<<But they all show a km/100 L figure as well!>>
I didn't say they didn't - but ask a random 100 people (in the UK) which figure
means anything to them, mpg or km/100 L.
<<The km/100 L is more logical than mpg for measuring fuel consumption. For
most things, the higher the cost, the higher the number associated with that
cost – fuel that costs £1 per litre is more expensive than fuel that costs
£0.50 per litre (1.0 is greater than 0.5). Car that use 10 litres per 100 km
cost more to run than cars that use 5 litres per 100 km (10 is greater than
5). One could go on, but a car that used 40 mpg costs less to run than a car
that uses 20 mpg (even though 40 is more than 20). >>
That's a case of interpretation.
Most people use the mpg figure as a "if its bigger it's better" specification
figure - much like 0-60 time in seconds being "if it's smaller it's better",
etc, etc.
Others might know how many miles they'll get out of how many gallons. Each to
their own.
With in-car computers becoming the standard these things become less of a need
for calculation - eg, how far your current tank will get you on the readout.
Don't you see an irony that modern technology keeps imperial measures
"current"? i.e. the matrix readout that shows avg mpg, current mpg, gal left,.
miles left and then GPS devices that are set by the driver to imperial or
metric?
I believe that at the time of the gal->litre switch at the pump only very
expensive cars seemed to have mpg meters (I'm thinking of the top end BMW's
wtc).
From: Stephen Humphreys [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 08 October 2007
11:07To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; U.S. Metric AssociationSubject: RE: [USMA:39524]
Re: Metric & the new Mini Cooper
I have yet to find one UK advert that does not show the mpg figure. Further -
sometimes the voice over will announce the mpg as a selling point
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [USMA:39524] Re: Metric & the new
Mini CooperDate: Sat, 6 Oct 2007 07:26:59 +0100
It is a legal requirement in the UK (and indeed across all of the EU), that any
car advertisement shall display the fuel consumption figures in litres/100 km
as measured using three different cycles – see
http://www.vca.gov.uk/fcb/faqs-fuel-consumptio.asp for a description.
Advertisements must also carry CO2 emission figures in g/km. Imperial
equivalents may be shown alongside, but they are not mandatory.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Richard MSent:
06 October 2007 06:20To: U.S. Metric AssociationSubject: [USMA:39523] Re:
Metric & the new Mini Cooper
>From what I understand in the UK fuel economy is still figured in mpg
>(imperial gallon). Even though petrol is purchased by the litre, fuel economy
>isn't figured that way. Maybe if they ever switch the roads to showing
>kilometres the situation will change. As it stands now it seems like you have
>to convert some unit or come up with something like 'miles per litre' or
>'litres per 100 miles' or some other weird unit. Rather than converting miles
>to kilometers, it looks like litres are being converted to gallons.
Rick
On 10/6/07, Bill Potts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Are you sure the UK setting includes Imperial gallons? They've sold gasolineby
the liter for years. Bill PottsRoseville, CAhttp://metric1.org [SI
Navigator--approaching 100,000 hits]-----Original Message-----From: [EMAIL
PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On BehalfOf Michael PalumboSent: Friday,
October 05, 2007 08:16To: U.S. Metric AssociationCc: 'U.S. Metric Association'
Subject: [USMA:39520] Re: Metric & the new Mini CooperSurprisingly not. My
2004 VW R32 has the capability of displaying metricunits, but they have no
end-user exposed interface for switching the units in your car. You have to
use a dealership diagnostic tool(VAS5150) or a home diag tool (VAGCOM, etc.) to
change it.They tied all preferences into the car's country code, so if you set
yourcar as being in the US, you get a 12-hour clock, miles, Fahrenheit, and
gallons. Only the temperature can be switched with an obscure button keypress.
Set it to Canada or EU, 24-hour clock, kilometres, Celsius, litres.UK,
24-hour, Celsius, miles, imperial gallons.It's a very weird system and not at
all user-friendly. And like I said, my 2002 Mini had a similar system, you
could only switch the temperature.-MikeMartin Vlietstra wrote:> I would have
thought that every North American car that had a digital> display would have
this sort of facility, plus the ability to display > text in English, French or
Spanish. Many cars in the European market> have the facility to display text
is a dozen or so different languages.>> -----Original Message-----> From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On> Behalf Of Michael Palumbo>
Sent: 04 October 2007 15:07> To: U.S. Metric Association> Subject: [USMA:39518]
Metric & the new Mini Cooper>> All,>> I traded in my 2002 Mini Cooper this past
weekend for a new 2007 Mini> Cooper. The 02 model had a centrally mounted
speedometer that was > listed in both miles & kilometres, but was otherwise
entirely> customary units. Fuel efficiency was always listed in miles per>
gallon, range was listed in miles, and temperature was in Fahrenheit > (at
least the latter could be changed to Celsius by holding in a> combination of
buttons every time you started the car).>> When I went to the dealership to
look at the 07 model, the first thing > I noticed (and commented on to the
salesman) was that the speedometer> was only listed in miles, they removed the
secondary ring for km/h. I> was apparently the first person to ever mention
that. However, I was > quickly appeased when he showed me the new in-car
computer.>> Press just one button, and you're taken to the configuration menu.>
From there, you can set every single variable in the car to metric standards.>
Range in kilos, speed in km/h, temperature in Celsius, fuel> efficiency in
L/100 km, and if you prefer, time on a 24-hour clock.> You can even get a
secondary digital speed display that works in km/h. >> I've attached a picture
of the tachometer that's mounted above the> steering column; this is where the
relevant information is shown to> the driver. Note the larger digital speed
display at the top, with > temperature, current km, and trip km below that.>>
It's so nice to see a car manufacturer make this easy to switch,> without going
through hidden menus, obscure button combinations, or> requiring a dealership
diagnostic tool.>> I'm very pleased with this, if I could just find out how to
get rid of> that accursed MPH ring in the middle, I'd be all set! By the way,
it> handles splendidly and so far uses 5.6 L/100 km (or 17.8 km/L if you>
prefer distance per volume). Excellent!>> Cheers,> Mike
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