mpg
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First came the news that the 2013 Chevrolet Malibu would have only four-cylinder engines, following the path set by the 2011 Hyundai Sonata and other midsize entries. Then came the official unveiling of the line at last week's New York Auto Show, complete with projected gas mileage numbers. The 2013 Malibu Eco model, says Chevy, will achieve EPA gas-mileage ratings of 38 mpg on the highway, which is comparable to midsize hybrids like the 2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid, at 31 mpg city, 35 mpg highway, and 33 mpg combined. It's higher on the highway than even the 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid (41 city, 36...
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2012 Fiat 500 Cabriolet: Best Gas-Mileage 4-Seat Convertible You Can Buy
It's springtime, which means tornadoes for some of us, showers and muggy weather for others. It also means putting the roof down on convertibles after the long winter hiatus. Which led us to wonder: What's the best gas mileage you can get in a new drop-top car with four seats (or at least four...
John Voelcker -
Sales Of Small Cars Boost Average Gas Mileage For 2011 So Far
During the first quarter of 2011, small car sales accounted for 19.4 percent of all vehicles sold. That is a sudden increase in popularity--up 2.8 percent from the last quarter of 2010--and it helped propel the average fuel economy of vehicles sold in the U.S. during January, February, and March to...
Kurt Ernst -
Five Things We Don't Like On The 2011 Hyundai Elantra (Video)
Finally, here's our last video in the series we did on the new 2011 Hyundai Elantra. Since we tested that car a few weeks ago, the compact segment has only heated up. There's a new 2012 Honda Civic, an entirely redesigned all-wheel-drive 2012 Subaru Impreza, and the highly competitive 2011 Chevy...
John Voelcker -
How Much Gasoline Can You Save With A Hybrid Or Plug-In Car?
As of the middle of April, gasoline is approaching $4.00 per gallon across the United States and oil is surging past $110 per barrel. More and more energy observers are talking about "$5 per gallon fuel" here in the U.S. So how do you minimize your gasoline costs and maximize your mileage? What...
George Parrott -
Five Things We Like About The New 2011 Hyundai Elantra (Video)
The 2011 Hyundai Elantra compact sedan, entirely redesigned for this model year, has won rave reviews and is selling like gangbusters. We found many things to like in the stylish little Hyundai, and as part of our series of quick road-test and review videos, we listed the top five. Check out the...
John Voelcker -
The 2011 New York Auto Show is kicking off this week, with new compact car entries that include the all-wheel-drive 2012 Subaru Impreza, among others. But a strong new contender this year that's already selling fast is the 2011 Hyundai Elantra, which we recently road-tested over our usual route of 300-plus miles. Watch the video at the bottom of the page for our two-minute review. That test route, by the way, includes both long stretches of highway and a variety of around-town uses, from mall visits to suburban cul-de-saccing, and even a little bit of urban stop-and-go. We got slightly more...
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Europe's Ford Focus Econetic 67-MPG Diesel Better Than Hybrids?
Oh, the pain. We hear about all those special European models with astoundingly high gas mileage ratings, and we wonder, why can't we have them here? The latest is the 2012 Ford Focus ECOnetic, which goes on sale in Europe later this year. During its debut yesterday at the Amsterdam Auto Show, Ford...
John Voelcker -
Survey: Consumers Growing Greener -- And They'll Shell Out The Green To Prove It
With gas prices barreling toward $4 per gallon, there's lots of talk on the evening news about consumers shopping for fuel-efficient cars. In fact, many theorists see $4 as the tipping point at which car buyers prioritize fuel economy above all other criteria. But a new survey indicates that people...
Richard Read -
Miles-Per-Gallon Is Just Stupid. No, Really, It Is.
Americans aren't stupid. We're just badly informed. And occasionally, stubborn. Why else would we ignorantly cling to using miles per gallon as the way to measure how efficiently a car uses fuel? But maybe you don't quite see the problem. OK, so here's a little test: Which saves more gasoline...
John Voelcker -
7 Ways To Save Gas And Go Green With The Cars You Own Today
Sure, it'd be nice to have a brand-new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. But not everyone is able to buy one of the growing number of new cars with at least 40 mpg highway mileage. So here are our tips for getting better mileage out of whatever vehicles are in your driveway right now, today, from...
John Voelcker -
Taking Advantage Of Your IRS Mileage: Hybrid Cars Can Help
This week is the heart of tax time. If you're like many other taxpayers or a small businessperson, right about now you're looking up the 2010 mileage rate that the IRS lets you use when deducting personal-vehicle use as a business expense. So here's the answer: The IRS mileage rate is 50 cents per...
