I’m driving from Seattle to San Diego in January in my ’95 Volvo 850 wagon. The cost of gas this site gave me was $97.22 for 53.8 gallons.
However, it assumes that I use regular gas, and that I will be buying the cheapest gas available–ARCO, unbranded gas, Costco–averaging $1.78/gallon. So the fact that my car takes premium, and that I use a higher-quality detergent gasoline (such as Chevron), is not taken into consideration.
By my own pencil-and-paper calculations, it would take me just under 50 gallons of gas* to get me to my destination in northern San Diego county (as I use cruise control, don’t speed, and have a manual transmission). At an average price of $2.30/gallon, my gas costs would be $115.00.
Granted, it’s only about an $18 difference (although hey, that’s pretty much my entire coffee-and-cheeseburger budget on the road, ya know?). And for most drivers (whose cars run on regular unleaded, and who aren’t brand-fussy), the difference will be even smaller. But it’s such an easy problem to figure out with a pencil and paper and Google maps to give you mileage–I’m not all that impressed, honestly.
*And it could take me even less–I used 25 mpg as a basis because the math was easier, but I usually can get 27-28 on the highway.
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