Originally Posted By dagobert You are definitely right about the cost and so it's unlikely that the US will change to the metric system in the near future. I didn't think about that.
Originally Posted By dagobert Just out of interest, do the US car manufacturere only use the metric system in their cars, or do they build two versions? One for the US market and one for the foreign market? We have a Ford Focus and most Fords sold in Europe are built in either Germany or the Netherlands and if I'm not mistaken the European Fords are not sold in the US. At least when I lived there, I had not seen any familiar Ford cars. Maybe that has changed recently. Over here you hardly see any of the US cars, especially none of the huge pick ups like the F150.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo If there is a will, it will happen. Changing to the euro cost Europe a fortune, and it still happened. Change takes time, but I bet there are loads of hidden costs because the US does not us the metric system (SGv's and OC Dean's posts being good examples)
Originally Posted By hopemax But you all know what would happen here: "The metric system is all part of the socialist, communist plot!" I know in engineering classes in college, most of our work was done in metric. With a few problems with SI units to make sure we knew how to do conversions. With the caveat that when we got into the job world, we may or may not be using metric.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I'm pretty sure that the US auto makers use at least a watered down version of metric. I know that nuts and bolts are metric, engine sizes are now metric (3 liter instead of 350 cubic inch, or whatever it translates too). The only thing I know of is the instrument panel which at this point is controlled by computer, is bi-lingual, so to speak. With the touch of a button (at least on my car) I can instantly change from miles to km's. I don't like the metric approach to this because frankly it looks like my car has been driven so far it's ready for the junk pile.
Originally Posted By TINK-MOBILE As long as we continue to allow the Gas Companies to regulate the gas prices you will continue to pay these outrageous charges...We have enough Tar Sands just in Alberta alone to sustain Canada for the next 1000 years..The Gas Companies have so much money they could fill the Pacific Ocean up...it is outrageous...how they are allowed to hood wink the World and the World does nothing about it...We have relatives in Denmark ..Norway they pay 12 - 14 dollars a Gallon ..how ever they make a lot more per hour than we do...Believe their lowest govt approved wage is 19 dollars per hour...The Barrel just went down another 75 cents today..however our gas prices here rose 12 cents a liter..we pay over 6 dollars a gallon ..and 15 miles away in the US the gas is 3.51 a gallon..and it is our gas...There are test vehicles that can get over 65 miles to the Gallon...our friends had a test carburetor left on his f -150 truck it was getting over 55 miles per Gallon...they saw they left it on..they took it off ..he took them to the Supreme Court of Canada...he lost..but it was proven that the Auto manufacturers do have the ability to give you this mileage...he lost because all parts belong to the manufacturer..however now they can no longer replace a part under warranty as anything else but new...
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle >>And I remember looking at petrol prices in the US and being baffled, because I had no idea how many litres went into a gallon, I couldn't figure out if they were paying more or less than us!<< I'm the same, it's all Greek to me!
Originally Posted By EmmaJayne ^^ It literally is as confusing as it being in a foreign language. Just saw a link on FB for the Chicago Color Run.. intrigued I clicked on it and was suprised to find it's all in KM's not miles!! <a href="http://thecolorrun.com/chicago/" target="_blank">http://thecolorrun.com/chicago/</a>
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost >>And I remember looking at petrol prices in the US and being baffled, because I had no idea how many litres went into a gallon, I couldn't figure out if they were paying more or less than us! I'm the same, it's all Greek to me!<<< If memory serves (and it might not) I seem to remember it was 5 liters to a gallon. All of a sudden though...that doesn't seem correct.
Originally Posted By WestWind Non-metric systems can be even more confusing, for example: 1 US gallon = 0.83 Imperial or British Gallons 1 US Gallon = 3.79 litres 1 Imp Gallon = 4.55 litres Being in Canada and the age I am, I went through the conversion to metric. Yes it is not easy and there is resistance to change but the metric system is better for simplicity and clarity. Today distance and temperature are now normal in metric where weight I still tend to use pounds. Right now where I am, the temperature is is 7 Canadian or 45 US.
Originally Posted By WDWdreamin I don't know about Disney, but I use metric a lot. In school, including US medical school, I was told to use metric for all length and volume measurements. I talk in mm and cm and mL all day. Some older doctors have issues with it and use inches, and some use object sizes ("grapefruit size"), but they know mL. When I lived in France, I got used to C and 24hr clocks. They make so much sense. Since I married a German, I can still use C and the 24hr clock sometimes, but since no one else here does, I am shifting back to American measurements for temperature and time. I never could mentally picture how far a certain number of km's was, but I can for miles. I think most Americans are that way about F vs C, as stated above. For me, it almost goes without saying, I think we all need to get metric and Celsius in this country.
