Bugatti Veyron; Bentley Mulsanne; Bentley Continental GTC

Bugatti Veyron
VW Group's Bugatti Veyron could be called the anti-Prius.

What's not surprising is that the mother-of-all-supercars is the top bad boy on the ACEEE's list. What else do you expect when you're packing an 8-liter, 16-cylinder engine that pumps out 1,001 horsepower, or roughly one horsepower for every two grand that you'll spend on the Bugatti Veyron, the crown jewel of the Volkswagen Group. After all, you're not going to hit that 265 mph top speed merely sipping on premium gasoline. No, what's amazing is that this modern legacy of Ettore Bugatti actually gets double-digit mileage on the highway - 15 mpg, to be precise (and 8 mpg city, if you must ask). And much like anyone who can afford to fly in a private jet isn't likely to care much about the price of a commercial ticket in coach, folks who order either of the VW Group's Bentley-badged confections aren't likely concerned about the constantly rising price of gasoline. These aren't cars so much as they are works of automotive art built for those who appreciate life's finer things - and want people to notice that they do. The Mulsanne is Bentley's flagship, a 5,700-lb QE2 on wheels that is propelled by a 6.8-liter V8 (hence the 11/18 mpg average, which is shared by the GTC). The interior of this mobile drawing room is a riot of leather and choice hardwoods, while the car stereo - if you can disparage it that way - comes with a standard 2,200-watt amplifier. The Continental GTC plays a similarly exclusive tune. However, with its two doors and folding roof, it's more for country drives than state dinners. If you care about fuel efficiency and admirable emissions, forget these cars. But don't pass up a ride in them. The wide-eyed child in you with thank you.

The Dirty Dozen

To borrow a page from the days of the oh-so-eco-friendly Pony Express, if cars were judged by their emissions alone, then these twelve dirty machines would have Wanted! written all over them. The law in this drawn-out analogy would be the folks at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), an independent Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that assigns ratings to cars based on fuel efficiency and emissions cleanliness. The council's upstanding citizens posting the highest scores include Nissan's electric Leaf and Honda's Civic GX, which top the list with 54 points each. Kudos to them. But we're here to look at a gang the green posse is after with freshly knotted ropes:

The 10 Cheapest Cars to Own

The price you negotiate for a car and the interest you pay on the car loan are only part of the cost equation. Insurance, depreciation, taxes and fees, what you pay over the years for fuel, service and repairs, and even the opportunity cost of the money you lay out as a down payment (what you'd make if you invested the money elsewhere) are all important ingredients in the cost of ownership.

All the vehicles on the list are small -- either compacts or subcompacts -- because they tend to have the lowest market price, the best fuel economy, and reasonable insurance rates -- since premiums tend to rise with horsepower.

Note that with the lower-price class, you may also have to pay extra for automatic transmission, air conditioning and sometimes even a radio-not to mention such safety features as anti-lock brakes. Most are equipped with six standard airbags but only half have standard stability control. (The market price is the average transaction cost and reflects rebates; all vehicles have manual transmissions, unless otherwise noted. Source: Vincentric.)

Nissan Versa 1.6 Base 4dr

Market price: $10,922
5-Year fuel cost: $8,456
5-Year insurance cost: $4,851
Total 5-Year ownership cost: $26,233 Nissan's subcompact hatch, which gets 26 miles per gallon in the city and 34 mpg on the highway, hits the streets at a smidge over ten grand but offers a bigger interior than classmates Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit. Six airbags are standard on even the lowest trim, but you'll pay $250 extra for ABS.
Depreciation: $6,874 Fees & taxes: $905 Financing 5-year loan at 5.95%: $1,371 Opportunity cost of a 15% down payment: $452 Maintenance: $1,917 Repairs: $1,406

Hyundai Accent GL 2dr hatch

Market price: $9,677
5-Year fuel cost: $8,085
5-Year insurance cost: $5,134
Total 5-Year ownership cost: $26,715 For under $11,000, the Accent boasts killer fuel economy of 34 mpg on the highway and 28 in the city. Even on the base model, optional equipment includes an iPod hookup ($35) and Bluetooth ($325). Six airbags are standard, but there’s no option for ABS.
Depreciation: $7,748 Fees & taxes: $822 Financing 5-year loan at 5.95%: $1,207 Opportunity cost of a 15% down payment: $423 Maintenance: $1,795 Repairs: $1,500

Chevrolet Aveo5 LS 4dr hatch

Market price: $11,038
5-Year fuel cost: $8,171
5-Year insurance cost: $5,446
Total 5-Year ownership cost: $26,958 Chevy’s smallest car will be replaced next year by the Sonic, but for 2011 the little hatchback offers good interior space and cargo room -- 15 cubic feet with the 60/40 split rear seat up. Maintenance and repairs average just $3,000 for five years. Side airbags and six months of OnStar Automatic Crash Response are standard, but ABS and side-curtain airbags are not available. Mileage is 27 city, 35 highway.
Depreciation: $7,547 Fees & taxes: $919 Financing 5-year loan at 5.95%: $1,385 Opportunity cost of a 15% down payment: $451 Maintenance: $1,618 Repairs: $1,422

