Forget about the old days when getting gas for your car was no problem at all. Lousy eight cylinder limos were the craze, no matter what big gas guzzlers these monsters were. Today their place has been taken over by the SUV and they are no small gas consumers either. If you think you are getting 40 miles to a gallon, you must be mad. The maximum that these wide-bodied thick tired vehicles are capable of is actually half of that. Still, people are crazy about the SUV for the mere look of affluence linked to these super models, ignoring the car fuel efficiency part of it. But today gasoline costs around 3.10 per gallon and the way these automobiles drink it down, there really seems to be no tomorrow. With skyrocketing fuel prices all over the States, SUV need not be the prudent choice for the average family yet the trend shows little decline in sales.

If car fuel efficiency is the key word for choosing an automobile, what would you prefer – a six -cylinder affair or a four-cylinder jukebox would do. Obviously, the smaller the number of cylinders, better the mileage. Also, lighter the body, lesser the fuel consumption. But why the heck is fuel costing so much these days? Of course war is raging in the middle-east that produces most of the fuel the world consumes, but I was told that 80% of the fuel consumed in the USA comes from Canada. Then should we wage a war against them? I am really confused.

Japan, as I was told, is soon becoming a world leader in car manufacturing has now turned its head from making comfortable cars to economy models, car fuel efficiency being of topmost concern. Japanese engineers have done away with the age-old carburetor system for mixing air with fuel and have replaced it with a newer device that consumes lesser fuel. Also available in the market are a newer brand of hybrid cars, valued for their reported car fuel efficiency.

Another approach on the subject of car fuel efficiency is aimed at running vehicles with LPG (light petroleum gas). Cutting out the risk of sudden fire, in case of a gas leak, the LPG run vehicles are cleaner, pollution-free and may be termed as a model of car fuel efficiency. Let us see what the future holds for us in matters relating to car fuel efficiency – the battery-cum fuel operated car?