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The government must love the switch to litres, 3p more tax on a litre sounds much better than a 14p increase on a gallon. Should we switch to miles per litre?
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Does it make any difference if you get sh..... by the litre or the gallon Old Navy.Might sound better in litres.
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What 'switch to litres'? I've been buying petrol or diesel since 1989, and it's been priced in litres all that time.
Might as well bewail the 'switch to decimal currency', or the 'switch to the gregorian calendar'.
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Sat 14 Apr 12 at 21:33
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>> What 'switch to litres'? I've been buying petrol or diesel since 1989, and it's been
>> priced in litres all that time.
>>
>> Might as well bewail the 'switch to decimal currency', or the 'switch to the gregorian
>> calendar'.
>>
So why do we still have miles per gallon?
I buy my fuel by the tankfull.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sat 14 Apr 12 at 21:56
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I measure fuel consumption in pence per mile. The rest is a ball of chalk.
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Didn't we have something similar the other day??
I'm a gallons man despite being born 18 months after UK decimalisation. I think in mpg, my car is set to show mpg and I mentally convert litres to gallons at the pump.
I know that 50mpg is OK, but I wouldn't know whether to pull an impressed face or a disapproving one at a figure of, say, 7 litres/100km.
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Agree with Dave, i see such consumption figures in some on board carputor displays, might as well have been Mandarin for all it tells me.
Most of these changes have masked hefty price rises whilst dick turpin's spin doctor has been telling all and sundry what they wanted to hear.
Must be gongs promised somewhere for oil directors, why do large fuel companies roadside garages not have a sign outside stating the conversion figure for price per gallon as well as per litre...and then beside it how much of that approx £6 to £6.40 is tax.
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If it helps, I've just worked out that today's spot price at the local Tesco is 11 and three quarter groats per gill.
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Yes indeed. So eleven groats and thruppence.
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just divide 282.5 by the litres per 100km to get mpg.
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Unleaded is £140.9 at Sainsbury's and Tesco's in our area.
Rip-off.
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Saw Diesel at £147.9 yesterday and it wasn't at a MSA.
By my trusty calculator assuming a gallon from memory is 4.45 litres thats £6.58 per gallon.
I distinctly remember going with me dad to fill his Hillman Minx up when 4 star was going up from 4s 4d to 4s 8d in the budget per gallon....thats 22p and 24p respectively i think.
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If Jesus Christ had meant us to go metric, he'd have had ten apostles.
But, strangely, even the most diehard of us have been using cubic centimetres to measure the capacity of an engine even since I can remember. I think it's only in the USA that they use cubic inches (or did - do they still?).
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It seems the whole world sizes car tyres in mms width and inches diameter. Crazy or what ?
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>> It seems the whole world sizes car tyres in mms width and inches diameter. Crazy
>> or what ?
Yes it does seem odd, but when radial car tyres first came on the scene they started the metric tread width trend whilst keeping cross plies in imperial, maybe it just stayed.
Has anyone seen a crossply car tyre recently, pretty sure some Landrover defenders still have 7.50 x 16's but i doubt they are cross plies, which shoves my notion above round the U bend..;)
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Weren't Denovos all metric?
IIRC some Metros also had metric wheels.
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Can't remember about Denovos Tom (groundhog?), do remember Citroen DS's had some odd size, something like 165 x 390 or thereabouts, alwass Michelins sometimes ZX's and another Mich who's model name escapes me.
Some BMW's had metric wheels too, usually swapped out sharpish when tyre quotes came in.
Some strange measurements still about, i had 31 x 10.50 x 15's on my Landcruiser, equivalent to 265/70 x 15 IIRC.
31 overall diameter, 10.50 width and 15 wheel diameter, all in inches.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Sun 15 Apr 12 at 00:01
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95 per cent of motorists buy fuel in monetary units.
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A gallon is 4.546 litres more or less. It's easy to work out your mpg with a calculator.
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>> A gallon is 4.546 litres more or less. It's easy to work out your mpg
>> with a calculator.
>>
1 litre is 0.22 gallons exactly, so it's even easier to work out your mpg with a calculator. Divide miles per litre by 0.22 to get miles per gallon.
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>> 95 per cent of motorists buy fuel in monetary units.
>>
I don't think I have seen anyone buy 20 liters or 20 gallons, it's usually £20 or fill the tank.
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I can remember when £20 DID fill the tank! I also remember big tall petrol pumps with analogue hands on them and glass signs on top saying "Clelveland Discol"!
Last edited by: Meldrew on Sun 15 Apr 12 at 05:55
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>> I can remember when £20 DID fill the tank!
I can remember when £2 filled the tank!
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>> >> I can remember when £20 DID fill the tank!
>>
>> I can remember when £2 filled the tank!
>>
And I had enough change for a packet of 5 Woodbines or Park Drive!
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>> I don't think I have seen anyone buy 20 liters or 20 gallons, it's usually
>> £20 or fill the tank.
