a better weight distribution and go faster. 

+1 for full tank, and spares always help. I've often burned through enough fuel that the tank gets low and the car starts to fuel starve. Running low levels of gas is for serious racing and good fuel systems.

Full. If it's anything like my G35 you will need fuel after every other or every 3rd session. At full song, it probably got 3-4 mpg and at just under 1/2 tank it would start to fuel starve in long corners. 

I once ran with a group that would basically throw track day participants out of the facility for running out of gas during the event. 

We’re here to have fun and run laps, they said, not worry about how fuel load impacts that last thousandth of a second. 

But, yeah, I’d show up with a full tank and not worry about it. 

I think the line was if you ran out of gas on track during the track day, they’d tow you off the track and out of the facility and just leave you there. 

Not sure if they ever did it, but it got the point across. :) 

Good thing I was on the start/finish straight when this happened, the Toyobaru's fuel gauge finally stopped glitching out after this:

 

(I also had 1gal of gas in the pits)

Assuming you are running the 05' GT it ran (3) 20 minute sessions at prior TNIA's on a full tank with no fuel starvation issues.  It needed to be fueled up after 4 sessions for additional track time at full day track events. 

What is your goal?

If it is to put down the best possible lap times - then eliminating 100lbs of shifting rear weight would be helpful.

If you just want to do some fun laps - the fuel level doesn't really matter much. 

Thanks to all

As others have said just fill the tank and be done with it.

Appreciate all the input

The car you have will dictate how much fuel to have on hand as well.  I took my V6 Camaro to Sebring for the first TNiA there.  Drove the hour and forty minutes there, did all the sessions, and drove home, all on one tank of gas.  The car parked next to me, a ZL1 1LE, had to put gas in every single session.

I showed up to Road Atlanta for a Track Night in my E36 M3 with about 3/4 tank and it wasn't enough.  I got to top off with some $11/gal track fuel between sessions.

Filling up when we arrive at the track, (1/2 mile from track)

Keeping a 5.5 Gallon Jug as a Back Up

Data will be gathered for the 2nd event in Aug.

Thanks all

Tyler H said:

I showed up to Road Atlanta for a Track Night in my E36 M3 with about 3/4 tank and it wasn't enough.  I got to top off with some $11/gal track fuel between sessions.

For future reference- if you go out the main gate and go right, there's a Chevron about a mile away.  

In reply to CrashDummy :

You obviously don't drive a 500hp V8, lol. 

I have to top up after every session.  If I try to run two sessions in a row I start running into fuel starvation on the last few laps of the second session.

David S. Wallens said:

I think the line was if you ran out of gas on track during the track day, they’d tow you off the track and out of the facility and just leave you there. 

I have run out of fuel on track once.

In my defense I was renting a Spec Racer Ford, which is a car I was unfamiliar with and had no fuel gauge.  It's also got enough baffling in the tank that from the first symptoms of low fuel (an even more anemic lack of power than normal as the revs climb) I only had about a mile and a half until it stopped completely.

One of my best track days ever was one in which I did not buy gas on-site.

I think someone posted in another thread of yours that youre running the ROVAL, right?

Fill up right off the exit (as you said, about half mile or so) and then have a blast.

When Ive run there I top off at the exit, bringing an extra 2.5 gal with me...never needed it. Not there. Not at VIR, either.

Patientzero said:

In reply to CrashDummy :

You obviously don't drive a 500hp V8, lol. 

I have to top up after every session.  If I try to run two sessions in a row I start running into fuel starvation on the last few laps of the second session.

Haha, true! Miatas get pretty good fuel mileage even at full throttle. I think I get around 9mpg on track. Haven't spent too much time calculating it but it's in that ballpark. 

The ROVAL it will be

Appreciate the input