Questions? 

"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo) 08/02/2017 at 08:08 • Filed to: None

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Do Germans typically not reduce fractions?

This is the gauge cluster of an early 928. Look at the fuel gauge. Half doesn’t say 1/2 it says 2/4, which isn’t incorrect but my 5th grade (or whatever grade you learn about fractions) math teacher would have told me it was wrong. Is that a normal thing in Germany, to leave larger fraction? Also I wonder what the R stands for, obviously it means empty on the gauge, but what word do it stand for. I looked up the German words for empty, put, gone, none, and dry. Not one of the starts with the letter R.

PartyPooper2012 > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 08:13

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You got a German car made in China!

pip bip - choose Corrour > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 08:13

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R for Refuel perhaps?

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 08:14

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R for refill maybe?

edit: just checked R is for Reserve, a reserved portion of fuel.

AuthiCooper1300 > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 08:15

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Being a US-market car your gauges are in English... R stands for “reserve”.

Funny that you mention the 2/4 and 4/4. I think some manufacturers prefer it that way. Maybe owners of US- and European versions of other German cars can check what theirs say?

I cannot recall right now about the “half tank” but I have a 70s car with a (Veglia) gauge that also says 4/4.

yitznewton > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 08:26

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The internet says, “Reserve”

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/160609-r-fuel-gauge-instead-e.html

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 08/02/2017 at 08:30

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Weird.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > yitznewton 08/02/2017 at 08:34

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That actually makes more sense, as most cars hit Empty with 1-3 gallons left (usually at least 40 miles of range.)

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 08:35

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R = red. Can’t you see the red hashmark?

kanadanmajava1 > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 08:53

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There’s a collection of annoying gauge issues in that single cluster.

-Unitless gauges
-Multiple small rotary gauges partially filling one larger round space
-Fractions in an OEM fuel gauge
-90 degree sweep gauges
-KM/H use instead of km/h
-Double unit speedometer that has the metric units as “minor units”
-Tachometer that has non-sensible lowest value (400 rpm)
-Tachometer that has “ok area” after the “red area” (unless it really is ok to go there)

The appareance of the tachometer is pretty much perfect though.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 08:54

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My mother always said that the ‘R’ stood for ‘Rempty’.

XJDano > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 09:08

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Motorcycles have reserves too.

Cé hé sin > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 09:14

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I’ve seen that kind of notation on several fuel gauges from different makers.

No, it’s not otherwise usual to say 2/4 in Germany or anywhere else but fractions of any kind are less commonly used outside of the English speaking world.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > kanadanmajava1 08/02/2017 at 09:19

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Not much point to making km/h the main unit in a US gauge cluster.

kanadanmajava1 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 08/02/2017 at 09:25

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But wasn’t the original point of these to get people used to the metric units and finally transition to these?

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 09:26

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My sister has some brains to her, but she frequently uses the wrong. I fill up when I hit an 1/8 of a tank so I have never run out of gas. However when her needle hits empty, she starts doing the math. She figures out exactly how long she should be able to go, and occasionally misjudges. She’s run out of gas twice with me in the car, while driving to a gas station. One time it was all downhill so we luckily were able to roll in, the other time, a small rise stopped us.

red014 > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 09:30

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While we’re on the topic, I always liked the 280ZX gas gauge. Normal gauge showing full, 3/4, etc... and then a separate needle swings into view when you’re down to 1/4 tank with a zoomed in view of what’s left.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > kanadanmajava1 08/02/2017 at 10:03

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I thought it was so you could go into countries which use metric and still have a speedo.

kanadanmajava1 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 08/02/2017 at 10:48

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They did really try in the 70's. Some highways were converted to metric signs as the metrification was thought to progress rapidly. But it hasn’t been progressing very much after 80's went past. From Wikipedia:

“In 1971 the National Bureau of Standards completed a three-year study of the impact of increasing worldwide metric use on the U.S. The study concluded with a report to Congress entitled A Metric America – A Decision Whose Time Has Come . Since then metric use has increased in the U.S., principally in the manufacturing and educational sectors. Public Law 93-380, enacted 21 August 1974, states that it is the policy of the U.S. to encourage educational agencies and institutions to prepare students to use the metric system of measurement with ease and facility as a part of the regular education program. On 23 December 1975, President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 94-168, the Metric Conversion Act of 1975. This act declares a national policy of coordinating the increasing use of the metric system in the U.S. It established a U.S. Metric Board whose functions as of 1 October 1982 were transferred to the Dept of Commerce, Office of Metric Programs, to coordinate the voluntary conversion to the metric system.”

But accessory manufacturers did use the change to try to sell conversion kits for people thinking about traveling north or south.

Urambo Tauro > red014 08/02/2017 at 10:59

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Neat!

Although I have to admit, I’d have no use for this in my cars. 1/4 tank means “FILL UP NOW” to me. I have no interest in running on fumes or burdening the fuel pump.

McMike > yitznewton 08/02/2017 at 11:16

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I thought it stood for “ran out”

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 11:48

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Well it’s silly but I get the logic. We usually think of the tank in terms of quarters…so full is 4 out of 4, half is 2 out of 4 and so on. I guess if someone really stupid got in to the car and saw a 1, a ½, and a 0 they might not know what the hell was going on? File this under “Problems on Germans could imagine existing”. It’s so logical it is stupid!

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/02/2017 at 12:12

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Instead of “Full” my german car says “1/1". Funnily enough though, in certain markets the gas gauge reads out in actual liter values, and on those it says “MAX”:

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. 08/02/2017 at 15:06

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This is the best answer. I’m now going amen it “my truth”