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Remember the good old days where you could bring your whole family across the border and enjoy everything our neighbouring country has to offer? With the affordable prices of petrol, topping up your gas tank before coming back to Singapore was something no one would skip. But there are some people who go a little too far to save a couple of dollars. Like this! 😂 Which brings us to video below. I'm scratching my head as to why this driver is trying to ensure that every cubic meter of fuel is stored inside his car. Given that our petrol prices in Singapore are exorbitant now. A little bit of Myth busting Myth - Do I really save money if I am able to top up my car to the brim? 🤔 One of the Quora-ist mentions that it is insignificant to have the petrol tank pump to the brim. My personal take on the matter The whole shaking action is unnecessary. Once you hear the nozzle click, it means that the next time you'll have to refuel would be in 5 to 6 days, give or take. Shaking the car does not mean you'll extend that time significantly. Furthermore, over-filling your fuel tank could potentially result in damage to your vehicle’s charcoal cannister, which is part of its vapour recovery or Evaporative Recovery System. If you really want to save fuel, drive like a saint and don't over-rev your car when driving. Always plan your route ahead and leave the house early so you will not drive like a madman. Peace out! ✌️

http://www.industrytap.com/thorium-fueled-automobile-engine-needs-refueling-once-a-century/ Thorium Concept Car - Image Courtesy www.greenpacks.com There are now over one billion cars traveling roads around the world directly and indirectly costing trillions of dollars in material resources, time and noxious emissions. Imagine all these cars running cleanly for 100 years on just 8 grams of fuel each. Laser Power Systems (LPS) from Connecticut, USA, is developing a new method of automotive propulsion with one of the most dense materials known in nature: thorium. Because thorium is so dense it has the potential to produce tremendous amounts of heat. The company has been experimenting with small bits of thorium, creating a laser that heats water, produces steam and powers a mini turbine. Cadillac World Thorium Fuel Concept (Image Courtesy www.cutedesign.com) Current models of the engine weigh 500 pounds, easily fitting into the engine area of a conventionally-designed vehicle. According to CEO Charles Stevens, just one gram of the substance yields more energy than 7,396 gallons (28,000 L) of gasoline and 8 grams would power the typical car for a century. The idea of using thorium is not new. In 2009, Loren Kulesus designed the Cadillac World Thorium Fuel Concept Car. LPS is developing the technology so it can be mass-produced. Wider Implications of ThoriumAccording to Robert Hargraves, “low or non-CO2 emitting energy sources must be cheaper than coal or will ultimately fail to displace fossil fuels.” The United States uses 20% of the world’s energy today and, according to Hargraves, if it cut its CO2 emissions to zero, 80% produced by other countries would still be a problem. With CO2 emissions climbing seemingly beyond all bounds, pessimism is rampant and bold ideas are needed. Thorium may also be the answer to the world’s nuclear energy conundrum and Wikipedia provides some of its advantages: Weapons-grade fissionable material (233U) is harder to retrieve safely and clandestinely from a thorium reactor; this means, for example, Iran could be asked to develop only a thorium based reactor, virtually eliminating the issue of nuclear weapon development. Thorium produces 10 to 10,000 times less long-lived radioactive waste; Thorium mining produces a single pure isotope, whereas the mixture of natural uranium isotopes must be enriched to function in most common reactor designs. The same cycle could also use the fissionable U-238 component of the natural uranium, and also contained in the depleted reactor fuel; Thorium cannot sustain a nuclear chain reaction without priming,[29] so fission stops by default in an accelerator driven reactor. Hargraves sees factories and other industrial concerns using thorium as well. Stay tuned as we track this idea and its development.

On a particular Friday morning, I switched on the car engine and realized that the fuel tank was about three-quarter empty. It could probably travel for about 120km before the top-up warning light goes on. On my way to work, I was contemplating whether to top up at the Caltex station along the way or do it the following Monday. As I drove pass the petrol station, I decided to fill up my car as the petrol station was not busy. And I was glad I did so. After the engine was switched off, I pulled the fuel door lever a couple of times but the release mechanism did not seem to work. This was the first time I encountered such a problem. The pump attendant was getting a bit impatient and I drove off eventually. I called up Volkswagen Centre Singapore and was advised to take the car down to the workshop. The car was sent to the workshop during lunch hour and fortunately, the problem was fixed by late afternoon. The outcome could have been worse if there is little petrol left in the tank and the workshop is far away. From this experience, I will always remind myself to top up petrol before the tank is near empty. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.

-fuel filler cap from BMW hydrogen car- If you're one of those people that travel a lot and drive different cars all the time either because you are using a company car, a rented one, a borrowed one or even a stolen one you may have to stop for fuel. You would usually want to park your car at the side where the fuel filler cap is closest to the pump but since you're in a car that is foreign to you, which side is the fuel filler cap on? The driver's side or the passenger side? If you were the person who checked first before you're driving you would not need to go through all the hassle, but if you did not do so it isn't a hassle as most modern cars nowadays make it easy for you to tell these days. All you have to do is take a look at the fuel gauge at the car's instrument cluster. If you look at the photo above you can clearly see a small triangle-like arrow right beside the icon that looks like a fuel pump. Take a look at the photo below. The way the arrow points is usually the side the fuel filler cap is on. If it points to the right, the filler is usually on the right side. It's pretty straightforward, but surprisingly not many people actually pay attention to this little icon. This little arrow is used by most manufacturers these days. The photograph in the paragraph above is from a Mercedes Benz AMG C63's instrument cluster and it uses this simple icon to show where the filler cap is situated. The photos below is from a a Suzuki Swift and from a Corvette. Some cars like the 2005 Impreza makes it even clearer. It states 'Fuel Door' right beside the little arrowhead (photo below). It does make life a little easier for those that actually drive a lot of cars all the time. But it isn't a full proof tip. Most older cars don't have this little arrow and some newer cars also don't have it. The 2010 BMW 5 series Gran Turismo (instrument cluster below) is a car that doesn't help its driver (or the person who stole it) any indication as to where the fuel filler cap is located. That is unless the driver stepped out of the car to make sure before he or she stopped at the pumps. It's either that or he'd better make sure the fuel hose is long enough to cross the width of the car. photos:wikipedia/author's/various press photos

Have a quick glance at today ST and also heard over last evening news at CNA. MY is trying hard to stop Singaporean and Thai from refueling in MY by introducing a system that require you to scan a card called "Mycard" in order to pump cheaper fuel. Those without card had to pay full rate of the petrol. Anyone caught using that card and not a citizen of MY to refuel consitute an offence. So do you still want to pump up at JB......... Lets hear your views.

Hi to all MCF members Received this report from friend in regards to safety in refueling at petrol kiosk. The report from Shell inwhich an incident had occurred oversea during refueling by a driver answering to a phone call. As the file of the video is to big to be posted in this forum, I am attaching a report on safety for all to view. Some members might had seen this report before but we can take it as a reminder whenever we do refueling. Cheers....... SHELL_Safetyandpetrol.doc