A conversation came up in my local yesterday evening that in fact, compared to beer, petrol (per litre) is actually really cheap. But which is best value for money? We didn’t do the maths (we’d had beer by then) but for those of you who like a bit of data analysis, this is the theory…
A pint in my local is £5.00.
During a 3 hour session I drink 4 pints.
Let’s call petrol £1.30 a litre.
My average MPG is displayed as 46.4 mpg.
My average speed is 40 mph.
Which is actually better value for money (consumption against time)?
Fuel
120 miles (3 x 40)
120 miles / 46.4mpg = 2.586 gallons used
Gallons to litres = 11.756 litres (2.586 x 4.546)
Cost of trip = £15.28 (11.756 x £1.30)
The point really being, if £20 lasts me 3 hours in the pub, either how long would £20 of fuel last me or what would my MPG need to be to make it last 3 hours or what would my average speed need to be…
I’m not showing my workings because AI is persona non grata but….
Based on March 2026 data, fueling a 50-mile journey on foot with the energy from 4% beer would cost you roughly £143.50, while driving the same distance in a 38 mpg car would cost only £9.09 in 10% ethanol petrol.
I can’t compare what’s good value these days, I left for a trip to Yorkshire Wednesday, filled fuel locally £1.36pl, beer, where I drink £3.80 pint. Yorkshire fuel £1.44pl but the beer (happy hour price ) £4 pint. It was a reasonable few days break away cost wise so long as I didn’t want more fuel, I did just incase but not used it, 49 mpg ain’t bad.
Ah, something else to add to the equation then, how much would the petrol need to be to be better value than beer (per time) if it isn’t better value at £1.30 a litre?
When I began driving in UK;
4* petrol was 3s9d per gallon.
An original big Mars bar was 8d written on the wrapper.
In the Students Union bar Starlight (yukk) ws 1s8d a pint and Tartan or Directors was 2s6d a pint.
I drank draft Triple Vintage cider at 2s6d a half pint because it tasted better. And since excise duty was almost zero on cider and TV was almost as strong as wine, its alcohol was much cheaper …
3s9d is 18.75p per gallon or 4.125p/litre
Inflation from back then is roughly x35 if we look at staples like a Mars bar, milk and bread (all per gram to cut out shrink-flation) then that basic 4* was 144p/litre in today’s money.
My last tankful (before the idiot’s war) cost me £1.55 per litre of V-power, I guess the regular would have been about 10% less so it’s a similar inflation adjusted price to Oct 1966.
I’m not looking forward to filling up the Mazda3 to collect Hon No1 daughter from Bridgnorth next week.
I’m averaging 53mpg so at 40mph I’d use less than a gallon £5 instead of £6.50. I’d probably get through more than 2pints an hour too but in round numbers () a tenner per hour is about right.
Right, a bit bored this afternoon so made myself a spreadsheet and answered my own question. It turns out that, using my figures, petrol is slightly better value than beer. Even at £1.40 a litre, petrol still comes in at better value for money.
When petrol is £1.69 a liter you are better off in the pub.
If you drive a NA/NB, you’re possibly at that already.
The flip side is the pub might stop getting deliveries, so you might have to stay at home with homebrew or jungle hooch. About half our sugar is imported, I think mostly from Mauritius.
But without exports of urea from Qatar, yields will fall, so there wil be a double inflationary effect, if you also include increased shipping costs.
Apples will never be rationed, so I expect an increase in consumption of homemade cider, together with concomitant increase in sudden blindness. I recomend getting hold of an alcohol tolerant yeast thats normally used for making homemade fake schnapps/whiskey.
My wife is Thai and she’s telling me the government has now restricted petrol purchases to 500baht, about £12. 95 petrol is about £1 a liter, but I expect that to rise.
) £4 pint. It was a reasonable few days break away cost wise so long as I didn’t want more fuel, I did just incase but not used it, 49 mpg ain’t bad.
) a tenner per hour is about right.