Fuel Efficiency

Sometimes it's the throwaway lines that carry the most interesting news. In a routine report on August sales of new cars and trucks last Wednesday, The Detroit News had this nugget about the upcoming 2015 Chevrolet Colorado mid-size pickup truck: "GM said dealers have ordered nearly 28,000 midsize...

It's embarrassing when an automaker has to reduce its EPA gas-mileage ratings after being investigated by the agency, as Ford did in August 2013 for its 2013 and 2014 C-Max Hybrid. It's even more embarrassing when the company has to cut the rating on those vehicles again--along with five...

The Mazda MX-5, formerly Miata, holds a Guinness World Record as the highest-selling two-seater sports car in history. More than 940,000 MX-5s have been made since 1989, and the new 2016 MX-5 has just made its debut. Despite those impressive sales numbers though, the MX-5 is actually the perfect...

The 2014 MINI Cooper hardtop is the first entire, top-to-bottom redesign of the iconic British minicar. In its base form, with a new 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine and a six-speed manual gearbox, it runs a bit more than $20,000 and is rated at 34 mpg combined. But it's longer, wider...

General Motors released the first fuel-economy information for its new mid-size pickup trucks.

Toyota has announced pricing and specification details for the 2015 Toyota Camry and Toyota Camry Hybrid. Available in LE, SE and XLE grades, the 2015 Camry Hybrid starts at $26,790--$3,820 more than an equivalent 2015 Camry LE with the standard 2.5-liter four-cylinder. A Camry Hybrid in SE trim is...

One of the factors making higher gas mileage possible across pretty much any vehicle on sale these days is multispeed transmissions. At the dawn of this century, four-speed automatics were the standard; now it's six speeds--and eight-speed automatics are coming on strong. Future models of the...

California has been a world pioneer for decades in reducing vehicle emissions, including its 20-year effort to get significant numbers of zero-emission vehicles on the roads. It's also had intermittent programs to encourage the trade-in of older cars that qualify as "gross emitters" for newer and...

Europe's CO2-based taxation system means consumers already have access to a wide range of highly efficient vehicles. There are stricter targets on the horizon however, and Renault is the latest to accept a challenge set by the French government to produce a 117 mpg car by 2020. According to...

There are many routes to improving fuel efficiency in modern cars, but one route in particular seems to be resonating with automakers, automotive engineers and designers: Shedding weight. A survey of 900 automotive engineers and designers conducted by Wards Auto and sponsored by DuPont showed that...

If you've spent any time looking at Fords recently, one word won't have escaped your attention: EcoBoost. EcoBoost is Ford-speak for a downsized, turbocharged gasoline engine that aims to either supplement or replace a larger, naturally-aspirated engine in a given vehicle lineup. The name is pure...

What do the Elio, Aptera, Toyota i-Road concept and the spectacularly awful Zap Xebra have in common? They--and many more small-volume economical vehicles and concepts besides--all use one fewer wheel than the norm. Yet giving fuel-saving cars just three wheels is not a new phenomenon, stretching...

Leaked window stickers reveal 2015 Ford Mustang EcoBoost fuel economy.

The Ford F-150 pickup might be one of America's best-selling vehicles, but the move to build the 2015 model from aluminum has required significant investment from Ford. To ensure that investment is worth it, the company is likely to use aluminum in several other vehicles to spread the development...

There's a reason people like big, multi-cylinder engines and it isn't just about the noise they make or how much power they produce. It's also to do with smoothness. And it's one reason some people are worried about the latest trend for downsized four-cylinder units, as they begin appearing in...

Whatever you think of the diminutive city cars produced by Daimler's Smart brand, the company certainly has a talent for marketing. The latest ad from Smart Canada has the same sort of self-deprecating humor that Volkswagen used for years when advertising its Beetle--another rear-engined small car...

Three wheeled vehicles get a lot of attention from hardcore fans of performance cars. They also get plenty of attention from hardcore fans of green vehicles--as they share many of the same desirable characteristics, like an aerodynamic teardrop shape with surprising stability, and light weight...

Automotive sites with readers whose tastes tend toward sports and performance cars have been having a field day with the upcoming 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. This 707-horsepower muscle car (along with the Charger Hellcat four-door sedan announced just this morning) is the most powerful...

Aluminum construction and Ingenium engines will boost the 2016 Jaguar XE's efficiency.

Lyft and Uber both plan to put multiple customers in the same car.