Home / Detour calculator

A quick check before you go

Is cheaper fuel worth the detour?

Compare what you save at the pump with the fuel used to get there.

Your fill-up

Fuel

Using Asda Sproughton Rd Express Petrol, Ipswich as the cheaper station.

UK figures from 7,989 open stations, checked 17 Oct, 08:03 UK time. Simple station averages, not weighted by sales.

Estimated result

The detour could cost

£1.68

At the pump: £0.32 more spent
Fuel for the extra drive: £1.36 (0.7 litres)

No pump saving, so any detour costs more.
For 6.0 extra miles, the station needs to be under 196.2p (3.0p cheaper).

This excludes your time and other travel costs.

How we work it out

For example, filling up with 45 litres at 199.9p instead of 199.2p, with a 6-mile round-trip detour in a 40 mpg car, costs about £1.68 once the fuel for the detour is counted. The detour pays for itself up to about 0 extra miles.

Tank Prices saving = litres bought × price difference. Detour cost = extra miles ÷ UK miles per gallon × 4.54609 litres per gallon × the cheaper station’s price. The result is an estimate; traffic, driving style and any extra time are not included.

The quick-fill prices come from Tank Prices’ latest import of UK forecourt prices. Use Tank Prices’ local search to find real prices near you; each station page links back here with its price filled in. We don’t assume the cheapest station is the best choice for every journey.