Letters.(Letter to the editor)

Earth Day/road trip views

Regarding the Prius not being the mileage champ in your April 24 road-trip issue: By only using their gasoline engines when necessary, hybrids are designed to excel in stop-and-go driving, not road trips. Had you commuted 345 miles on city/suburban roads and gotten stuck in the occasional traffic jam, the Prius would have ruled.

Don L. Palmer Jr., Bolton, Conn.

Editor's note: Hybrids are tuned differently, and while the Prius is tuned to return more efficient city mileage, other hybrids are better for cruising.

I thought U.S. road vehicles were wasteful not because of the technology, but because so many people use large SUVs to do the work of Golfs. After renting diesel cars in Europe and now owning a VW diesel, I believe that to cut U.S. fuel usage we need not just to drive smaller vehicles, but use diesels, at least for the short-term. As your test confirmed, they are more efficient.

C.B. Gerhart, Cape Canaveral, Fla.

The first automaker that brings a diesel-powered minivan to market will be selling a lot of them. It should be ...