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:

	BMW Z4 Dimensions: length 4.09 m, width 1.52 m, height 1.30 m Fuel consumption (combined): 8.8 litres/100 km Emissions: 214 g/km Engine: torque 210 N • m, power 120 kW
	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
	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
	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
	Toyota Yaris 1.3 VVT-I Dimensions: length 3.64 m, width 1.66 m, height 1.50 m Fuel consumption (combined): 5.6 litres/100 km Emissions: 150 g/km Engine: torque 124 N • m, power 64 kW

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.