Am I the only one who has wondered this?
Discussion
When manufacturers quote fuel consumption figures they always quote miles per gallon. When we buy our fuel from the petrol station we always buy it in litres. Surely this begs the question of why they don't just quote miles per litre?
Perhaps I am a cynic, but its probably because someone who's car achieves 30mpg might be a little horriefed to discover every litre they buy will only take them about 6.5 miles. Or perhaps petrol stations should start selling petrol in gallons again.
Perhaps I am a cynic, but its probably because someone who's car achieves 30mpg might be a little horriefed to discover every litre they buy will only take them about 6.5 miles. Or perhaps petrol stations should start selling petrol in gallons again.
CaptainSensib1e said:
When manufacturers quote fuel consumption figures they always quote miles per gallon. When we buy our fuel from the petrol station we always buy it in litres. Surely this begs the question of why they don't just quote miles per litre?
Perhaps I am a cynic, but its probably because someone who's car achieves 30mpg might be a little horriefed to discover every litre they buy will only take them about 6.5 miles. Or perhaps petrol stations should start selling petrol in gallons again.
Because its always been in miles per gallon in the UK and us old people don't like change Perhaps I am a cynic, but its probably because someone who's car achieves 30mpg might be a little horriefed to discover every litre they buy will only take them about 6.5 miles. Or perhaps petrol stations should start selling petrol in gallons again.
No, I've wondered that too. I know how many litres my tank holds, but not how much that is in gallons, so the car's mpg figures, which are what is available on the onboard computer, doesn't tell me roughly how far I can go on a full tank.
I am sure it's not tricky to convert litres to gallons, but I buy petrol in litres, the literature for the car is all in litres, I grew up in a country using the metric system anyway, so I find it easy to remember the tank size in litres, not in gallons. The car also tells me an estimated mileage on remaining petrol so it's not a big deal, but it is a needless complication.
Saying that, in SA it was all litres and km, but then they report fuel consumption as litres per 100km, which is frankly no better.
I am sure it's not tricky to convert litres to gallons, but I buy petrol in litres, the literature for the car is all in litres, I grew up in a country using the metric system anyway, so I find it easy to remember the tank size in litres, not in gallons. The car also tells me an estimated mileage on remaining petrol so it's not a big deal, but it is a needless complication.
Saying that, in SA it was all litres and km, but then they report fuel consumption as litres per 100km, which is frankly no better.
Also the reason for the pumps displaying in litres, is down to the fact that when the petrol prices exceeded 99.9p/gallon they decided it was easier to recalibrate the units and change them to litres to avoid having to go to completely new pumps.
It was a similar situation when the fuel prices exceeded 99.9p/litre, but most had a rolling upgrade in place to swap out older machines with ones that had digital displays so they could show whatever units they want.
We shouldn't be seeing the same problem for a year or two as the current breed of machines can go to 999.9p/litre - and they can always go to millilitres/decilitres/centilitres.
It was a similar situation when the fuel prices exceeded 99.9p/litre, but most had a rolling upgrade in place to swap out older machines with ones that had digital displays so they could show whatever units they want.
We shouldn't be seeing the same problem for a year or two as the current breed of machines can go to 999.9p/litre - and they can always go to millilitres/decilitres/centilitres.
Other metric countries often work on some ridiculous litres per 100 kilo-meeeters... I've never never heard such rubbish!
All it does is force us to sit on foreign forecourts doing applied mathematics to work out if our hire car is thirsty or not.
Miles
Per
Gallon
How it was, how it should remain
All it does is force us to sit on foreign forecourts doing applied mathematics to work out if our hire car is thirsty or not.
Miles
Per
Gallon
How it was, how it should remain
Fartgalen said:
In Sweden (and mainland Europe ?) consumption is quoted in litres per 100kms.
Ask (nearly any) Swede how much their car consumes, and they will answer you in litre/mil which is litre/10km. The motor trade and magazines have only recently started to quote consumption in litre/100km.
To me, the number of litres per 100km ( or miles) is a useful number to know, and, arguably, more so.
Ok - so I have a car that does 15 litres per 100 miles and the journey is 300 miles so I need approx 45 litres. I don't see what's so complicated?!
I guess some people don't like change...
Ok - so I have a car that does 15 litres per 100 miles and the journey is 300 miles so I need approx 45 litres. I don't see what's so complicated?!
I guess some people don't like change...
Finlandia said:
Fartgalen said:
In Sweden (and mainland Europe ?) consumption is quoted in litres per 100kms.
Ask (nearly any) Swede how much their car consumes, and they will answer you in litre/mil which is litre/10km. The motor trade and magazines have only recently started to quote consumption in litre/100km.
most cars would be between .5 and 1 litre per 10km
Hugo a Gogo said:
really?
most cars would be between .5 and 1 litre per 10km
Most cars in Sweden are around 1 l/mil, old Volvos and Saabs are thirsty most cars would be between .5 and 1 litre per 10km
But yes, that's the common way to express consumption here. Mil is also used for distances, it's roughly 8 mil or 80 km or 50 miles from my place to Stockholm.
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