Filed under: Etc.
Pop quiz, Hot Shot: On what side of the car do you fill your tank?
Easy question, huh? For most the answer is as close as sticking your head out the window and craning your neck for a look at the rear fender. No protruding bump from the fuel filler door's finger lip? It's on the other side then. There are, however, subtle clues right on your dash that indicate which side of the car should be sit next to the pump. Somewhere around the fuel gauge is usually placed an icon of a gas pump, next to which many manufacturers put an arrow pointing either left or right. Couldn't be more obvious than that, right? Well, not all cars feature the obvious arrow, and these cars may employ some subtler signs to point you in the right direction. We hadn't realized this, but some automakers will point the right way by which side of the gas pump icon they place the nozzle (see above photo). This was pointed out on Core77, a blog devoted to the art of industrial design. Rather ingenious, we thought, until a quick dive into our photo galleries revealed at least one exception to the rule. The 2007 Acura TSX we recently had in the Autoblog Garage features the fuel filler door on the driver's side of the car, while the gas pump icon near the fuel gauge seems to indicate it should be on the passenger side. Doh! This is way too complicated, we're going back to sticking our heads out the window.
Thanks for the tip, Strongbadinator!
[Source: Core77.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Mike 4:34PM (10/16/2007)
Fuel door is on the drivers side of my Monte Carlo, as well as my Camaro. I'm pretty sure the needle points towards the left when the fuel is low.
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Strongbadinator 4:36PM (10/16/2007)
Small correction: Core77 is all about industrial design. :P
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porker 4:37PM (10/16/2007)
The icon on my '95 Silverado has the nozzle on the right, but the fuel door is on the left of the vehicle. The gas gauge does read empty on the left side, though.
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MGBYG 12:02AM (10/17/2007)
Avalanche, too. The symbol is in the lower right quadrant for each individual gauge, done by the grahix folks for continuity, yet the tank filler is on the left.
nissanfreak87 4:39PM (10/16/2007)
I must say my friends at Core77 are wrong, m 1999 Maxima has the nozzle on the right, while my fuel door is on the driver's side
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adrian 4:41PM (10/16/2007)
On the TSX, it's correct. Say you were pulling up to that pump indicated in the icon. The hose is on the pump's right side -- and it goes into car's left side. So what's incorrect about that? The pump's orientation is correct.
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Alex 4:41PM (10/16/2007)
Most cars have them on the opposite side on the tail pipe. My 04 Camry has a little arrow pointing to the driver side.
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ZK 4:49PM (10/16/2007)
Remember when it was behind the rear license plate? Good times...good times.
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Jim Pease 5:01PM (10/16/2007)
Oh god. I'd forgotten about those gas fillers behind the license plates! Remember turning the filler handle sideways and the license plate trying to slam shut on it? And how much gas did I waste when the gas flowed out of the filler all over the license plate and ground?
azcat 2:16AM (10/17/2007)
Yep, just like my 67 Cougar :-)
Calebe 7:35AM (10/17/2007)
National Lampoons Vacation has a great bit about gas cap location!
Dave 9:58AM (10/17/2007)
The gas door on my 95 Miata is on the drivers side. But, its on top of the fender, so it can easily be reached from a gas pump on either side of the car, just like the old cars with the filler tube behind the license plate.
Of course, my gas tank is shielded from a rear end collision, unlike those 70s cars.
Mike 11:47AM (10/17/2007)
My 72 Skylark was like that as well as my parents old 86 Monte Carlo SS. Oh yea my sisters 76 Firebird has it behind the rear plate as well, it looks much cleaner not having a fuel door.
ItGuy 4:49PM (10/16/2007)
Just look at the little arrow. I never pay attention to the pump.
But, G35 is on passenger's side
Wife's Escape is on the Drivers side
Both have arrows pointing where the tank is.
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AlexP 4:56PM (10/16/2007)
There's this small gas station not too far away from my college I go to sometime and it's not exactly designed well, so I end up going the wrong way often there. Otherwise, I'm fine.
I go there primarily because of the prices, lowest in town starting at about 7PM, and I get out of school at 8PM Mondays and Tuesdays, so the confusion can be worth it.
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brian 4:56PM (10/16/2007)
Most European cars (like my VW Golf) have the filler door on the right side of the car so that if you're stopped on the side of the road you can fill up with a gas can without having your backside exposed to oncoming traffic.
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zack 6:43PM (10/16/2007)
Never thought of it that way... another reason why it's smarter to have it on the right side! I always reasoned it was so you didn't bang your door into the safety devices protecting the pump at the station.
Either way, it's better to have it on the driver side.
Wally 4:57PM (10/16/2007)
That's no big deal after filling a couple times yourself, you reckon. What really gets me is those filling stations (like Costco and Sams) that have one way in and one way out....there's always long lines for the left side fillers and short lines for the right side fillers. And they hate it when you break the rules and come it backwards.
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JD 5:21PM (10/16/2007)
In most costco's, they're set up so that the hose is long enough to reach the other side of your car. Many people don't know this, but indeed, it's true. Saves some good time.
tbyron 5:05PM (10/16/2007)
Even within the same family, it is not always consistent. Our Eurovan filler is on the driver's side. On our A8L, it is on the passenger side.
However, one thing I noticed at least 10 years ago, Fords always have an arrow by the fuel gage that points to whichever side has the filler location. A nice corporate touch (one that I have been frequently exposed to thanks to their long-term reliance on fleet sales to rental agencies.
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