Ford Fiesta S 4dr

Market price: $13,212
5-Year fuel cost: $7,576
5-Year insurance cost: $5,623
Total 5-Year ownership cost: $28,402 The return of the Fiesta to Ford’s lineup brings serious value -- and premium-car amenities -- to the compact category. A wallet-friendly price meets a peppy engine, an ultra-smooth manual transmission, and terrific handling. The SE trim offers Ford’s SYNC system (to connect phones and music players) as a $665 option. Even the entry-level Fiesta boasts a full complement of safety equipment: seven airbags (including a driver’s knee airbag), ABS, stability control and traction control. Mileage is 28 city, 37 highway.
Depreciation: $8,919 Fees & taxes: $1,063 Financing 5-year loan at 5.95%: $1,690 Opportunity cost of a 15% down payment: $467 Maintenance: $1,564 Repairs: $1,500

Mazda2 Sport 4dr hatch

Market price: $14,625
5-Year fuel cost: $7,825
5-Year insurance cost: $5,630
Total 5-Year ownership cost: $28,593 Its design is unmistakably Mazda, but the Mazda2 isn’t just a downsized Mazda3. Built on the same platform as the Ford Fiesta, this sporty hatch takes corners with ease, and it has a full line of standard safety equipment-- ABS, stability and traction control, and six airbags. Mileage is 29 city, 35 highway.
Depreciation: $8,405 Fees & taxes: $1,139 Financing 5-year loan at 5.95%: $1,864 Opportunity cost of a 15% down payment: $490 Maintenance: $1,613 Repairs: $1,627

Toyota Yaris 4dr

Market price: $13,818
5-Year fuel cost: $7,737
5-Year insurance cost: $5,163
Total 5-Year ownership cost: $28,616 The Yaris’s 1.5-liter, direct-injection four-cylinder engine pushes fuel economy to the max. The car gets 29 mpg in the city and 36 on the highway, giving it ultra-low fuel costs over five years compared with the competition. Good resale values give the car a leg up in our cost calculations. ABS and stability control are standard, as are six airbags.
Depreciation: $9,377 Fees & taxes: $1,089 Financing 5-year loan at 5.95%: $1,757 Opportunity cost of a 15% down payment: $463 Maintenance: $1,623 Repairs: $1,406

Kia Rio 4dr

Market price: $11,824
5-Year fuel cost: $8,085
5-Year insurance cost: $5,447
Total 5-Year ownership cost: $29,157 Kia keeps even low-budget customers happy by offering many standard goodies -- auxiliary connections and USB ports for music, plus Sirius satellite radio (a subscription costs extra). Six airbags are standard on the base trim; stepping up to the LX ($15,690) gets you standard ABS. Mileage is 28 city, 34 highway.
Depreciation: $9,158 Fees & taxes: $966 Financing 5-year loan at 5.95%: $1,500 Opportunity cost of a 15% down payment: $458 Maintenance: $2,042 Repairs: $1,500

Kia Soul 4dr hatch

Market price: $13,826
5-Year fuel cost: $8,771
5-Year insurance cost: $4,402
Total 5-Year ownership cost: $29,275 Kiplinger’s Best New Car for Teens makes boxy cool again. Along with its funky looks, the Soul has 19 cubic feet of cargo space and the most rear legroom in its class. It’s also an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick. All the safety equipment you’ll want is standard: six airbags, ABS, stability control and traction control. Mileage is 26 city, 31 highway.
Depreciation: $9,305 Fees & taxes: $1,381 Financing 5-year loan at 5.95%: $2,338 Opportunity cost of a 15% down payment: $487 Maintenance: $1,956 Repairs: $1,500

Honda Insight 4dr hatch

Market price: $18,097
5-Year fuel cost: $5,955
5-Year insurance cost: $5,497
Total 5-Year ownership cost: $29,953 Proving that hybrids don’t have to break the bank, Honda’s Insight boasts estimated service costs (maintenance plus repairs) of just $3,149 for five years. Low fuel costs are a given, with 40 miles per gallon in the city and 43 on the highway. Automatic transmission, ABS, stability control, traction control and six airbags are standard.
Depreciation: $11,145 Fees & taxes: $1,381 Financing 5-year loan at 5.95%: $2,338 Opportunity cost of a 15% down payment: $487 Maintenance: $1,727 Repairs: $1,422

Ford Focus S 4dr

Market price: $13,643
5-Year fuel cost: $8,571
5-Year insurance cost: $5,484
Total 5-Year ownership cost: $30,290 The Focus will get a redesign for 2012, but the 2011 version is already a solid value. The 2.0-liter engine puts out 140 horsepower but sips fuel politely -- it gets 25 mpg in the city and 35 mpg on the highway. Stability and traction control, ABS, and six airbags are standard.
Depreciation: $9,819 Fees & taxes: $1,101 Financing 5-year loan at 5.95%: $1,741 Opportunity cost of a 15% down payment: $490 Maintenance: $1,661 Repairs: $1,422

Are hybrid SUVs the best of both worlds?

