Katiehab

I'm trying to work in petrol to my travel budget and was wondering if anyone could give me an estimate? We'll be traveling by car for 5 days in Ireland, and 6 in Scotland. I expect that we'll be pretty much constantly in it. Both cars are manuals, with the Ireland car being one step above a smart car, and the Scotland car being two steps above a smart car.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Jean

Plug your routes into viamichelin.com. There are search options for "Favour highways," "Avoid tolls," "Most economical," etc.

nukesafe

You only need go to a mapping site like Mappy to get estimates of fuel cost. For example, I entered Dublin to Limerick, using a medium size car, and the site told me that the drive would take a bit over two hours, mostly by motorway, use 16 liters of fuel and cost €26.03. Just enter your routes and do some addition. It will also calculate tolls for you.

Cathinjoetown

Diesel as opposed to petrol/gasoline will save you money.

Tony2phones

I work on 8 miles to the €1 for the 1400cc Renault skateboard here in Ireland which would also be about 8 miles to the £1 fuel in the UK being more expensive by a bout the same in currency conversion.

11 days @ 150 miles a day = 1650miles so at 8miles / €£ = 206

That based on the sort of Road trip miles I would be doing or 4 hours a day actually driving.

Katiehab

Thanks Tony! We don't really have "routes" so that equation is exactly what I needed!

nona1

I get about 8-9 miles per litre in my Clio, which is probably about the size you are looking at.But it's an old car - you should do a bit better.

marirose

If you look at the AA routes Ireland site, they give approximate fuel costs per route.

civiclx

Is diesel easy to find at stations in Ireland? I don't use diesel in the States but have heard that it's harder to find a station that does offer it.
Is this the case for Ireland or do all stations offer diesel?

janisj

civiclx: Ive never seen a station that didn't offer diesel . . .

civiclx

Oh wow, thanks for the quick reply. I figured mine would still be the last. I was just reading that on TA and also there was a reply that said that petrol is green and diesel is black. Is that true?

It is the opposite here in the States so I guess if I accidentally forget and think to put petrol in the car, I'll actually be ok hahaha

On DD's site right now and sooo wanting to save money by by waiving Super CDW and choosing a stick, which I drive everyday, but as so many people seem to say, it is one less thing to worry about.
These roundabouts...are they everywhere or just in the larger cities? They sound very scary lol

Tony2phones

Do Not believe half the cr*p you read,, If you are comfortable driving stick shift and are a competent driver at home then Ireland holds no fear other than fear itself. Yes gas is green diesel is black and whilst a diesel nossel won't fit a petrol filler a petrol filler will go into a diesel hole. All Diesel rentals have a Big sticker saying Diesel right by the filler cap. Roundabouts are just simple moving junctions,, Give way to a car that might run into your drivers door, if they are going to hit the passenger door they are going the wrong way (or you are).. this might help http://www.drivingschoolireland.com/roundabouts.html

civiclx

Thanks Tony. I just booked with DD so will wait for the official confirmation to see if they have what I want. I went with Auto, extra CDW and diesel.
Regarding roundabouts, I'll be by myself so I gues sif they hit the passenger's side door, I'll be ok

flanneruk

Diesel is typically about 4% dearer than petrol in the UK (the ratio varies: mostly by season but it's subject to all kinds of other fluctuations), whereas diesel's cheaper than petrol in most of Europe.

Usually not dearer enough to outweigh diesel's better mileage - but not necessarily.

abram

We rented a car in Ireland on August 3, so 13 days does NOT an expert make, but here's our experience: we asked the same question about diesel, as it isn't common in the US and were told that all stations would have it--which is what we've seen.

A diesel car was offered to us as getting better mileage and having cheaper fuel. The first time we filled up out little Copa Leon (or is it the other way around?), we had sticker shock when it cost 65 Euro, and the tank wasn't empty.

DH doesn't drive a stick at home (although we've had several manual transmission cars in the past), but isn't finding it challenging to shift with his left hand--the pattern is the same as in the US.

We've used roundabouts in the US, so don't find them anxiety producing; yield to the cars already in the roundabout as you enter, move to thee outside lane as you get close to your exit--it's not hard.

chartley

Thaanks to Nona for showing me that other people use mixed measurements for fuel consumption like miles per litre. We generally get slightly better consumption than that in a diesel Citroen C4 Picasso, a bigger car than a Clio.

Tony2phones

One reason I work on miles per unit of currency is that Gallons Imperial>US>litres and cost is more important than measurements when it comes to paying to cover a set distance (if that makes sense).