Why is a cars performance measured in mpg(miles per gallon) when we buy petrol in litres?

Question

And did we(UK) change to litres because of European legislation or because the price of a gallon got too high so the Gov thougt it would look cheaper by the litre?

Answer 1

I think its just tradition to be honest, people haven't stopped saying it since all this decimalisation! Just be glad all our road signs are still in miles otherwise everywhere would start to seem further away!!

Some car companies are starting to do litres per 100km now but i think we will always work in mpg cos traditional is best!!

Oh, and how much is petrol in pounds shillings and pence?! lol!

Answer 2

I guess they expect you to convert it by MPL miles per litre.

Litre or gallon is just a unit of measurement it doesn't mean it's cheaper if for example they sell 100 litre versus 100 gallons of petrol

Answer 3

Due to the 'European problem' us Brits are forced to live in a bizarre world, where metric and imperial units are combined.

We measures our roads distances in mile - the countdown markers to a motorway or dual carriageway exit are in metres.

It is illegal to sell vegetables in pounds and ounces - it is illegal to sell beer in litres.

We measure the height of a lorry in metres - we measure the length of a lorry in feet.

We measure the overall dimensions of a television set in centimetres - we measure the screen size in inches.

A standard internal house hold door in Great Britain is 2 feet 6 inches wide - all the other room measurements are taken in metres.

We buy our fuel in litres - we measure our fuel consumption in miles per gallon.

Go figure...

Answer 4

The distance is travelled in miles, the fuel used to be sold in gallons, but now the EU says fuel must be sold in litres.

A gallon in the UK is 4.54 litres.

Answer 5

Fuel Economy is shown in Miles per Gallon & Litres per 100 Kilometre on all new cars. MPG is still used because people in this country understand it better especially as all distances are shown in miles. Fuel is sold in Litres because of EU regulations.

Answer 6

A gallon holds 3.78541 liters. Most countries changed to  Liters because it is the Metric measurement which is the world standard.

Answer 7

The manufacturers like to refer to mpg rather than litres because the figure is so much bigger and sounds much better i.e 35 mpg rather than 7.5 mile to a litre. It was probably the oil companies who decided to change to a price per litre for the obvious reason.

Answer 8

Yes, we changed to selling fuel by the liter due to EU regulations during the late 1980s/early 1990s.   If you look at some filling stations you'll still see the conversion charts on posts or pumps which were provided during the changeover.  Up until that time, U.K. pumps measured by the Imperial gallon and fuel was priced by the Imperial gallon (and it wasn't much over £1 a gallon when I started driving -- it seems so long ago now!).   The miles-per-gallon figure for fuel consumption has been the standard in the U.K. since the early days of motoring.  

The U.S. still prices and measures fuel by the gallon, and uses miles-per-gallon for fuel consumption, but the American gallon is a little smaller than the British Imperial gallon:

U.S. gallon = 3.785L

Imp. gallon = 4.546L.

The Continental Europeans not only use liters for measuring fuel but also express their fuel consumption figures in liters per 100 kilometers.  In other words, whereas we specify how far a car will go on a certain amount of fuel, they measure it by how much fuel it takes to drive a certain distance.  

Thus in the British/American system, the more economical the car the higher the figure for m.p.g. will be.   In the Continental system, the more economical the car, the  the LOWER the figure for L/100km will be.

Answer 9

How young are you? It's what most of us grew up with.

Answer 10

is the vehicle you are talking about made outside the uk? it is just a old standard,

Answer 11

Goodness only knows Elric!   I no longer know how many mpg my car does because I can't work it out!!!