>>
I fill the tank to the first click and then continue to the next pound. I record pounds and litres, calculate consumption in miles per litre and then divide that by 0.22 to get miles per gallon.
It's amazing what you can do with a pocket calculator!
My first calculator worked on Reverse Polish Notation tinyurl.com/c6rbfb8 but at least you youngsters are spared that tediousness. All in all, you've never had it so good!
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I don't find RPN tedious. As the link says, "Although RPN seems strange to the uninitiated, people who overcome the initial hurdle find it a powerful and elegant tool which is ultimately easier to use."
However I rarely use a calculator for MPG, a bit of mental arithmetic being good enough for my purposes.
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>> like 165 x 390 or thereabouts, alwass Michelins sometimes ZX's and another Mich who's model
>> name escapes me.
Don't ask me why it just popped into whats left of me mind, rare then and i haven't see one in over 30 years, and i think it was 165 x 400 not 390...
www.longstonetyres.co.uk/page/165HR15%20Michelin%20XAS.html
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Sun 15 Apr 12 at 14:50
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>> Has anyone seen a crossply car tyre recently, ..........
Longstone Tyres sell crossply tyres. tinyurl.com/c7o49jf
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>> Longstone Tyres sell crossply tyres. tinyurl.com/c7o49jf
>>
Well i'll be, thanks L'es.
Just looking at those sizes and names has been a trip down memory lane, the prices seem to have changed though..;)
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>> >> Longstone Tyres sell crossply tyres. tinyurl.com/c7o49jf
I love their posters....
We have one on the wall at work.
Somehow a lot more sexy than the 'modern' style of showing loads of flesh....
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>> But, strangely, even the most diehard of us have been using cubic centimetres to measure
>> the capacity of an engine even since I can remember.
Cubic centimetres are too fiddly. The capacity of my car's engine is 2.0 litres, and that's near enough for me.
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Never seen the point of measuring fuel consumption. It does what it does.
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>> Never seen the point of measuring fuel consumption. It does what it does.
>>
When you're in the pub, you can brag to your mates (and do what most people do which is fib) about how good your car's fuel consumption is.
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Ah, so you just make it up. Thanks for the tip.
I'll give it a go. My Octavia's does an astounding 69.56 mile per gallon, better than any Focus. :-)
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>> Never seen the point of measuring fuel consumption. It does what it does.
As I was advised (by a wily old engineer) at the start of my motoring to keep a record of fuel consumption as he'd never heard of a fault that made any vehicle more economical. That advice has given me early warning of impending problems on more than one occasion.
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>> So why do we still have miles per gallon?
>>
>> I buy my fuel by the tankfull.
I bet you've never run it until it's empty so as to find the consumption in miles per tankful!
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>> I bet you've never run it until it's empty so as to find the consumption
>> in miles per tankful!
>>
I don't bother to check fuel consumption, if the car is running well and fill ups are about right for price all is well in the motoring world. :-)
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>> Might as well bewail the 'switch to decimal currency', ..........
I do!
As soon as it happened some shops ~ particularly smaller shops such as chip shops and small greengrocers ~ converted their prices on the basis of 2d = 1p instead of 2.4d = 1p, giving them a price increase of 20%.
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>> Should we switch to miles per litre?
>>
I did some time ago.
My landcruiser does 6 mpl typically, but can drop to 4mpl when I'm towing.
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If I recall correctly it was during the 73/4 fuel crisis that petrol stations started selling fuel by the "£'s worth" as it helped speed up the rate that the pump attendants could serve customers as they didn't have to go back into their kiosk to get change, no self service in those days and I suppose the habit just stuck. Prior to this petrol was always bought fuel by the gallon (if they didnt fill up).
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Prior to this petrol was always bought fuel by the gallon (if they didnt
>> fill up).
>>
4 gallons and 4 shots please?
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Prior to this petrol was always bought fuel by the gallon (if they didnt
>> fill up).
>>
I'd suspect it was more to do with the fact that pumps became able to display the total cost rather than just the number of gallons.
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What's wrong with buying it in 2 gallon cans from the chemist?
www.vintagegarage.co.uk/general/faq.htm
This is the age of the jerry can. :)
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>> What's wrong with buying it in 2 gallon cans from the chemist?
>>
>> www.vintagegarage.co.uk/general/faq.htm
"Who made petrol pump globes?
Petrol pump glass globes were generally made by decorative glass manufacturers and/or those producing lighting or lamps. Production marks found on necks of globes range from from BCM Hailglass, Hailware, Webbs Crystal Glass Co, and Chance Bros. Hailware was a trade name of Hailwood & Ackroyd who prior to 1927 were known as Ackroyd & Best. Other less well known makers exist."
I actually worked at the Hailwood and Ackroyd site (after it had changed names and products) where at one time they made glassware such as petrol pump globes. It's a small world.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Sun 15 Apr 12 at 12:23
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the Rolls Royce camargue was the first roller to be built to metric spec, in the 70s i think
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Gallons or litres? - Dutchie
