Motoring
If you look up your vehicle handbook or ownership documents it is likely that you
will see a lot of information in metric. Although British signage is overwhelmingly
imperial, car manufacturers - including American ones - work mainly in metric for
design. Thus not surprisingly metric information is prominent in handbooks.
Dimensions are in mm
Metric car dimensions can be matched to metric height and width restrictions in
UK and abroad. Metric dimensions are also normally required when booking ferries
– so get to know them!
Other data on cars such as torque, power, emissions and fuel consumption is also
given in metric. Some examples for commonly seen vehicles are given below:
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BMW Z4
Dimensions: length 4.09 m, width 1.52 m, height 1.3 m
Fuel consumption (combined): 8.8 litres/100 km
Emissions: 214 g/km
Engine: torque 210 N • m, power 120 kW
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Ford Focus 5-door 1.8i Zetec
Dimensions: length 4.17 m, width 1.70 m, height 1.43 m
Fuel consumption (combined): 7.7 litres/100 km
Emissions: 183 g/km
Engine: torque 160 N • m, power 85 kW
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Range Rover SE 4.4V8
Dimensions: length 4.95 m, width 2.01 m, height 1.86 m
Fuel consumption (combined): 17.4 litres/100 km
Emissions: 389 g/km
Engine: torque 440 N • m, power 210 kW
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Rover 75 2.0 CDT
Dimensions: length 4.75 m, width 1.76 m, height 1.39 m
Fuel consumption (combined): 5.8 litres/100 km
Emissions: 163 g/km
Engine: torque 26 N • m, power 85 kW
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Toyota Yaris 1.3 VVT-I
Dimensions: length 3.64, width 1.66 m, height 1.5 m
Fuel consumption (combined): 5.6 litres/100 km
Emissions: 150 g/km
Engine: torque 124 N • m, power 64 kW
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In Britain, our measurement confusion makes fuel consumption very difficult to comprehend.
Miles per gallon is awkward since fuel is no longer sold in gallons. Using litres
per 100 km is also not ideal since our road distances are marked in miles, but is
not difficult to understand. The higher the number, the more fuel is used and the
more expensive your trip will be.
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