Fuel Efficiency

Smog-choked Chinese capital Beijing will be the first city in the country to introduce a new pollution tax. Following months of pollution far above safe levels, major Chinese cities have scrabbled to find a solution for improving air quality. Gasgoo reports Beijing will introduce a new tax this...

Chevrolet has released details of its latest 2014 Malibu, set to go on sale this fall. Among the changes, the biggest news is that all Malibu models will get stop-start technology on the standard model--shutting down the engine when stopped to conserve fuel. Fitted to a new 2.5-liter gasoline...

From our earlier first drive of the 2014 Ford Fiesta ST over at Motor Authority, we already knew that Ford has put together not only one lean pocket rocket that's a hoot to drive, but one of the most compelling small cars from a value standpoint. With its 1.6-liter turbocharged EcoBoost...

To many auto enthusiasts, the term "front-wheel-drive BMW" is one that fills them with dread. BMWs have always been rear-wheel drive, a layout that offers balance and handling purity rarely found on front-drive vehicles. Dreaded or not, BMW has confirmed that its first front-wheel-drive models (not...

German automaker Daimler is more familiar with three-cylinder engines than you might think. In fact, it even sells one right here in the U.S. If you guessed "Smart Fortwo", then award yourself a prize. The tiny two-seater has thrummed along on a three-pot for several years now, and for many...

The new 2014 Chevrolet Impala is a big five-passenger family sedan, the largest one Chevy sells. While it was launched earlier this year with a 303-horsepower 3.6-liter V-6 engine, it can now also be ordered with a 196-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder Ecotec engine that produces 186 lb-ft of torque...

Many things can signify summer--the weather finally being warm enough to ditch those outer layers of clothing; TV ads taking a distinctly more cheery tone; maybe simply hunting around for your sunshades for the first time in six months. It's now possible to have fun in the sun and get good gas...

It's official: Cars really are getting more efficient. Not that there isn't a long way still to go, but virtually every month statistics emerge to suggest the average fuel efficiency of vehicles in the U.S. has gone up another few fractions of a percent. There are still winners and losers though...

Four-cylinder engines, often equipped with turbochargers, are very much in vogue at the moment. It's unlikely to change any time soon, either, with Ford predicting that two thirds of U.S. vehicle sales will comprise smaller-capacity four-cylinder units by 2020. That figure represents a fast climb...

Hybrid cars are increasing in popularity all the time in the U.S, but they still make only a small proportion of new vehicle sales, and as such some people still aren't clued-up on their benefits. Hybrids use two powertrains--in the U.S, that's generally a gasoline engine and electric motors...

It's an exciting time for diesel fans in the U.S, with automakers finally waking up to that section of the market that longs for great highway MPG and lots of torque. Most people already know the benefits of modern diesels, but there are a few general things that people may have missed. So in the...

Remember Elio Motors? If you're one of their 17,000 or so Facebook fans it'll be hard to forget, as the company's little green three-wheeled vehicle will be a regular fixture on your timeline. As The Detroit News reports, Elio has just released a new prototype of the tiny gasoline-powered vehicle...

Chevy's Cruze diesel is one of the more significant cars arriving this year. It's not just economical by Chevy's own standards, but at 46 mpg highway it comfortably takes the fight to the class-leading Volkswagen Jetta TDI too, With a 15.6 gallon gas tank, that 46 mpg should be enough to get you...

Your mileage may vary. We've heard it for years, we all know it's true, and yet we put our trust in the EPA's fuel-efficiency ratings as a guide to what kind of gas mileage a car will really get. Now, two cars--the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid and the 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid--have brought the failings of...

Hybrid and diesel might be winning the gas mileage wars, but gasoline is stepping up its game. We'll shortly see the debut of two new gasoline-powered models that offer the highest non-hybrid gasoline-fueled gas mileage on the market--the 2014 Ford Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost, and the 2014 Mitsubishi...

We weren't big fans of the first Sonata Hybrid when Hyundai launched it for the 2011 model year. But the 2013 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid has numerous updates and modifications that improve its driveability--the characteristic that can sink hybrids when buyers test them. We found the hybrid 2013 Sonata...

With two dozen hybrid models now on the market, and several mass-market plug-in hybrids as well, weighing costs and benefits can get a lot more complicated. Take, for instance, our reader Catherine Chan-Smith, who wrote to ask for advice: I've read your article on the 2014 Honda Accord Plug-In...

The 2013 Dodge Dart has gotten off to a slow start in the market, but it's a vitally important car for Chrysler. The first vehicle based on shared underpinnings from its parent Fiat, the Dart has to show Chrysler can build competitive cars--and, even more important, top-quality small cars that...

The Ford Escape is one of the most popular compact crossovers on the market today, and its all-new 2013 model goes head-to-head with the Honda CRV and Toyota RAV4. Both of those vehicles were redesigned in 2012 or 2013, so crossover competition is now fierce. We spent six days with a pale green...

The 54.5 mpg Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards set for 2025 have caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth from some quarters, but automakers haven't been among them. The automakers have been quite supportive in fact--perhaps knowing all along what a new analysis has discovered: That...