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Help me with my maths please!

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hello lovely brainy people. Help me work out how much it will cost me to drive home this xmas, my poor brain just gets confused!

The journey is 300 miles

I don't know my ka's exact consumption but from google searches we'll say about 43mpg (I think will do more but we'll play safe)

Assume petrol is £1 per litre although I bet it goes up HUMONGOUSLY before Christams

There is 0.22 gallons per litre

Eh i don't even know where to start timsing and dividing

And before you all say how shocking it is that i can't do simple maths - I know it's terrible but I'm not thick I have a DEGREE I just can't understand numbers for the life of me, they all start to look the same and my head gets confuddled :(

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ok. I doubt you would see 43mpg out of your Ka for the whole journey. Quoted values range around 42-48 but those are from the manufacturer and not likely to be reflected in real life. So say around 36 for caution. So google tells us that 36 miles per gallon = 7.91888967 miles per litre. So if you have to drive 300 miles that's 300 / 7.9 which is 37.9 so say 38 litres. The tank capacity of a Ka is 40 litres, so you'll need to fill up somewhere along the way unless you're lucky, and the journey will cost you 1 tank of petrol or 40 quid each way.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Mist wrote: »
    Ok. I doubt you would see 43mpg out of your Ka for the whole journey. Quoted values range around 42-48 but those are from the manufacturer and not likely to be reflected in real life. So say around 36 for caution. So google tells us that 36 miles per gallon = 7.91888967 miles per litre. So if you have to drive 300 miles that's 300 / 7.9 which is 37.9 so say 38 litres. The tank capacity of a Ka is 40 litres, so you'll need to fill up somewhere along the way unless you're lucky, and the journey will cost you 1 tank of petrol or 40 quid each way.

    Really I thought I was getting more out of my ka for long journeys, unless my calculations are wrong again

    Actually it cost me about £25 to drive to Cornwall which is 200 miles so that works out at about £37 for £300 hm so about right

    Are all ka tanks 40 litres? When I fill mine up from almost empty it never fits more than 30 litres in
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    kangoo wrote: »
    Really I thought I was getting more out of my ka for long journeys, unless my calculations are wrong again

    Actually it cost me about £25 to drive to Cornwall which is 200 miles so that works out at about £37 for £300 hm so about right

    Are all ka tanks 40 litres? When I fill mine up from almost empty it never fits more than 30 litres in

    So far as I could see, but then I did not do a lot of searching.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Mist wrote: »
    So far as I could see, but then I did not do a lot of searching.

    Hehe I guess I should know as it is my car :blush:

    Thanks for your help :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Even if the tank is 40 litres, the only time you'd get close to putting that much in is when you wait until the fuel light comes on and then started thinking of looking for a petrol station.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think my fuel light works lol cos once I couldn't find a petrol station and kept going the wrong way and the needle on the petrol gauge went below the red and was resting on the bottom and it never came on haha, I was freakin out and kept driving past petrol stations in my stress, found one eventually phew

    Maybe my petrol gauge is dodgy though I prob had 10 litres left hehe :lol:

    It probs is 40 litres I guess I only fill to the first click usually, there's no manual with my car so I never know anything :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    36mpg means your car will use 8.3 gallons(300miles/36mpg). 8.3 gallons is 37.7 litres(8.3gallons*4.54), which - at the current 94.9ppl - will cost £35.78(37.7litres*0.949ppl).

    40mpg means your car will use 7.5 gallons. 7.5 gallons is 34 litres, which will cost £32.27.

    44mpg means your car will use 6.82 gallons. 6.82 gallons is 31 litres, which will cost £29.42.

    Driven sensibly, there is no reason why you'd not top 40mpg on a run IMO. My 2.5 V6 Mondeo gives me over 30mpg with town use, not been on a run yet but 36mpg should be attainable quite easily I'd imagine. My motorbike averages 40mpg with town use, and over 50mpg on a run.

    Make sure your tyre pressures are what they ought to be before the journey. Also, if you can, brim the tank and reset the trip meter immediately prior to setting off. When at your destination, note the mileage and the amount of fuel required to re-brim the tank. Use the following to work out your exact economy:-

    Fuel litres / 4.54 = gallons used.
    Trip mileage / gallons used = mpg

    Example:
    32.87 litres / 4.54 = 7.24 gallons
    287 miles / 7.34 = 39.1mpg

    Don't believe all the figures you see on the internet. Especially, disbelieve the figures given by the manufacturer. None of them take into account how you drive, what your typical use is, or the efficiency of your car with xxx,000 miles and whatever state of maintenance it is at.

    Fuel tank is 40 litres, plus whatever else you can squeeze in the filler pipe.
    http://www.carpages.co.uk/guide/ford/ford-ka-1.3i-8v-style-3dr.asp
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