On another list, one of the posters is on a vacation in Norway, and is describing his trip. Apparently he rented a car and is talking about its fuel economy. His postings are a hodgepodge mix of metric (since he's in Norway, that's what he is seeing) plus some kind of effort to be what he thinks is polite by converting some, but not all, of the measurements he is encountering into colonial units.
I have somewhat of a reputation on this other list for pushing metric so he asked he to convert for him, something I was reluctant to do, and explained why. Carleton Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2012 22:22 To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [A_A] Stockholm to Oslo, 08/22 We have a Hyundai i30 diesel; it may have a hybrid system though its engine does not stop when standing still - there's a blue drive emblem which Toyota uses on Priuses and Camry hybrids. Fuel is in the $8.50 -9.00 per gallon range; the car computer says it uses about 5 liters per 100 km on the highway. Carleton, could you please convert that to MPG? - Not sure how the price was calculated because the gallon is unknown in every country of the world except the USA (until the 1970s the British Commonwealth countries used the "imperial gallon" but it was different than the US gallon, that being the old version of the gallon the Commonwealth countries abandoned around 1830 or so!). 5 L/100 km is very good fuel economy and that is the way to think of it; my car (2002 Saab 9-5 wagon) averages around 10 L/100 km in mixed city and highway driving (8 L/100 km on a long highway trip); your average Cadillac Escalade is more like 15, and a Hummer S2, around 20. The advantage of doing it this way is that it makes it trivial to know if you have enough gas for the trip you are planning. "Let's see, the tank holds 70 liters and it's half full, so that's about 35 in the tank. The distance to my destination is 300 km. I get 10 L/100 km, so I'm going to burn about 30 L. I'll make it, but I'll be on bingo fuel* when I get there with only 5 liters left." Stop trying to convert everything, it is pointless. Just get a feel for the units and they'll make sense within a few hours. Trying to convert is what causes people trouble. However, if you insist, my 10 L/100 km is about 23 miles per gallon, so since you're burning half the gas, your m.p.g. is about double. Carleton *Naval aviation term: Minimum fuel for a comfortable and safe return to base. Aircraft can fly and fight past bingo fuel in combat situations, but at considerable peril. --------------------------------------------------- From: [email protected] <mailto:All_Aboard%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:[email protected] <mailto:All_Aboard%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of Gary R. Kazin Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2012 13:26 To: [email protected] <mailto:all_aboard%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: [A_A] Stockholm to Oslo, 08/22 Well, tonight (and the next two) we are staying at a hospital! The Rikshospitalet (Royal Hospital) has a hotel on its property, open to all, not just relatives of patients and out-patients. The rate was 'reasonable' when compared with other hotels in the Oslo area. Parking is expensive, unfortunately. We had buffet dinner in their dining room and probably ate too much. For the past three mornings, we ate breakfast surrounded by SJ (Swedish Railways) crew members who had overnighted at our hotel, the Comfort, which is connected to the central railroad station. This morning they were joined by members of the Swedish armed forces, and I think I saw a few people comparing uniforms! We took the Arlanda Express train back to the airport to get our rental car and headed west. I saw a three "Green Freight" electric locomotives coupled together; they look like AEM-7's in black with green lettering. We have a Hyundai i30 diesel; it may have a hybrid system though its engine does not stop when standing still - there's a blue drive emblem which Toyota uses on Priuses and Camry hybrids. Fuel is in the $8.50 -9.00 per gallon range; the car computer says it uses about 5 liters per 100 km on the highway. Carleton, could you please convert that to MPG? It's about 6 1/2 hours drive between the cities. Part is superhighway, including a new section of about 8 KM in Norway that includes a tunnel; our GPS didn't have it in its data base so it kept trying to navigate onto local roads. Some is three-lane divided, with two lanes in one direction separated by a barrier from the other direction; they alternate every kilometer or two. Beyond that, we were on two lane roads until the outskirts of Oslo. Traffic was very heavy - in the other direction. Ours was ok except a short section before reaching the hotel. We made a number of stops along the way, including one to shop for lunch and another at a national park picnic area to eat it and walk around. A light rail station adjoins the hotel, so we'll use that to explore the city - two lines alternate, each on 10-minute headway until late at night. A 24-hour pass costs 75 Norwegian kronor, about $12.50. Single fares (good for an hour) are 30 kronor, $5. Transit fares in Stockholm depended on where you bought them: at a convenience store, 36 Swedish kronor, about $6; 44 at the station agent's booth or on the trams and buses. Day passes are 115, $19+, and you have to buy the pass card for 20 more. On both systems, tickets provide for transfers among trains, buses, trams/light rail/streetcars, and boats operated by the transit agency. Gary
