Philadelphia Weekly

Environmentally Friendly Vans

Dear Tom and Ray:

I'm an environmentalist who somehow went and had three kids-one 6-year-old and a pair of 2-year-old twins. My husband wants us to get a van or-heaven forbid!-a sport utility vehicle, but I'm trying very hard to hold out until a hybrid version is available or the government changes its fuel-economy standards so that these larger vehicles will have to do significantly better than 19 miles per gallon. Meanwhile, our Volvo station wagon is pretty much bursting at the seams. Can you suggest any environmentally friendly options for my family and me? My husband says he'll welcome your opinion!

TOM: That's a tough one, Kathryn. With three little kids, all their stuff and a bursting Volvo, you certainly qualify for a bigger vehicle.

RAY: Or you have to convince one kid to run away and join the circus.

TOM: I would definitely not get an SUV, because it offers no advantages over a minivan (except, perhaps, styling), and lots of disadvantages. Those disadvantages include fuel economy, ease of entry and exit, ride, handling, safety and the rotten tomatoes being thrown at you by members of the Sierra Club.

RAY: But even minivans these days are getting larger and more powerful, thanks to the industry's (and, to be fair, I suppose, its customers') obsession with power over fuel economy. The leading minivans all get in the neighborhood of 18 to 20 miles per gallon in the city, and 24 to 27 miles per gallon on the highway. That's certainly better than the big SUVs, but it's not as good as it could be, given the technological advances of the past 20 years.

TOM: And hybrid minivans are certainly coming at some point. But they're not here yet.

RAY: So given that all the major minivans offer similar gas mileage, we'd steer you toward the ones that handle best, ride best and have the best reputation for reliability. Those would be the Honda Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna. We'd actually give the edge to the Honda, since it feels more maneuverable to us (even though the two vans are almost the exact same size).

TOM: And the Honda now comes with "cylinder deactivation" technology. With that technology the Odyssey uses all six cylinders when accelerating, but shuts off three of the cylinders when you're just cruising and don't need so much power.

RAY: That feature boosts the Odyssey's fuel economy to 20 miles per gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon on the highway, which puts it at the high end of the minivan spectrum. That should be enough to allow you to keep your tree-hugger card for another few years. Good luck, Kathryn.

Who Knew You Can Mix Octanes?

Dear Tom and Ray:

I read a column in the newspaper the other day by that notorious cheapskate Andy Rooney. He has a car that requires gasoline with 91 octane (as do I). He and I have both found that you can't always find 91 octane at the pumps. When that happens, I use 93 and just pay the piper. But the el-cheapo Rooney just puts in 5 gallons of 89 and five gallons of 93 and calls the mixture 91! Can this be? Is this the way octane works? Please clear this up for me so that I too can save some money at the pump.

RAY: It sure does work that way.

TOM: In fact, that's how the pump does it. Most gas stations have only two underground gasoline tanks: one for the lowest octane, and one for the highest octane. Then the pump blends those two to produce everything in between.