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cars

  • Umbra on driving in neutral

    Dear Umbra, I have a question about getting the most miles per gallon. If you put your car into neutral at stops or going downhill, do you save any gas? My car is an automatic. JeffVerona, N.J. Dearest Jeff, Another great question we have all pondered. Louisa and her fellow mechanics thought you might save […]

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  • Umbra on car heaters

    Dear Umbra, My friend and I have a bet going that I hope you can settle. She thinks that running the heat in a car in the winter is “free” — that is, it doesn’t use additional gas. As a conservationist, this pleases her greatly. However, I think that turning on the heat does use […]

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  • Reader responses on family cars, the internal combustion engine, and more

    Dearest Readers, How I enjoy your letters! I’m sorry I’m unable to answer them all; lest you fear that they vanish into the void, I assure you they do not. I read each and every one of them down here in Stacklandia. I must in particular thank those of you who write in to correct, […]

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  • Advice on driving vs. flying

    Hi Umbra, I’m wondering if you have any numbers comparing the fuel efficiency of flying versus driving the average car for the same distance. Also, how does carbon dioxide production compare for the same trip? SteveLoomis, Calif. Dearest Steve, Flight blight? Here’s what I can find so far, courtesy of the Rocky Mountain Institute in […]

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  • Umbra on motorcycles

    Dear Umbra, I recently read a claim that “motorcycles produce far more pollution per mile than your typical car, truck, or SUV.” Is that true? I’ve got a friend who’s currently making her (bad-ass) way across country on a Harley — 60 mpg, baby — and we are both curious about the environmental impacts compared […]

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  • Umbra on minivans

    Dear Umbra, We have a six-year-old daughter, a three-year-old daughter, and — surprise! (well, not completely) — a new baby girl due in the next two months. Our fuel-efficient car cannot fit two car seats and a booster across the back seat, and according to Washington state law (“six-years-old and 60 pounds”), my petite six-year-old […]

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  • Cutting the Cord

    Fuel cells and hybrids are hot; electric vehicles are not. That’s the word from the California Air Resources Board, which yesterday axed groundbreaking 1990 rules requiring auto manufacturers to sell a fixed number of electric vehicles (EVs) in the state, including 10 percent of cars sold this year. Instead, the board approved more modest regulations […]

    Grist staff Uncategorized

  • Overdrive

    214,000,000 — number of vehicles in the U.S.1 290,000,000 — number of people in the U.S.2 2 — number of American cars on the Top 20 list in “The Greenest Vehicles of 2003,” produced by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (the other 18 are Japanese)3 22,802 — miles per year driven by the […]

    Jim Motavalli Technology

  • Advice on converting to biodiesel

    Umbra, I own a diesel VW Golf, which I bought thinking it was a better choice for the environment than a gasoline engine. Therefore, I was disappointed to read your message that diesel is probably a worse choice. However, you didn’t talk at all about biodiesel. Can you give us a rundown on this fuel […]

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