Transmission

With gas prices continuing a steady upward climb, you may be headed to the dealer in search of something less thirsty at the pump. But which cars' sticker price gives you the most bang for your buck? We asked Edmunds.com to look at the vehicles with the lowest sticker price per fuel-economy rating. The math was simple: divide the car's base price by its EPA rating for combined fuel economy. The result gives a look at how much each mile per gallon will cost you. Photos: Top 10 cars with lowest cost per mpg Topping the list is Ford's C-Max Energi.

It looks like a truck, drives like a truck and hauls like a truck. So the 2013 Ram 1500 is, you guessed it, very much a truck. This is despite the fact that beneath the handsome sheet metal are two key elements that, until recently, would have disqualified it from many full-size-truck buyers' lists: an eight-speed transmission and a V-6 engine. Both are new additions for the current Ram truck, which received a thorough mid-life makeover for the 2013 model year. The new drivetrain and thoughtful upgrades mean this truck is well positioned to take on the longtime sales champ - the Ford F-150 - as well as all-new full-size pickups from Chevrolet and Toyota due out later this year.

It's all crossovers these days. From the polo grounds of Malibu to the campgrounds of Maine, nearly a fifth of all vehicles sold in the U.S. last year resided somewhere in this netherworld between a car and an SUV. So the stakes were high for Toyota's overdue redesign of the RAV4, a pioneer of the segment in the mid-1990s that had grown stale in comparison with competitors. Often resembling small sport utility vehicles, crossovers are truck-like vehicles built on front-drive car platforms.

Two of the biggest rivals in American industry - General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. - are again joining together to develop transmissions for their next generation of cars. The automakers said Sunday they will team to create nine-speed and 10-speed transmissions that will be smoother and more fuel efficient than the gearboxes currently in their cars and trucks. "Americans want smooth-shifting transmissions," said Dave Sullivan, manager of product analysis for AutoPacific Inc., an industry consulting firm.

What's the most intriguing aspect of the all-new Rolls Royce Wraith coupe that debuted this week at the Geneva Motor Show? It's not that it's the fastest, most powerful car Rolls Royce has ever made. It's not the roughly $320,000 asking price. It's not the two automatically closing, rear-hinged doors. It's the transmission. PHOTOS: Rolls Royce Wraith debuts in Geneva Specifically, it's how the Wraith's eight-speed automatic transmission is linked to a GPS receiver.

Honda's nerds have done it. They've cracked the code, solved the riddle, unscrambled the jumble that, until now, has perpetually confounded a large swath of the automotive engineering teams around the globe. What'd they figure out? A worthwhile transmission. A part of the car that's traditionally as sexy as a pair of adult diapers. Yet it's a part that contributes mightily to the overall excellence of the 2013 Honda Accord. Honda's venerable mid-size sedan has gone through a clean-sheet redesign that overhauled the car's engines, transmissions, styling and size.

If anecdotal evidence gleaned from trips through L.A.'s moneyed coastal enclaves like Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Manhattan Beach is any indication, there's a new automotive trend for the outdoorsy yuppie. It's a station wagon. Too culturally sensitive to be caught in an SUV, yet ever mindful of the curbside erratum that is the minivan, those with an active lifestyle or projection thereof clearly seem to be finding solace in the 2013 Audi Allroad. The car is essentially a more rugged yet equally sophisticated cousin of the A4 station wagon (nee Avant)

Cars with manual transmissions are making a modest comeback, but with tens of millions of drivers lacking the ability to operate a stick shift, analysts don't expect a big jump. Auto Information company Edmunds.com says that vehicles equipped with manual transmissions accounted for 7% of autos sales so far this year. That compares to a 3.9% share of sales in all of 2011. If the trend holds, the manual transmission share of auto sales will be the highest since 2006. “A combination of factors - from the growing age of vehicle trade-ins bringing more manual drivers back to market, to a greater proportion of smaller cars on the road - is creating a small spike for stick shifts,” said Ivan Drury, an Edmunds.com analyst.

Cars with manual transmissions are making a modest comeback, but with tens of millions of drivers lacking the ability to operate a stick shift, analysts don't expect a big jump. Auto information company Edmunds.com says that vehicles equipped with manual transmissions accounted for 7% of auto sales so far this year. That compares with 3.9% in all of 2011. If the trend holds, the manual transmission share of auto sales will be the highest since 2006. "A combination of factors — from the growing age of vehicle trade-ins bringing more manual drivers back to market, to a greater proportion of smaller cars on the road — is creating a small spike for stick shifts," said Ivan Drury, an Edmunds analyst.

