I am just curious to know why car manufacturers no longer mount the fuel filler cap behind the license plate the way they did on old American cars. It seems like the body lines were a lot cleaner that way. Is it a safety issue?

Also what logic dictates whether a manunfacturer should place a fuel filler door on the left or the right side of a car?

 

I hated filling gas in my dad's buick because everytime I'd have to flip the license plate down to fill gas, the spring on the plate was so strong it'd always flip back up.

As for the left or right side of car placement I dunno.

I always thought they placed them opposite of where the exhaust was. But with cars that have dual exhaust that doesn't make sense.

 

i think each car brand has their "own side"
For example every Honda I know of fills on driver side.
on Fords cars (at least the ones i've filled) is passenger
to me i didn't like filling behind the "plate" i didn't like the hose rubbing against the rear fender.
I think the reason why they went to right and left fill doors is due to safety issues. it make sense cause very often when hit in the back end it causes heavy damage.
i know it does also in the side.

 

I think it has something to do with the fact that it is easier to fill-up on a side mount versus a rear mount. Being that in the past the gas stations were full serve...so nobody cared where the fuel door was, because an attendant filled up your tank. Now, you fill your own car up...and ease of operation matters.

 

My guess is walking to the rear to fill up takes longer than just getting out and filling up with the door on the driver's side, in some cases. And like Sly said, that spring-loaded door is too strong for an average driver and too archaic to be used in modern cars.

But I think it is because fuel tanks in all modern cars are now centrally located underneath the rear seat and having the fill-up pipe on the side is closer. Back then the tank was underneath the trunk so it made sense to locate the filler door behind the plate.

Most German cars have it on the right for safety reasons, something to do with filling up next to the motorway. Japanese have it on the right, and it makes sense since their driver side is on the right. I think most North American made, including foreign built here, have it on the left, which I prefer. I don't want to have to walk to the other side everytime to fill up, something the BMW drivers have to do.

 

It would make sense to have it in the rear so that it didnt matter which way I pulled into a station.

But yea. Its the opposite side of the exhaust.

 

i like that i can pull up to any pump in the mustang and fill and it does give the body a cleaner look. i think it probably has to do with tank placement, as was said before.

 

Also, looking at a majority of modern cars, it seems to be the trend to extend the trunk lid down to the bumper to allow for easier loading. Then they end up putting the plate on the trunk lid. With this design you'd have the fuel filler pretty low, which would be hard to reach and dangerous. Plus no plate to hide it.

 

I read somewhere that typically with single outlet exhausts the filler door is on the opposite side of the exhaust.

 

Bring back Chrome Bumpers !!

 

I have no idea anymore on left & right gas doors. Opposite the exhaust makes sense, but I've seen some cars that don't follow that.

 

I like them on left side, don't like walking to other side.

 

But you're ok with one being between your legs?

 

I've seen a lot of Saturn IONs with ripped-out fuel doors. Cheap crap.

 

well @least I don't have to get up from the bike.