Archive for the ‘Gasoline’ Category

Apart from eating mayo with their french fries, driving a bunch of tiny little diesels, and idolizing Abba and David Hasselhoff, what's the big difference between a European and an American? Over at Green Car Reports, Editor-in-chief John Voelcker outlines the GPM vs MPG debate. As in Gallons Per Mile vs. Miles Per Gallon. Actually, everywhere outside the U.S. (including Canada), they typically calculate using the metric system, so it's more like liters per 100 kilometer (L/100km).

But we're iconoclasts in America. You know, Mavericks. So we've resolutely stuck to our MPG measurement system, which Voelcker points out has led to a big...

Obama's new Transportation Secretary, Republican Ray LaHood, is eying a tax based on miles driven as opposed to fuel consumed. Why the potential switch? America's relatively low gasoline taxes just can't cut it when it comes to Federal funding for upkeep of American roadways and transportation infrastructure.

Recent - and in some cases fatal - bridge collapses and roadway disasters highlight the issue facing the new administration's Transportation division. Last fall, Congress had to infuse $8 billion into multiple states to help them with their most urgent transportation projects. But while many transportation authorities view the proposed...

As most figured they would do, gasoline prices are rising again. Not dramatically, mind you, but enough to push premium gasoline about one cent higher per gallon than diesel on average as of Monday. With a diesel engine's inherently higher efficiency (up to 30 percent more efficient than their gasoline counterparts) and crazy torque, suddenly the diesel equation looks pretty smart. Plus, new dieses make no smoke, no clatter, pollute no more than their gasoline competitors, and offer smoky burnout hoonage courtesy of stump-pulling torque.

In January, we discussed diesel's merits and demerits in response to Car and Driver's predictions of a...