A newly identified virus tied to five deaths worldwide since April appears capable of transmission from one person to another, British health officials said Wednesday. The virus, part of a family called coronaviruses that range from the common cold to SARS, was found in a British resident who was apparently infected by a relative. It can cause fever, coughing and breathing problems. Until now, health officials had little evidence of whether the virus could be transmitted from person to person.

California is applying money-transfer laws to high-tech start-ups and others in the business of moving funds, subjecting them to the same strict regulations and heavy scrutiny as financial service companies. And that has some Silicon Valley entrepreneurs crying foul. The regulations, they say, are hobbling their ability to develop new Internet technologies that, like PayPal Inc. and Square Inc., make fast, secure payments with smartphones and tablets. FaceCash, a Palo Alto company that developed a mobile payment system using facial-recognition software, has sued the state in federal court on claims that licensing requirements discriminate against the company and hinder interstate commerce.

What's the most intriguing aspect of the all-new Rolls Royce Wraith coupe that debuted this week at the Geneva Motor Show? It's not that it's the fastest, most powerful car Rolls Royce has ever made. It's not the roughly $320,000 asking price. It's not the two automatically closing, rear-hinged doors. It's the transmission. PHOTOS: Rolls Royce Wraith debuts in Geneva Specifically, it's how the Wraith's eight-speed automatic transmission is linked to a GPS receiver.

A newly identified virus tied to five deaths worldwide since April appears capable of transmission from one person to another, British health officials said Wednesday. The virus, part of a family called coronaviruses that range from the common cold to SARS, was found in a British resident who was apparently infected by a relative. It can cause fever, coughing and breathing problems. Until now, health officials had little evidence of whether the virus could be transmitted from person to person.

Volkswagen's 2013 Bettle Convertible will go on sale next month with a starting price of $24,995, the German automaker said Wednesday at the L.A. Auto Show. The new Volkswagen Beetle Convertible was announced earlier this year and it is the third generation of the ragtop model, following in the footsteps of the type 15 introduced in 1949 and the New Beetle Convertible that was introduced in 2003. The coupe will be available in three different engine options. Photos: 2012 L.A. Auto Show The first is a 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine that can crank 170 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque with six-speed automatic transmission.

If anecdotal evidence gleaned from trips through L.A.'s moneyed coastal enclaves like Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Manhattan Beach is any indication, there's a new automotive trend for the outdoorsy yuppie. It's a station wagon. Too culturally sensitive to be caught in an SUV, yet ever mindful of the curbside erratum that is the minivan, those with an active lifestyle or projection thereof clearly seem to be finding solace in the 2013 Audi Allroad. The car is essentially a more rugged yet equally sophisticated cousin of the A4 station wagon (nee Avant)

If anecdotal evidence gleaned from trips through L.A.'s moneyed coastal enclaves like Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Manhattan Beach is any indication, there's a new automotive trend for the outdoorsy yuppie. It's a station wagon. Too culturally sensitive to be caught in an SUV, yet ever mindful of the curbside erratum that is the minivan, those with an active lifestyle or projection thereof clearly seem to be finding solace in the 2013 Audi Allroad. The car is essentially a more rugged yet equally sophisticated cousin of the A4 station wagon (nee Avant)

Question: I have a 1978 Ford Fairmont Sedan with a six-cylinder engine and an automatic transmission. I bought it new, and today it has only 27,000 miles. The trouble is the reverse gear on my transmission. Even on mild mornings, I have to wait a few minutes for it to warm up before it will grab. In winter, it gets worse. Forward engages immediately. What do you think the problem is?--F.S. Sr.

The Focus on Entertainment Stocks chart does not appear today due to transmission problems.

Simplify, then add lightness was the well-worn philosophy that Lotus' founder, the late Colin Chapman, imbued into all of his products. For 2013, it would seem the company is simplifying, then adding an automatic transmission. The company announced that it will be adding an automatic transmission to the options list on the 2013 Evora S, a sublime hunk of metal powered by a 345-horsepower, supercharged Toyota motor. Review: Lotus Evora S Because automatic transmission likely sounds too blase for a sports car company like Lotus, it calls this transmission Intelligent Precision Shift (IPS)

Honda's nerds have done it. They've cracked the code, solved the riddle, unscrambled the jumble that, until now, has perpetually confounded a large swath of the automotive engineering teams around the globe. What'd they figure out? A worthwhile transmission. A part of the car that's traditionally as sexy as a pair of adult diapers. Yet it's a part that contributes mightily to the overall excellence of the 2013 Honda Accord. Honda's venerable mid-size sedan has gone through a clean-sheet redesign that overhauled the car's engines, transmissions, styling and size.