There’s little doubt that the gas crisis of 2008 -- which saw $5 per gallon prices at some pumps -- made most motorists think twice about America’s favorite mode of transport. Small cars were chic overnight, while lumbering SUVs sat unloved. That was then. Today, that panicked whiplash reaction has been overtaken by an attitude of compromise, one that’s resulted in the rapid expansion of perhaps the hottest automotive segment around: the hybrid SUV.

Buyers clearly still want storage lockers on wheels, but only if they sip precious fuel. As a result, the gas-electric options run the gamut from the modest Ford Escape to the monstrous Chevy Tahoe, with new automakers regularly joining this popular party. Who ever thought Porsche would offer a hybrid truck? Then again, who ever thought Porsche would make a truck, period. But these are strange break-the-rules times in the auto world, with shoppers calling the tune.


Toyota was one of the first manufacturers to feel the coming winds. Way back in 2001, the Japanese automaker bowed with the Highlander Hybrid, offering an option to Prius fans saddled with carpool duties and equipment-hauling needs. A decade later, the Highlander Hybrid carries on, after a considerable redesign a few years ago that gave the truck a larger feel inside and out. The $35,000 (base price) vehicle offers third-row seating, a 270-hp V6 and around 26 mpg combined, a figure more typical of a light sedan or coupe. One can only imagine that the Highlander’s larger people-and-things movers, the Sequoia and the venerable Land Cruiser, will only win more admirers once they benefit from the company’s Hybrid Synergy Drive.

But where Toyota led (its upmarket Lexus RX 450h is a top-seller in this category), many others have followed. This crowded market now includes Ford’s popular Highlander rival, the Escape Hybrid, and the similarly sized Mazda Tribute Hybrid, both of which can deliver nearly 30 mpg in the city for around $30,000.
2011 Porsche Caynenne S Hybrid
2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid

Anyone in need of more packing space (taking the kids’ friends camping?) has a breadth of options, though in most cases that requires a leap to the $50,000 mark. GMC’s Yukon Hybrid (similar to Chevrolet’s Tahoe Hybrid) features dual-mode technology that toggles between a 6-liter V8 (which can deactivate half its cylinders for better fuel economy) and twin electric motors. Mileage for this beast -- it boasts 330 hp and can tow up to 6,000 pounds -- is an impressive 22 mpg city, around double what gas-powered vehicles with these specs deliver.

And if luxury is your prime directive (after good mileage), the hot tickets are branded with either a three-pointed star or a glittering crest. Mercedes-Benz’s ML 450 Hybrid has a V6 mated to two electric motors and delivers around 24 mpg highway, a 20 percent improvement over the standard ML without skimping on any of the usual Mercedes nicities.

Porsche didn’t want to miss out on this party; 2011 brings the new Cayenne Hybrid, showcasing a supercharged V6 that delivers 28 mpg. It may be the first proletarian vehicle from Zuffenhausen so equipped, but clearly the company has great plans for eco-leaning powerplants. In January, Porsche wowed Detroit Auto Show crowds by introducing the sinister-looking 918 RSR, which packs the successful engine from the 911 GT3 R Hybrid in a body that screams LeMans winner. Hybrid may mean planet-friendly, but, as SUV-makers are fast finding out, it can also mean cool.

Cyber crime costs UK $43.5 billion a year: study

LONDON (Reuters) – Cyber crime costs the British economy some 27 billion pounds ($43.5 billion) a year and appears to be "endemic," according to the first official government estimate of the issue published on Thursday.
The study by Britain's Office of Cyber Security and Information Assurance concluded digital crime is a growing, widespread problem, and attempts to address it have been hampered by a real lack of understanding and insight.
Business is bearing the brunt of the costs at an estimated 21 billion pounds, with the pharmaceutical, biotech, IT, and chemical sectors the worst hit.
However, government lost some 2.2 billion pounds and the cost to individual Britons amounted to 3.1 billion pounds, "The Cost of Cyber Crime" report said.
Last year, Britain's National Security Strategy placed cyber attacks as one of the top threats the country faces, along with terrorism, war and natural disasters.
Britain is now putting some 650 million pounds into a new national cyber security programme.
The report said 9.2 billion pounds was lost from intellectual property (IP) theft, 7.6 billion from industrial espionage and 2.2 billion from extortion, with large companies being targeted.
"Although the existence of cyber crime in the UK economy appears endemic, efforts to tackle it seem to be more tactical than strategic," the report said.
Martin Sutherland, managing director of information intelligence experts Detica, which helped compile the report, said: "We must mobilize joint government and industry forces to build a coherent picture of the threat and create a consistent mechanism that will allow businesses to report cyber crime without the risk of reputational damage," he said.