Smart EV Wins Best Eco Car Award
ACEEE ranks the Top 10 environmental cars and finds smaller is better and small hybrids are best, although it found the smallest electric car sold in America as the best of the best.
Test Drive: 2013/2014 Mercedes-Benz GLK350 With Start-Stop
Mercedes-Benz has added start-stop technology to its compact SUV, the GLK, along with direct injection and diesel engine technology, to boost fuel economy. It’s a win-win-win with better fuel economy, more power and all of the usual Mercedes luxury.
Pickups Pick Up MPG
The definition of pickup truck utility is changing. Now fuel economy has become as important as towing capacity and the number of tie-downs in the bed. Automakers are scrambling to build trucks with better MPG and are locked in a battle to offer the best package that includes fuel efficiency as well as all-round capability.
Road Test: 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 Crew Cab
n the market for a truck? How about a really nice truck that seats five or six big adults very comfortably, comes ready to act as your office on wheels, can tow pretty much anything you have in mind and if necessary, can get you through the mud and muck over hill and dale? Or maybe you are looking to “feel like a man,” which is what the SoCal Chevrolet dealers radio commercial told me that driving the 2014 Silverado will do. Other commercials note that the Chevy pickup’s V8 gets better fuel economy than rival Ford’s V6. That must be some truck!
10 Best Engines Named By Magazine
Ward’s 10 Best Engines contest hits its 20th anniversary but the field of contestants has changed. Winners this year were led by three diesel engines, an electric motor and a three-cylinder gas engine.
Road Test: 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid
Honda gives lie to the dire expectations of those who thought environmental correctness came only with sacrifice. With the 2014 Honda Accord Hybrid, we have entered a new world of mainstream motoring: Look around at all the inefficient, uninspiring cars on the road. Given the option of driving the one that is ultimately efficient and surprisingly fun, who wouldn’t come up with the extra three bills?
Ford Sees the Way to MPG Though Lightweighting
The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) aka the Detroit Auto Show is where the best and brightest, the newest ideas in cars and trucks appear first. It’s the big stage, and the 2014 NAIAS stage had many stories, but the biggest was that of Ford’s reinventing of its best-seller, the F-150 pickup.
Overview: 2014 Ford Fusion With Start-Stop
If you’ve opted to purchase a 2014 Ford Fusion SE with the EcoBoost engine that ups fuel economy to 25/37/29 mpg, adding an additional $295 for stop-start to gain an additional 3 to 10 percent in fuel economy seems like a no brainer.
Road Test: 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Turbo Diesel LT
The 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel is rated at 46 Highway/27 City with an average of 33 MPG. Sounds pretty good, but it can get even better because, if you have a light foot on the accelerator, you might even get closer to 50 MPG on the highway. So, what’s not to like about GM’s Mileage King?
Road Test: 2014 Chevrolet Impala LT
The 2014 Impala is so completely different from its predecessor that from this point forward let’s agree those previous versions did not even exist. The new Impala carries an air of sophistication, but not snobbiness, with a comfortable modern interior and clean contemporary styling. The 2014 Impala comes in three engine options: 2.5L 4-cylinder, 2.4L 4-cylinder with eAssist (GM’s mild hybrid system) and the 3.6L V6, which is what was powering the car we tested. The eAssist model delivers 35 MPG on the highway and 29 MPG combined, the tops in this class. It even beats the Audi A8 TDI and easily bests the Ford and Chrysler competitors.