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Units of Measure
Friday, 20 March 2009 18:43

Something we've been pondering recently is the question of units. As you may have already gathered, we're American, and accustomed to thinking in terms of the English system of measurement.

Since even the U.S. auto industry now frequently quotes engine displacement and tire section width (but curiously, not wheel diameter) in metric units, we've been listing displacements in both cubic inches and liters, but we've used English units for other measurements. Google Analytics informs us, however, that many of our readers are from outside the U.S., and may find pounds and inches less familiar.

So, here's the question: should we start listing other specifications and measurements in both English and metric units?

Comments (4)
  • 2009-03-21 00:09:57 | Patty

    Yes, please. Education in Asia thought us about the Metric system more than the pounds or inches or other things like that.
    Anyway, I am a fan of your model histories; they gave me a lot of information about American cars. From that time, I'm loving the Oldsmobiles and the Buicks. Something that I had forgotten now about the Japanese cars Thanks.

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  • 2011-12-15 01:19:07 | Mad_Science  - Why stop there?

    I say go for it, but only if you include such diverse measurements as Imperial gallons or weight in stones as well.

    Why do they do tires and wheels like that? Do tire sizes have metric numbers in the rest of the world?

    I remember coming across a few metric wheels when I was a tire monkey. Michelin TRXs come to mind...

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  • 2009-03-22 16:19:22 | Administrator
    Quote:
    I say go for it, but only if you include such diverse measurements as Imperial gallons or weight in stones as well.


    Aiee! I'm not even sure how many younger British readers would fathom stone and hundredweight, at this point.

    I'm okay with listing dimensions in both inches and millimeters and weight in both pounds and kilograms, and for the benefit of non-American, non-English readers, top speeds in km/h and fuel consumption in liters per 100 km are not too much. I'm wrestling a bit with acceleration times. 0-100 kph is comparable, though not identical, to 0-60 mph, and the standing 400 meters is comparable to the standing quarter mile, but simply translating the units of one isn't necessarily useful.

    I've never seen a good explanation for why tire and wheel sizes are split between metric and English units. I think that metric units for section width go back to the origins of the radial tire, but while I've seen references from other countries to metric wheels (most of them from South Africa), metric wheels other than the TRX still appear relatively uncommon (or are just an alternative way to describe what is really an English-scale wheel. I suppose the advantage of measuring wheel width in inches is that it makes the increments easier to fathom; 16, 17, and 18-inch wheels are a more natural progression than 406, 432, and 457 mm. Branding, rather than logic.

    The English magazines appear to have the worst of the unit problems. From what I've seen, the British press has now universally adopted metric measurements for displacement, dimensions, and weight, but still lists wheel size in inches and speeds in miles per hour, and clings to miles per Imperial gallon. I can only attribute that to a deep-seated willingness to be contrary...

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  • 2009-03-27 15:12:38 | Bob Wilson

    By all means go with metric measures. In fact, the "English" system is now more rightly called the "American" system, since even the Brits are largely abandoning it, and the US is one of only 3 nations still not having switched (the other 2 are 3rd world countries). Any encouragement that can make the US get used to the way the rest of the world measures is a good thing.

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