Estimate the Fuel Hit Before You Travel

Heading across the country in your RV? Or maybe you're just planning a trip over the July 4th holiday. Here's a quick way to figure out how much it'll cost you in fuel. (Hint: Lots. No, make that lots and lots.)

How Far Is It?
Start with Geobyte's City Distance Tool to determine the distance to wherever it is you're going. I looked at Pasadena, California to Cambria, California. (The site will calculate locations in Europe and South America as well.) Unless you're a crow, the mileage won't be on-the-money accurate, because the site uses latitude and longitude to measure the distance. A better idea, as my buddy Mike K. suggested, is to use Google Maps to get exact driving distance by plugging in the start and destination locations.

Stick in the "from" and "to" locations.


City Distance tells you the mileage "as the crow flies."

What's It Going to Cost? (Ouch)
Now plug the distance into the Cost of Gas Taking a Road Trip page (or if you're commuting, the Cost of Commuting by Car) on the DollarTimes site. You'll also need to supply the cost of fuel and the number of miles per gallon your vehicle gets.

Read the numbers and have a good cry.

On the other hand, if you're going from one big city to another, try the AAA's Fuel Cost Calculator. [Thanks, Zachary.]

Either way, once you decide you're staying home, prop up your feet, get a buddy to open a bottle of Sierra Nevada for you, and grab a good book. Crying towel optional.


Lemme open it for you, boss.

BTW, if you're wondering if it's worth junking your old clunker (or you're already tired of that new Hummer wolfing down $150 in fuel whenever you fill up), the site's How much can you save with a more fuel efficient car? page can give an answer.

Talkback
Have something to say about gas prices or mileage? You can use Comments below or if you'd prefer, fire an e-mail right into my inbox.

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