Fuel Efficiency

It's been on sale in Europe for months, and now it's coming to the U.S.: the smallest engine sold by a U.S. automaker in decades. The 2014 Ford Fiesta that goes on sale next year will offer the turbocharged 1.0-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine as an option in the subcompact hatchback and sedan...

If you shop strictly by the EPA numbers today, the 2013 Honda Fit probably won't be among the top subcompacts you cross-shop. The current Fit's federal ratings, of 28 mpg city, 35 highway with the five-speed automatic, or just 27/33 mpg with the five-speed manual, aren't exactly at the top of the...

While automakers selling cars in North America have been happy to accept the 2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, the same can't be said for similar plans in Mexico. Last month we described how Toyota was refusing to support the new standards--and now Chrysler has joined the Japanese...

Like it or not, the majority of the world's vehicles are still powered by internal combustion engines, rather than batteries, hydrogen and other alternatives. The good news is that carmakers are still finding ways to improve the good old reciprocating piston engine. Even in the last few years...

Ford has finally unveiled what could offer the best mix of practicality and economy on the market--the 2014 Ford Transit Connect Wagon. With seven seats and estimated highway mileage of 30 mpg, the Transit Connect is much more family-orientated this time around. Beating its traditional minivan...

Unless you're the type to very closely read the fine print on the face of fuel pumps, you might not know that the vast majority of U.S. gasoline is truly ten-percent home grown—that's ten-percent ethanol, and with that ethanol almost certainly from corn. The upsides of adding more ethanol to...

Could the next Toyota Yaris be a Mazda2 under the skin? Mazda has announced that its factory in Mexico will begin producing a new Mazda2-based Toyota small car from 2015. Mazda's press release states that the car, which will be sold "mainly in North America", will be produced at a rate of 50,000...

The MINI brand re-established itself globally by building fuel-efficient cars that, coincidentally, were also surprisingly fun to drive. In fact, when it comes to cars powered by their front wheels, we can’t think of any that handle better than MINI’s products. The brand has innovated...

Now the recriminations--and lawsuits--will start. And we expect the focus on real-world gas mileage to increase, following news that Hyundai and Kia will revise gas-mileage figures downward on 13 different models from the 2011, 2012, and 2013 model years--and reimburse buyers for the extra money...

Volkswagen's line of TDI diesel cars has passionate fans. Now that the company is launching the 2013 VW Jetta Hybrid, it will likely gain some hybrid advocates too. But diesel and hybrid fans are very different groups, as the company's marketing surveys show. So why couldn't Volkswagen simply add a...

The EPA has ordered Kia and Hyundai to amend window stickers on 13 models from the 2011, 2012 and 2013 model years after the two companies were found to be misstating the cars' true efficiency. The companies will also have to pay damages to 900,000 owners across the U.S. According to Associated...

Big German automakers used to thrive on producing large, luxurious sedans. Built seemingly to last forever, they were vehicles of aspiration, a cut above volume vehicles from other carmakers. How things change. Aspiration may still be a part of owning a Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Audi, but now gas...

If you subscribe to the theory that Honda keeps all its really cool products in its home market of Japan, the announcement that the N-ONE retro-styled minicar has hit the market probably won’t do much to convince you otherwise. The N-ONE joins the N BOX and N BOX + models in Honda’s...

Good technology, they say, is technology that improves your life without intruding upon it. If that's the case, then the ability of hybrid cars to shut off their engines at speed to save gas can be judged a success. And it's a technology that could even be seen in regular cars soon, says Wards...

The 'gas guzzler tax' was set up in the 1980s to penalize cars for achieving under a certain level of fuel efficiency. Strictly speaking, the sales tax penalizes the owners themselves, adding to the cost of a new vehicle by thousands of dollars in some cases. Recently though, advancements in fuel...

Toyota has a reputation among U.S. car buyers for being green and offering fuel-efficient vehicles. But a recent post on the Natural Resources Defense Council blog painted a different picture. Noting that Toyota was suing to stop the implementation of fuel-economy rules in Mexico that duplicate...

Luxury subcompacts are nothing new in Europe, where customers appreciate luxurious features but often need smaller, easier-to-park, cheaper-to-run cars. The idea is less familiar in the U.S, where subcompacts are generally associated with basic, frills-free transportation--but Chevrolet wants to...

Sitting under the hood of the next-generation 2014 Chevrolet Corvette, is a next-generation V-8 engine, both more powerful and more efficient than ever. It's said that the biggest gains in fuel efficiency can come from the least-efficient vehicles. As such, the new Corvette should be a huge...

Owners of the Chevy Volt range-extended electric car are often pretty technically advanced. Many are conversant not only with auto technology but also with apps and software analysis tools. Two weeks ago, the online Volt community erupted when OnStar abruptly shut stopped giving data access to...

If you live in a large city, work in a 9-5 job, and drive to the office, it’s probable that you end up spending at least some of your daily commute stuck in traffic. Assuming you drive a regular gasoline car--one without stop-start technology or hybrid drivetrain--congested traffic can...