Cobra Fuel Hog?

BigBadBeef · Dec 25, 2014

The cobra has a fuel tank only twice as big as that of the adder, but it costs 10x as much to fill her up! Sure I'm making an average 50.000 profit per haul, but to pay 5.000 to fill up the gas tank from just half empty is really souring my money making scheme. Is the cobra the muscle car of Elite or something?

And is that kind of gauging I can expect when I will get my asp with a gas tank even double that of the Cobra?

I got a feeling that the need for lengthy fuel skimming is gonna take the fun out of exploration.

Meutra · Dec 25, 2014

I have a D4 fuel scoop (maxes out at 196) and does not take long to refill, plus i always scoop at each available star when out exploring in case i hit a string of non scoopable stars

Jyve · Dec 25, 2014

Fuel scoops work, or if the route makes it better to have the extra cargo space that's a choice to figure out.
ASP costs me 12,777CR to do a 200 LY jump for rares trading. So it's not worth the cargo space. If I'm factioning in a few systems, I'll go back to a fuel scoop.
The Python was 100,000CR+ (ish) for a 56LY jump range.

kamenjar · Dec 25, 2014

BigBadBeef said:
And is that kind of gauging I can expect when I will get my asp with a gas tank even double that of the Cobra? I got a feeling that the need for lengthy fuel skimming is gonna take the fun out of exploration.

Full tank is about 20k for the Asp, though it barely uses fuel on short jumps.
Get Allied with a station and get a 20% discount on fuel

Honestly, fuel costs aren't that bad.

Frenotx · Dec 25, 2014

Getting a better FSD will make your jumps cost a lot less.

KillaALF · Dec 25, 2014

Well the Asp has more internal equipment slots and if you want to fit it for exploring you can have a class 5/6 scoop. I have seen 400+/s with my B6 scoop and that was <90% heat, even the 64T tank fills up right quick with this thing.

BigBadBeef · Dec 25, 2014

kamenjar said:
Full tank is about 20k for the Asp, though it barely uses fuel on short jumps.
Get Allied with a station and get a 20% discount on fuel

Honestly, fuel costs aren't that bad.

No, they aren't. But I expect some consistency with those costs, I mean size 8 fuel tank = 1.000cred, size 16 = 10.000? Epic fail!

Johnny Cyclops · Dec 25, 2014

I never noticed the cost of fuel. The first purchase for the starting Cobra was a 309cr fuel scoop and I've never paid for fuel since (although traded up the quality of scoop).

I scoop when arriving at unexplored systems (while scanning). I also scoop when out near navigation points when fighting (I break off fighting to allow the NPCs to respawn).

I genuinely can't see any reason to pay for fuel. I do agree that there needs to be consistency of pricing, and take your word that filling up a 16T tank (from empty) should be twice that of an 8T tank but is not. Raise a ticket for it please.

Hexen · Dec 25, 2014

Johnny Cyclops said:
I genuinely can't see any reason to pay for fuel.

Too long, too boring, repairs cost, vulnerable.

TheNameIsJambo · Dec 25, 2014

I think my fuel scoop tops out at 36/s. I go 30km/s with the scoop capturing 25/s and my temperature doesn't go above 100%. Easy peasy + no damage (except integrity, as always).

I generally tend to just check my phone for a few mins or browse the net until I've got 'enough'.

Lest forget, you can make your Cobra a little lighter by swapping out that enormous fuel tank, I haven't yet. I like being able to jump around without the worry. Since most stuff is so widely available I guess you can swap it out for the 4T one (for combat) then drop the 8/16T one back in for jumping around.

Andromalius · Dec 25, 2014

Johnny Cyclops said:
I genuinely can't see any reason to pay for fuel..

Well, when the price of the fuel is less than what you earn with an added cargo module. Because you can't go with an A2 scoop with larger ships except if you want to spend hours scooping. But when the necessary scoop is a class 4 that's an 8 cargo container, which means 8K less earning on each trip. you then start to compare the cost of fuel with what your route actually cost.

Bizz Keryear · Dec 25, 2014

One more reason to use fuel scopes ... if refueling at a station your fuel consumption rate might going up ... I recognized it as mine has "suddenly" doubled... (it wasn't really suddenly... but before I hadn't had an eye on it ... and it was a little more than my normal rate)

Kitiara · Dec 25, 2014

One thing that many people miss is that jumping near to the limit of your range costs a LOT more fuel than smaller jumps.

My cobra has perhaps a 250LY cruising range if I use economical short jumps (aiming for 5-8LY), but that drops to under 100 if I go 15-18LY per jump

crushdepth · Dec 25, 2014

Hexen said:
Too long, too boring, repairs cost, vulnerable.

Only if you use the horrible class E scoop. With a good scoop you can just about top up while rolling off the star from a jump and without going into meltdown. A few seconds.

Shintai · Dec 25, 2014

Better FSD is the key. I remember just by using a C class FSD my Cobra fuel was cut in half. Also rememebr less weight=less fuel needed.

I am now in an Asp that isnt upgarded yet. Its not bad fuel wise yet tho.

Fuel price needs to be very high before its worth using a fuel scoop for me.

Geers · Dec 25, 2014

Jyve said:
Fuel scoops work, or if the route makes it better to have the extra cargo space that's a choice to figure out.
ASP costs me 12,777CR to do a 200 LY jump for rares trading. So it's not worth the cargo space. If I'm factioning in a few systems, I'll go back to a fuel scoop.
The Python was 100,000CR+ (ish) for a 56LY jump range.

200 lightyears? I-in one jump? 0_o

Antenociti · Dec 25, 2014

BigBadBeef said:
The cobra has a fuel tank only twice as big as that of the adder, but it costs 10x as much to fill her up! Sure I'm making an average 50.000 profit per haul, but to pay 5.000 to fill up the gas tank from just half empty is really souring my money making scheme. Is the cobra the muscle car of Elite or something?

And is that kind of gauging I can expect when I will get my asp with a gas tank even double that of the Cobra? I got a feeling that the need for lengthy fuel skimming is gonna take the fun out of exploration.

Fuel use is tied to fsd range... It's proportional to the distance jumped versus the range of your fsd.

So, if you have a fsd range of ten and jump two light years you will use more fuel than jumping two light years in a ship with a range of twenty.

Generally when you upgrade a ship it has the worst fad range, therefore it looks expensive, but buy a better fsd and it gets cheaper to run it.

Fwiw this is how the map route finder calculates the Economic route.... It looks at your fed range, then finds the most fuel efficient route ... Not the least number of jumps.

Andromalius · Dec 25, 2014

Geers said:
200 lightyears? I-in one jump? 0_o

Yes, with Bugs Bunny playing tennis on the hull at the same time.

Mikey2305 · Dec 25, 2014

is a bit of a shock ... but smaller jumps and one of the better quality fuel scoops works for me

TheNameIsJambo · Dec 25, 2014

Higher rated FSDs suck up less fuel as well; think that has been mentioned. Also, using those Eco Routes (as is stated in the Nav Map) certainly do cut down on fuel consumption! EG. If you make 3x5LY jumps you'll use a lot less fuel than 1x15LY jump.

I don't generally care about upgrading the FSD, since I feel fine with using a fuel scoop and jumping around 10.xxLY.. I have zero patience, but fuel scooping is calming... Especially with some Pink Floyd on in the background!