Fuel Efficiency

There are many routes to outstanding fuel efficiency, but it's often diesel that's chosen to demonstrate the highest mpg numbers and longest distances. Mileage experts Helen and John Taylor achieved both, to become the world record holders for the longest distance driven on one tank of fuel, using...

Round, black, and easily forgettable--that's your average car tire. Often, we don't think about them until we need to change them, whether the tread is wearing low or we get a puncture. However, it's well worth considering them more often, as not only are they vital to your safety, but tires also...

For U.S. armed forces, green is mostly seen these days as accents in beige battlefield camo. But reducing the cost and risk of delivering very expensive diesel fuel in vulnerable military convoys has long been a Pentagon goal, and one way to do that is to make all military vehicles more fuel...

With gas prices high, you'd expect people to buckle down and hang onto their existing cars rather than spending the money to buy new ones, right? Errrrrrr, actually not. According to Mike Jackson, the outspoken and always quotable CEO of AutoNation, buyers who've put off their new-car purchases are...

It's not just cars that are getting bigger and heavier--a quick look around the local mall is enough to see that the average person on the street is more portly than their counterpart from a generation ago. Every year, obesity costs the country huge amounts of money, from $190 billion in extra...

Hybrids have fans, diesels have fans, and while they produce their best fuel economy under different circumstances, each one tends to be a greener choice than a conventional gasoline car. But passenger cars with diesels are now just a tiny part of the U.S. market (less than 1 percent) compared to...

If you haven't already clicked off the page in disgust, or headed straight to the comment section to voice your displeasure, then thanks for sticking with us on this one... No, judged against vehicles that are purpose-designed to be green, there's nothing particularly eco-friendly nor fuel-sipping...

Sometimes you have to ask, What were they thinking? A recent article on five small cars with the worst gas mileage named four for which gas mileage may not even cross the minds of their buyers. But it did remind us that the 2012 Toyota Matrix has pretty low fuel economy for a compact hatchback. In...

Is there a more depressing sight when driving than seeing the brake lights of hundreds of cars ahead on the freeway suddenly illuminating? Even if there's no accident or construction work causing the mass slow-down, it takes only a few drivers miles ahead to bring traffic behind to a complete halt...

We luv us some cheerful infographics, as we often say. Today's specimen comes courtesy of Chevrolet, which is preparing to launch the smallest Chevy it's ever sold, the 2013 Spark minicar. The infographic compares the Chevy Spark to a full-size 1973 U.S. sedan (using data for unspecified "popularly...

Thinking of buying a hybrid? That's great--you'll not only reduce your gas bills, but you'll be polluting less too, and likely have a car that holds its value as gas prices rise. If you're coming from a non-hybrid though, it may take a little time to make the most of your new Prius, Civic Hybrid or...

As cars get more reliable and last longer, the case for buying "gently used" cars gets stronger and stronger. But suppose you want to drive green, and you're aware that the newest cars get the best gas mileage. What used cars can you buy that will let you drive green and deliver the highest fuel...

Writing about the latest carmaker plans to add smaller, more efficient engines is now almost a weekly occurrence. Today's lucky winner is Jaguar, which took the occasion of the Beijing Auto Show to announce some future powertrain plans--including its first production four-cylinder engine since the...

For years, the V-engine has dominated the American auto industry. Thanks to increasing gas prices and tougher gas-mileage and emissions targets however, the V-6 and V-8 engines once found in everything from family cars to pickup trucks are being slowly replaced by smaller, direct-injection...

It's all change at Mazda for the next generation of its engine and product lines. The CX-7 SUV and 6-cylinder engines are out, and a wave of efficient Skyactiv engines, light-weight cars and an improved line of rotary engines is in. Robert Davis, senior vice president of U.S. Operations at Mazda...

It's been eight years since Volvo offered a four-cylinder car in the United States--in the S40 sedan and V40 wagon--but come fall 2013 the four-pot drought will be over. Volvo has announced that the new 2.0-liter four-cylinder will be used in the front-wheel drive versions of the S60 and S80...

It's not news that new, higher fuel-economy standards will raise the cost of future cars in real dollars. Now a new study, funded by the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), suggests that those increases will prevent up to 7 million buyers from affording new cars in 2025. That's out of a...

Dodge has priced its new Dart compact sedan from under $17,000, including destination charge.

Once a class full of lumbering--but extremely popular--dinosaurs, the large sedan is sometimes at risk of of going extinct among the SUVs, midsize hybrids and crossovers of this world. They still have a place in the market though. And like any other class, buyers now have not only more equipment...

The laws of supply and demand are set to do their thing in the next few weeks. Fueled by rising gas prices, short supply and rising demand, the price of used fuel-efficient vehicles is set to rise. Jonathan Banks at NADA Used Car Guide has predicted that prices will approach record highs over the...