aerodynamics

The Mercedes-Benz Concept IAA changes shape at certain speeds to lower drag.

The Ford F-150 uses ducting in its wheel wells to deal with aerodynamic drag from spinning wheels.

Body kits--add-on components and replacements for a car's front and rear fascias and door sills--are often a good way for owners to make their vehicle stand out from the crowd. Often used on luxury brands and tuner cars, the updated looks are usually edgier and more aggressive than the factory...

If you follow our coverage on fuel efficiency, you know that real-world mileage numbers don't always measure up to the official EPA ratings. But if you think failing to meet those EPA numbers by five or ten percent is already a letdown, be very careful about your cargo-carrying expectations in your...

A BMW i3 body kit arguably looks good, but clashes with the car's mission.

Recently, we attracted flak from some quarters of our readership for featuring pickup trucks. While not green by the standards of modern electric vehicles and hybrids, their push towards greater efficiency is equally important--because the biggest gains come from the most popular and...

It's become a common part of road testing: Get the car up to speed, then roll down a window to see how bad the drumming and buffeting gets. Never experienced it? Try it on your own car sometime. Now, it turns out, there's an aerodynamic add-on fix available to cure the worst of the thrumming...

If you're one of the millions of Americans preparing for your summer vacation, you might also be readying the family's bicycles for some exercise while you're away. Chances are, this involves some kind of roof-mounted bicycle rack for your car. And this can have a dramatic effect on your gas...

If you want to know why road-going electric vehicles aren't powered by solar panels mounted on the roof, here's your answer. Technically it's feasible, but you'd have to do without amenities, comfort, performance, or indeed a vehicle which doesn't look like an asymmetric air hockey table. The air...

No, we won't all be driving golf carts. In fact, as cars change over the next 12 years to meet much tougher fuel-economy rules, automakers will likely do their best to keep the changes invisible. Your next vehicles will deliver better gas mileage than ever before, no matter how large or small they...

Almost every day we hear of a shiny new car that gets a certain number of miles to the gallon, a number often greater than its predecessor. It sometimes seems like witchcraft - until significant steps towards high-tech materials are taken, rarely do cars lose weight from one model to the next (with...

One of the best ways to save a lot of fuel is to improve the efficiency of the lowest-mileage vehicles on the roads. Those include semis, which often get no more than 2 or 3 miles per gallon of diesel fuel. Their huge diesel engines must put out massive torque to tow one, two, or even three...

Pretty much every Toyota Prius hybrid you see on the streets looks the same. Wild customization is generally limited to personalized plates that promote the driver's green credentials, solar panels, eco-living, or general hybrid luv-luv-LUV. That's about to change. Toyota announced today it will...

GM has one of the largest wind tunnel testing facilities in the world, in fact it is the largest used for automotive applications, so it’s only fitting that the company is applying knowledge learned in its wind tunnel to a much more diverse range of vehicles than its competitors. That’s right...

When it comes to fuel economy, the powertrain is the first thing people think of when it comes time to improving it. After that it’s typically vehicle weight. However, one of the simplest and most effective ways of improving fuel economy is through aerodynamics. Everyone knows that the slipperier...

The huge SEMA show, mecca of car modifications from awful to awesome, now attracts even manufacturers, who commission custom versions of production cars in hopes that hotness will rub off on them. Even Toyota showed the Prius Aerius and Aemulus this year. But the real action is in the aftermarket...

To green-car fans, the idea of an ultra-aerodynamic electric two-seater sounds pretty familiar, right? Think the late, lamented EV1 from General Motors, subject of the controversial documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car? But for more than 4,000 people who've put down deposits on the 2011 Aptera...

It may look the same, but every facet of the 2010 Toyota Prius shape has been improved, all toward lowering air drag to improve mileage