400SE - Miles per tank??

[robertp]

Planning to do a long run in my 400SE shortly- what kind of miles can I expect from a full tank driving at legal(ish) speeds - mainly motorway?

[danny hoffman]

I can get 300 miles out of my 350i, but I have never run dry yet - so more maybe possible.

I think the tank is much smaller than the manual says

Danny

[jmorgan]

150

[broadside]

I usually get about 20 + MPG from my 450 on a motorway run. If you assume 20 MPG then You will not be far out. 280 miles from a full tank of 14 gallons. Fill up after 200 milesish and you will be safe, unless you want to tank on abit !!!!
Did go through half a tank in 40 miles once due to doing 150 + MPH (on a runway day)!!!!.

Regards

Broadside an'a 450SE

[jvaughan]

A full tank in my 400SE equates to aprox £42 of fuel since I changed al the interconnecting hoses and breathers between the twin tanks. For this I can get about 240 - 280 miles depending on how I drive it.... In france 2 years ago,we were managing almost 30mpg touring on endless flat roads, with little traffic to slow our passage.

As a rule of thumb, I can get from my parents house in South Wales with a full tank (Plus 10 litres in a reserve tank)to Le-Mans (and that also included a few moments bouncing off the rev limiter in 5th!) Via Portsmouth - Cherbourg Ferry its about 260 miles by the most direct route

[robertp]

thanks guys - i was a bit concerned when i saw jmorgans 150!!

[silverfox]

I feel very lucky when I get 120 miles from a tank of petrol in my 420 SEAC. I never let it go dry but the needle is well into the "empty" bit.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong

[nick heppinstall]

Could someone tell me the secret of filling up the tank on a 400se ? I can seem to only manage about £20's worth of fuel before it's full.....

[jmorgan]

robertp said: thanks guys - i was a bit concerned when i saw jmorgans 150!!

I wasn't going to post as mine has been tweeked. It was all m way driving.

[silverfox]

nick heppinstall said: Could someone tell me the secret of filling up the tank on a 400se ? I can seem to only manage about £20's worth of fuel before it's full.....

I think they have twin tanks connected by an ickle pipe as that's how my SEAC is. I understand that you have to be very patient when filling to let the fuel levels settle between the tanks.

[jmorgan]

Yep. Get daft looks tucking into War and Peace waiting for the level to go down.

[jvaughan]

check to make sure the breather hose isnt kinked. also, check the same with the larger diameter bottom hose.

Next is patients. Fast flow pumps are evil.. they mix too much air with the petrol, and that gives the tanks problems. slower pumps are better, even mine takes between 5 - 10 minutes to fill completely, usually i fillup, wait for the air to work its way out of the system, this might be assisted with rocking the car from side to side. never fill to the top, it will alwasy settle out.

Sometimes, the pump will time out and switch off before filling, as you have not decanted enough fuel from it as you have been waiting for the air locks to dissapate. I usually go and complain to the kiosk at this point.

[rev-erend]

I got 22mpg the other week on a run down to Brighton
and mine also takes ages to brim fill but most of the
time - I don't really need it brimmed so I just fill
until the pump clicks (about 3/4 full).

[wedg1e]

I average 16-18 mpg from my 390, apparently regardless of how I drive. Doh....

Ian

[richa]

Have (purposely) never worked out MPG, but get 150 miles to a tank (390SE).

Rich.

[RAW-SEWedge]

nick heppinstall said: Could someone tell me the secret of filling up the tank on a 400se ? I can seem to only manage about £20's worth of fuel before it's full.....

Me TOO !! I get fed up standing round at the station trying to squeeze more than 15 quid into it, then it's gone by the time I get back from paying for it!

[jmorgan]

Whilst under the 350 there was a large diameter (2") pipe at the top between the 2 but a 1/2" at the bottom.

[frenchtvr]

The best i have got out of my 390 engined 350 is 230 miles. That was a mix of country roads and motorway. I was driving fairly hard, but i still only got about 55 litres in from empty(missed the last service station..doh). My tanks are on the floor of the garage at the mo and i have a large 2" pipe wich goes straight through the r/h tank from the filler pipe, this has lots of smaller holes in it to allow the r'h tank to fill. This is then connected across to the l/h tank with a similar 2" bor flexi hose. There is a 1" flexi at the bottom which goes to the swirl pot on both tanks. with the size of the inlet pipes it should fill up faster than it does.

laters,
Mick

[broadside]

My 450 will take about £28-30 Filling up when fuel gauge is resting just above the red. So I can safely say there must be about a third of a tank left at this stage. The fuel gauges are never accurate. I tend to trickle the petrol into the tanks when filling up to avoid getting too much air in. My old 280 FHC was best for filling up as it had 2 filler caps. Open both caps so you can put petrol in one and let air out of the other. Only problem was, that petrol could be pi@*ing out the other side without noticing, as happened on one occasion .....DOHHHH!!!

Broadside

[RAW-SEWedge]

Nearly got twenty quid in on Friday in less than 5 minutes - YES!