Gas Mileage

Remind us in future to avoid drive routes confined almost exclusively to Manhattan. While they're great for showing off hybrid cars--including the 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid we briefly tested on Tuesday--they take years off your life. We had a chance to put about 10 miles on the new hybrid MKZ, the...

Ford's updated Fiesta SFE is offering even better fuel efficiency for the 2014 model year. The Fiesta uses a 1.6-liter gasoline engine, developing around 120 horsepower. It's a fun little car to drive, but the main focus here is economy. With EPA-rated mileage figures of 30 mpg city, 41 highway and...

It seems Ford has taken to heart the concerns over the difference in its new hybrids between EPA gas-mileage ratings and real-world results. In a media presentation yesterday on the new 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Ford's luxury brand devoted considerable time to explaining how it helps drivers...

While the assembled hoardes drooled over Ferraris, Porsches and McLarens at March's Geneva Motor Show, those of a greener disposition were more interested in another vehicle. Launched alongside the hybrid hypercars was a true hybrid supercar in its own right--the plug-in diesel hybrid Volkswagen...

You want a four-seat car with the highest EPA combined gas-mileage rating you can get--but you've decided you don't want a hybrid. For 2014, two new competitors are joining the fray--and they seem likely to offer considerably better fuel efficiency than today's best-of-the-pack. This year, your...

Name one car convenience feature you absolutely couldn't live without, and it'd probably be air conditioning. Whether you live in a hot or cold climate its cooling and demisting benefits can't be understated--it has safety benefits as much as comfort and convenience ones. It also has an effect on...

It just keeps rising: Average gas mileage for new cars has once again hit a new high in the U.S. Statistics kept by the University of Michigan's Transport Research Institute (UMTRI) show sales-weighted MPG of 24.8 mpg in May. That contrasts with 24.6 mpg in March, and a rise from 24.5 mpg in...

It was small, unassuming, almost a shrinking violet, really. The first-generation Toyota Prius hybrid -- launched in the U.S. in 2001 -- was the first five-seat family car to offer hybrid-electric drive and unimaginably high gas mileage. Twelve years after its initial launch, the Prius family has...

Slowly, the economic recession is winding down and consumer moods are improving. Plus, today's new cars get better gas mileage than they did just a few years ago. Is this year the best time to buy a new car? According to several industry analysts quoted in The Detroit News, the answer is...

Every now and then, EPA gas-mileage ratings--and cars that notably fail to achieve them in real-world use--burst into public awareness. Hyundai and Kia had to agree to reduced ratings and send refunds to buyers after admitting to testing-procedure errors following an EPA investigation. But do...

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...

The rate at which we use fuel even on an individual basis can be pretty surprising. If you do just 10,000 miles per year at 30 mpg, you'll use 333.3 gallons in a year. That's around 2,800 pounds, or the weight of a small compact car--the sort of car that'd do around 30 mpg in the first place. On a...

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...

Is KERS an energy-saving technology we'll be seeing in production cars any time soon, or is it just a way to help increase performance? We've been to Sweden to find out at Volvo's Gothenburg test track.

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...