Petrol car guide

Written by: Rangicars

Date updated: 22^nd August 2026

What are petrol cars?

Petrol cars are internal combustion engine (ICE) cars that rely on fossil fuels in order to run. An engine (the big metal block under the bonnet) mixes the fuel (petrol) with oxygen (air), makes an ‘explosion’ to make the car move. When it comes to petrol cars, most of its power and torque respectively are found higher up the rev-range. This means that they to be driven harder (usually at least at 3,000rpm) in order to make sufficient progress (Gibson, 2020; Hill, 2024; King, 2025).

What are its CO2 emissions?

Widely variable. There has never been a zero-emission petrol car as the very nature of internal combustion produces waste gases (CO2) which comes out of a tailpipe (typically found at the very back of a car). In the UK, cars were only officially measured to legal emissions standards since 1992. So any car before this time would likely have gargantuan emissions – certainly any cars before 1980, at the very least (AA, 2017).

It must be said that in the real-world, the whole process of classifying certain cars as ULEZ-compliant could be interpreted as misleading. For example, the current Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG (the most powerful version of Mercedes-Benz’s military/civilian jeep) is legally classified as being Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) compliant, which means that it is allowed to drive anywhere in any ULEZ zone (as appropriate) without incurring any additional emissions charges from the relevant local transport authority. One would be forgiven to assume that this means that their G63 AMG is ‘fine’ to drive in built-up areas with children and cyclists and pedestrians. However, it emits a stratospheric 299g per km (Parkers, 2018).

How are emissions categorised and how can they be applied to individual models?

Well, if one wants to accurately identify how environmentally damaging their vehicle is, they should refer to the car showroom emissions colour chart applicable to their vehicle's fuel-type (see all versions below). They slightly differ according to the fuel type but they all colour-code various emission ranges. So if a car has 0g, it gets the bright green rating. In the case of the Mercedes, it is firmly in the red zone. The highest rating (M) is achieved if a car emits at least 255g per km. The Mercedes emits some 44g more than that. So if you predominately drive in town, cars like this are anything but ‘ULEZ-compliant’ in the context of clean air for other human beings to breathe (Parkers, 2018; VCA, 2026).

Please note that the colour-coded part of the chart is the important part. The technical purple part of the chart is not relevant to this guide.

Source: VCA (2026). Car showroom emissions colour chart (petrol and diesel, respectively).

Can petrol cars go far on a full tank of petrol (real-world range on combined cycle)?

Yes, very much so. For instance, the 2014 Toyota Aygo 1.0 VVT-i X-Cite (X-nav) 3d city car has a petrol-powered engine, which generally isn’t as economical as diesel. It has got a manual gearbox which is more economical than an automatic gearbox. Nevertheless, the Toyota has a real-world range (combined) of 415 miles. What Car? state that 400 miles (combined) of real-world range is a good range for a petrol car. Furthermore, even the automatic gearbox version (note that automatic gearboxes are generally not as economical as manual gearboxes) returned a real-world range (combined) of 398 miles. In other words, even the automatic Aygo can go far on a full tank of petrol (albeit minus two miles). This demonstrates that (generally speaking) petrol cars don’t necessarily have to have a manual gearbox to go far. Officially-speaking, 398 miles is not 400 miles. In the real-world, two miles is a negligible difference. In the real-world, many people might regard 398 miles as far-enough (Calne, 2015; Gibson, 2020; Hill, 2024; King, 2025; Parkers, 2017). Rangicars also shares that sentiment.

How do I decide whether or not petrol cars would fit around my particular lifestyle?

It depends on where you live. For instance, if you live in an urban area (town centre) or a suburban area (town outskirts/suburbs) then a petrol station should be within three miles of where you live (Zwicker et al., 2023).

However, if you live in a remote or rural location with the nearest petrol station being miles away (for instance, 50 miles away), petrol may not be viable for you (depending on your particular petrol's car range). Ultimately, only you will know whether or not your car's range is suitable enough for you to keep your petrol car with regards to proximity of petrol stations (Zwicker et al., 2023).

If you decided that petrol wouldn't be feasible, then perhaps the best course of action might be to buy a fully-electric car - but ONLY if you have a home EV-charger installed to your property WITH a fixed-rate EV electricity tariff. Home EV-chargers vary in price depending on their maximum charging capacity each hour (i.e. how much AC current can be charged per kWh). Alternatively, there are certain energy providers that will install a home EV-charger FOR FREE on the condition that you buy your EV from them (Intelligent EV, 2026; Save up to 40%, 2026; Zwicker et al., 2023).

However, a large proportion (if not, most) of the UK’s population live in big cities, towns or other suburbs, so petrol is very much a viable option for them. If this applies to you, then petrol should absolutely fit around your lifestyle (Zwicker et al., 2023).