Petrol Use/Purchase Log

KatieAngharad89

Good Afternoon!

I've recently just passed my driving test and I have just bought a car (second hand) and I want to keep track of how much petrol I am buying.

I was wondering if anyone already had a spreadsheet set up for when they purchase petrol, how many litres they get and a maybe a MPG breakdown?

It would be much appreciated as I'm useless at setting these things up!

Thanks

forgotmyname

Plenty of online fuel log websites and apps for your smart phone.

If you can open excel then its easy to setup a couple of fields.

Date. Mileage and/or trip distance..

Fuel quantity/price paid.

If you use litres and want gallons just divide by 4.55.

Unless you do full tanks each time it wont be accurate at 1st but it will even itself out over time. The brim to brim method is not essential.

Logging each fill and the distance travelled is though.

maninthestreet

try www.fuelly.com

Jordo

The method I use is:

1) run the car til the petrol light comes on
2) add £40 or £60 worth of petrol, and take a pic of your mileage with your phone and also how many litres you got from the pump.
3) run the petrol down to minimum again
4) see what miles you got out of it and how long it lasted (two weeks worth etc), then you'll know your average MPG, how long your money went and what it will cost in a usual month

Some tips:
1) never fill the tank completely full unless you're going on a very long drive - the extra weight means your MPG won't be as good - half a tank or slightly over half at most.
2) drive better! - extreme accelerating and braking drains the petrol, so go smooth where possible
3) check the air in your tyres every now and then, if one is way under it's best pressure it will drag your car.

Herzlos

Jordo wrote: »

1) never fill the tank completely full unless you're going on a very long drive - the extra weight means your MPG won't be as good - half a tank or slightly over half at most.

Only if you pass a petrol station in the course of your trip. If you need to go far out of your way to get to one, the fuel you save by not carrying a few litres of fuel is wiped out by the fuel you use to get to the petrol station. Then there's also the factor of time. Do you want to have to stop at a petrol station every other trip to save carrying up to 30-60kg in a 1000-1500kg vehicle.

fivetide

Jordo wrote: »

The method I use is:

1) run the car til the petrol light comes on
2) add £40 or £60 worth of petrol, and take a pic of your mileage with your phone and also how many litres you got from the pump.
.

Personally I just set the trip meter each time. Much easier. Do any cars not have these?

Especially useful on bikes which don't always have fuel gauges.

NowRetired

The method I use is:

1) Run car till the petrol light comes on.
2) fill petrol tank with petrol paying by credit card.
3) if due pay credit card bill
4) Run car till the petrol light comes on.
repeat forever.

never fill the tank completely full unless you're going on a very long drive

My car holds 35 litres of petrol, approx. 26 kg weight, so hardly worthwhile not filling it up

Ebe_Scrooge

NowRetired wrote: »

1)My car holds 35 litres of petrol, approx. 26 kg weight, so hardly worthwhile not filling it up

35 litres, that sounds like a very small tank ! I thought most "ordinary" cars were around the 50 - 60 litre mark.

But you're right, this argument about not filling the tank comes up regularly. In theory yes, it will reduce the fuel consumption. In practice, the difference is so tiny as to be worthless. Driving style has the biggest effect. And just having the tyres at the correct pressure, by itself, will have a far greater effect than the weight of extra fuel.

KatieAngharad89

Brilliant - Thanks Everyone!

Prothet_of_Doom

Can you do a simple formula in Excel ?

Columns:
A Miles,
B Miles travelled,
C Litres at fill up,
D £per litre,
E Gallons,
F Miles per gallon,
G £ per Mile
TYPE :
in A2 the start miles
in A3 the miles at next fill up
in B3 =A3-A2
in C3 Put the number of litres at the pump
in D3 put the price per litre paid
E3 =C3/4.55
F3 =B3/E3
G3 =(D3*C3)/B3

Copy and paste the formula down as you go.

NowRetired

35 litres, that sounds like a very small tank !

Hyundai i10