‘I’ve Been Paying For AIR?’: Driver Reveals You Should ‘Fill Up Your Gas Slow.’ Does the Trick Actually Help You Get More Miles?

'Tried that yesterday got agitated and pumped it full speed.'

Photo by: Unsplash.com

Alexandra Samuels

By: Alexandra Samuels

Jul 8, 2025 at 9:00am ET

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A driver on TikTok says they’ve found the secret to getting the most mileage out of a tank of gas: Pump it slowly.

User @say_liya shared the tip in a now-viral video, crediting someone else for the advice.
“Whoever said fill up your gas slow so you don’t get all that extra air and [instead get] all the gas, bro, you deserve the world,” they said.

To prove the trick works, they showed their dashboard mid-drive.

“I’m normally getting 370, 380, [miles],” they explained. “But I’m at 447 right now.”

They added that it had been a while since they’d seen a number like that.

In the caption, they doubled down: “It definitely works.” As of this writing, the clip has racked up more than 7.2 million views.

Is This Legit?

Hate to break it to you, but there’s no solid evidence that this “slow pump” trick actually works. Still, that hasn’t stopped it from bouncing around the internet for years.

Back in a 2021 Quora thread—just one of many dating as far back as 2005—someone posed the familiar question: “Does pumping gas slower give you more gas?”

Short answer? Nope.

“Gasoline in the station’s pump has no absorbed air in it,” one top commenter wrote. “As you fill the tank, any air is displaced and comes back out the filler hole. Only fuel goes in—no matter how fast or slow you pump.”

Sure, pumping slowly might help reduce vapor loss or prevent the nozzle from clicking off early, but it won’t magically squeeze more fuel into your tank. The volume is measured by the pump’s meter, not your pace.

Tidewater AAA’s Holly Dalby confirmed as much, telling 10 On Your Side, “It’s not going to matter how quickly or slowly you pump the fuel … the air is going to be forced out of your tank as the fuel goes in.”

Still, the rumor refuses to die.

Where’s This Idea Coming From?

Six months ago, a Reddit user in the r/car subreddit echoed the same idea.

“Recently I started pumping my gas extremely slowly,” they wrote. “For the same price I usually pay, I was getting 635km. Most I’ve ever seen my car read.”

But other users weren’t buying it—and backed their skepticism with science.

“This is absolute [expletive], excuse the word but [expletive] lol,” one person replied. “The claim that the speed of the pump can affect the amount of fuel you end up with due to fuel being lost as vapor is largely misleading.

1 – Fuel Dispensing Systems: Modern fuel pumps are designed to measure the volume of liquid fuel dispensed, not the rate at which it's pumped … the speed of pumping does not significantly affect the volume of fuel delivered.

2 – Vapor Loss: While it’s true that fuel can vaporize, especially in hot conditions, this loss occurs more from evaporation after the fuel is in the tank or during storage, not during the pumping process itself.”

In short, the theory sounds good, but it doesn’t hold up.

Some Viewers Believe the Tale

Some commenters watching @say_liya’s video were convinced they’d been “pumping gas wrong” their whole lives. Who’s going to tell them they probably haven’t?

“I’ve been paying for AIR?” one viewer asked.

“I can’t even pump gas right,” another lamented.

“I got gas earlier and forgot to pump slow,” a third frustrated driver admitted.

Others swore the trick actually worked despite a lack of evidence.

“Yup! My car goes up to 510 depending on the gas station I go to,” one TikTok user said.

“Mine got to 550,” another chimed in.

“Mine got up to 552, I was shocked,” a third claimed.

But not everyone was sold. Several commenters pushed back, saying the so-called “hack” doesn’t hold up.

“Air doesn’t take up space in a tank that’s been filled all the way lmao,” one pointed out.

What do you think?

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