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Gas Filler Door

2079 Views 13 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Rusty
This is a personal design choice but the proto/z will have such beautiful body lines from the side, having the gas filler door on the passenger side is mistake and should be on the drivers side. Anyone agree?
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Why do you feel that way? Why not have the more attractive profile on the side you always use and see?
Couple of reasons for the passenger side filler, which I prefer. Because I pay attention to weight distribution, it offsets the driver weight. The other is, for those of us w left hand drive, safety issue, filler on passenger side avoids traffic when have to fill on roadside emergency.
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In left hand drive locations, US/Canada you see the passenger side more often, more right turns etc. so I feel the gas door on the curb side detracts from the beautiful lines of the car, just my opinion...
Darker colors hide panel lines better, if that is any consolation. Cars don't hide fuel fillers behind hinged tail lights or license plates anymore, like they did a few decades ago...

Heck, I am just glad that the awkward door handles are flush and body-color, instead of big silver blisters on the side of the car, like 350 and 370Z both had... and custom shaving those surface-mounted door handles would probably not work well that close to the panel edge.

Or the weird lower fangs on the early 370... or the awkward L-shaped lights... or stubby proportions and overly chunky surfacing. Z35 is looking better in most or all of those criteria.

If Z35 comes out, and there is something aftermarket to put 240Z-like faux bumper beam on the front to de-emphasize the grille a little bit... and it is a good looking car as-is. A fuel filler door is not going to really bother me. All cars have them. Some hybrids have two.
Couple of reasons for the passenger side filler, which I prefer. Because I pay attention to weight distribution, it offsets the driver weight. The other is, for those of us w left hand drive, safety issue, filler on passenger side avoids traffic when have to fill on roadside emergency.
Great point on weight.
That has me wondering how big the gas tank is and how exactly its placed, if it is sitting dead center or more towards one side.
Still doesnt make any difference. I would hope to be the driver instead of a pedestrian walking down the street looking at parked cars. Besides, when i see a nice car parked on the street, the fuel door is not the first thing i see. Actually, i dont even notice them.

Regarding weight distribution, the fuel door side will not affect it. The gas tank is placed in the middle. The fuel filler neck weighs nothing compared to a driver. Look up pictures of a 350z/370z gas tank and you can get an idea of how its placed in the car and most other cars on the road. Gas tanks are normally placed under where the rear seats would be.
Well, seems the design of the new Z is pretty solid if the complaints are becoming so petty.

First, people complaining about wheel offsets because Nissan tries to give us big enough wheel wells for the inevitable super wide wheel/tire setup. Now it's about a gas door? TF??

As to the reasons behind it, there is none. There have been a few automotive journalists posit about it, turns out to be arbitrary. On some cars it is on the left, others on the right. Some cars there will be an exhaust pipe on the opposite side of the filler pipe. Most unibody cars have the fuel tank mostly centered. A fuel tank can be heavy when full, and on a sporty car it's better to keep it in the centerline of the vehicle. The only way I'd complain about a certain fuel filler door is if it interrupts nice body lines and/or is larger than usual, as is the case with some DEF Plug-In Hybrid vehicles.
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Yup just an opinion...
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Couple of reasons for the passenger side filler, which I prefer. Because I pay attention to weight distribution, it offsets the driver weight. The other is, for those of us w left hand drive, safety issue, filler on passenger side avoids traffic when have to fill on roadside emergency.
In left hand drive locations, US/Canada you see the passenger side more often, more right turns etc. so I feel the gas door on the curb side detracts from the beautiful lines of the car, just my opinion...
Also, it will put you in the fast lane at Costco gas stations!
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Also, it will put you in the fast lane at Costco gas stations!
It certainly doesn't hurt that's for sure. Welcome to the forum @Aggie Joe!
Also, it will put you in the fast lane at Costco gas stations!
Shell for me with cars I own and Costco for rentals.
Maybe its the motorsports influence but I have always been skeptical about them.
Welcome @Aggie Joe
Also, it will put you in the fast lane at Costco gas stations!
Never really used Costco, Mostly Shell and Exxon for me.
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