John Voelcker -
All-wheel-drive is an increasingly popular option in new vehicles, especially in areas of the country that get snow. But the security of having all four wheels powered in your car can be offset by the price of the option and, in most cases, a significant gas mileage penalty. And these days, it's all about the miles per gallon. The latest gas-mileage headline comes from Subaru, which touts the (anticipated) 36-mpg highway rating of its 2012 Impreza. That would be the highest highway gas-mileage figure delivered by any vehicle with all-wheel-drive. That compares to the highest rating of 20 mpg...
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2011 New York Auto Show: High-Mileage Compact Car Wars Heat Up
We're barreling toward the 2011 New York Auto Show, where media days kick off in two weeks. While concept cars like the Lexus LF-Gh luxury hybrid sports sedan will get lots of attention, once the media leave, actual car buyers will be just as curious about fuel efficient cars with high gas mileage...
John Voelcker -
Want To Clean Up The Planet? Spay Your Pet, THEN Buy a Prius
Cutting carbon emissions is complex. And there are a lot of myths and misinformation out there. The effective impact of some actions--reusing your grocery bags, for instance--is relatively low. Other methods, things that many people never even consider, are considerably more effective. For...
John Voelcker -
One-Third Of 2011 Ford F-150 Pickups Sold With V-6
MPGs matter, it turns out, even to pickup buyers. Or, perhaps especially to pickup truck buyers. Just four months after Ford added an EcoBoost engine option to its top-selling F-150 pickup truck, the company reports that fully 35 percent of the 2011 model's sales are fitted with either that...
John Voelcker -
Can Condoms Curb Climate Change Cheaper Than Low-Carbon Cars?
The Frankfurt Auto Show just wound up today, and most of the concept cars focus on lowering carbon dioxide emissions. Volkswagen, for instance, launched a two-seat "1-Liter" concept car that gets a remarkable 170 miles per gallon. But suppose all the money we're investing in better gas mileage and...
John Voelcker -
VIDEO: How New Cars Are Designed To Get Better Fuel Economy
What are the tricks that car designers and engineers use to squeeze out those last few miles per gallon in your next new car--regardless of what size it is? In our continuing series of videos on ways to drive a little greener and stretch your gas budget that much further, editorial director Marty...
John Voelcker -
With gas prices top of mind for many drivers, the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco model seems perfectly timed. The model with a six-speed manual gearbox is EPA-rated at 28 mpg city, 42 mpg highway, for a combined 33 mpg. On our recent road test over a long weekend, we beat that slightly, getting 34.2 mpg over a mix of highway and local routes, though our miles were skewed more toward highway travel. OTHER VIDEO: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco, Two-Minute Drive Review So how does the Cruze Eco get mileage higher than the regular Chevy Cruze, which is rated at 26 mpg city, 36 mpg highway, for a combined 30...
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FIRST DRIVE: 2012 Buick Lacrosse 37-MPG eAssist Prototype
To date, Buick and "fuel economy" haven't often been used in the same sentence. But the 2012 Buick LaCrosse, the brand's largest surviving car, will offer one engine option that's projected to deliver 25 mpg city, 37 mpg highway. That's not bad for a midsize near-luxury sedan (though 1 mpg lower on...
John Voelcker -
VIDEO: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco, Our Real-World Gas Mileage
Gas mileage is on absolutely everyone's mind these days. Strife in oil-producing nations, and the associated rising gasoline prices, have already led to a surge of interest in any vehicle's MPG ratings. Now production in Japan (source of most of the world's hybrids) is shut down, at least...
John Voelcker -
BMW Looking To Boost MPGs With TwinPower Turbo Three-Cylinder Engines
Expect to see smaller engines for BMW’s future models, as high fuel prices and greater environmental concerns push automakers towards engines with lower displacements. We’ve already seen this trend with the recent announcement of BMW’s new TwinPower Turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
VIDEO: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco, Two-Minute Drive Review
The EPA rates the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco at 28 mpg city, 42 mpg highway, when it's fitted with the six-speed manual transmission. But can the Cruze Eco really reach beyond that magic 40-mpg number, which is highway mileage only? VIDEO: 2011 Chevrolet Cruze Eco, Our Real-World Gas Mileage On our...
John Voelcker -
High Gas Prices May Soon Turn Your Lovely Suburb Into A Slum
Americans rarely think much about zoning, but it governs almost every facet of how we live our lives. And unintended consequences of 50-year-old zoning codes may be about to turn some of our loveliest and quietest suburbs into the next slums. Why? Simply because they've been built too far away from...
John Voelcker