Posts from ‘Fuel Economy’
First Spin: 2023 Toyota Prius
2023 Toyota Prius
It was weird. When I rounded the corner, a guy walking down the street stopped suddenly, whipped out his phone, and started acting like a paparazzo, taking pictures of my test car like it was a super star. Add this incident to the to the number of thumbs-up signs my test car scored, and you’d suspect I was driving something rare and exotic. But I wasn’t. I was driving a 2023 Toyota Prius…something decidedly un-exotic.
Not ready to make the switch to a plug-in-hybrid or pure-electric vehicle? That’s okay with us. However, with gas prices cresting over $5.00 a gallon, you may be thinking about driving something more fuel efficient than your current set of wheels.
The Stellantis Hurricane engine will be available in standard (left) and H.O. (High Output) variations.
Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram in the U.S., revealed a new family of 6-cylinder engines dubbed Hurricane. The twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline engines are designed to match the power output of naturally aspirated V8 powerplants while being more fuel efficient and producing less pollution.
Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast
Whether you drive a car, need a car, or just occasionally bum a ride with friends, you’ve come to the right place. Join the editors of Consumer Guide Automotive as they break down everything that’s going on in the auto world. New-car reviews, shopping tips, driving green, electric cars, classic cars, and plenty of great guests. This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast.
2021 Toyota Prius Prime Limited (left) vs 2021 Toyota Prius XLE AWD-e
With hybrid vehicles of all sorts now commonplace in the American new-vehicle market, the Toyota Prius doesn’t get the respect (or sales numbers) it once did. These days, most major manufacturers offer numerous hybrids, plug-in hybrids, or both—and increasingly, these hybrids are versions of regular-line vehicles, not stand-alone, hybrid-only models. The majority are also SUVs—the type of everyday family vehicle American buyers are choosing in greater numbers than 4-door sedans of any stripe.
First Look: 2022 Ford Maverick
2022 Ford Maverick
Ford has officially unveiled its 2022 Maverick compact pickup, which it calls “a new kind of truck for people who never knew they needed a truck.” Maverick is built on a unibody platform with an all-in-one body that forgoes the typical bed-and-cab setup of traditional pickups. Compared to other Ford trucks, Maverick is the kid brother of the bunch, measuring 199.7 inches long overall, compared to 210.8 and 231.7 inches for Ranger and F-150, respectively.
You already know the answer. Why would an automaker offer a car or truck with a 3-cylinder engine? Money. There are other reasons, but money is the primary motivator.
10 Worst Gas Guzzlers of 1994*
1994 Cadillac Deville
I’m not quite ready to accept the Nineties as the distant past, but maybe I need to. Consider that the first official White House website went live in 1994, and that Quentin Tarantino’s now-classic Pulp Fiction was released the same year. It’s getting hard to remember a world before internet connections and great Vincent Vega quotes. In auto-related news, trucks accounted for 40 percent of all light-duty-vehicle sales for the very first time.
Review Flashback! 2000 Honda Insight
2000 Honda Insight
Being first to market is no guarantee of success. Social-media platform Myspace arrived on the scene almost a year before Facebook came online, but as of this week, Myspace doesn’t rank among the top 2000 most-popular websites globally; Facebook ranks number 4.
2020 Hyundai Ioniq Electric
Although there is much new for the 2020 versions of Hyundai’s Ioniq “electrified” compact hatchbacks shown at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show, the biggest news comes in the full-electric version, which gets a bigger battery and greatly increased range.
