Get the junk out of the trunk.

Salem recommends removing unnecessary winter supplies such as bags of salt and tire chains from the trunk of your vehicle.

"The dead weight found in the trunk of many cars can be equivalent to a full-size man. Get that bag of old newspapers to the recycling bin," he says. "Your vehicle will require less energy to move without the dead weight. So ask yourself if you really need to be transporting around that card table, set of golf clubs or storage container."

Keep air in your tires.

"Remember what it was like riding your bike as a child with half-flat tires?" asks Salem. "It was hard to get the bike moving. Once you inflated the tires, your bike was like a new sports car; it went faster with far less effort. Your car feels the same pain when the tires are at, say, 28 psi instead of the recommended 35 psi. Just to be clear: not every tire should be inflated to 35 psi. Look for the recommended psi rating on a label on your driver's door or in the glove box."

Use the right motor oil for your vehicle.

Salem notes that the importance of using good motor oil cannot be overstated. To illustrate this point, he suggests trying a simple exercise.

"Take your hands and place them together with palms touching," he says. "Then rub the palms against each other quickly. Feel that warmth generated by friction? That's exactly what is happening inside your engine. If you rubbed your hands together like that for an hour, you'd probably do some damage to your hands. And you'd also have to work much harder to rub your hands together."

If you put motor oil between those two sliding surfaces, Salem notes, a lot of that friction goes away, and the engine doesn't have to work as hard. As a result, an engine is more fuel efficient.

"But not every motor oil is created equal," said Salem. "Some last longer than others and some promote better fuel economy. For example, last year ExxonMobil introduced a new high endurance motor oil to its Mobil 1 brand of synthetic motor oils -- Mobil 1 Extended Performance, which is guaranteed for 15,000 miles. The Mobil 1 brand also has two viscosity grades that specifically help promote greater fuel economy -- Mobil 1 0W-20 and Mobil 1 0W-30."

Keep your vehicle clean.

"Believe it or not, that layer of dirt on your exterior creates drag that, over long distances, hurts your miles-per-gallon count," says Salem. He points out that keeping your vehicle washed and waxed will improve its aerodynamics, improving your fuel economy. "And you'll feel good about driving around in a clean vehicle," he adds.

Consider the best option for ventilation.

Conventional wisdom says that cars are always more fuel-efficient when the air conditioner is off. Salem disagrees. "On long trips or highway driving, using the air conditioner is actually more fuel efficient than rolling down the windows," he says. "When driving fast, open windows create a drag that forces the engine to work harder to maintain speed. For short trips or in city traffic, roll down the windows and enjoy the breeze, but on the highway, turn on the air."

The entire rear of the xB fully motorizes out to reveal Pioneer DJ products. When the rear fully retracts, two CDJ-1000s and a DJM-600 mixer in a "coffin" motorizes up, ready to play music for the crowd. Two AVD-W8000 8-inch monitors reside next to the CDJ-1000s and monitor in the rear window provide video entertainment.

Mounted on the doors are Pioneer's REV series component speakers. The rear doors motorizes open to reveal four sets of the TS-C160R REV speakers installed in specially shaped enclosures.

A total of four Pioneer TS-W12PRS 12-inch subwoofers provide heart pounding bass. REV style grills match the REV speakers on the doors.

The car?s interior space has no front seat - just a space built to house the driver?s own wheelchair so all he/she has to do is simply roll in through the extra large car doors and into position. The wheelchair locks into place, within easy reach of the car's controls which are centred around a joystick. It?s light years away from the current options for disabled drivers, which involve having to hoist themselves into the driver's seat of standard cars.

Unique, optimized aerodynamics gives the Aptera(C) a drag form factor that will be lower than any mass produced car in the world. "It looks like nothing you've ever seen because it performs like nothing you've ever seen," says Accelerated Composites founder and CEO, Steve Fambro. "What we've done is changed the way cars are thought of and designed. Rather than designing to a styling aesthetic, like the big auto makers do, we hew to an efficiency and safety aesthetic. When you do that, math and physics mostly dictate the shape of the car, and in this case, math and physics look awesome."

But aerodynamics is only half of the equation. The other half is weight. The Aptera(C) is made almost entirely of lightweight composites, making it one of the lightest cars on the road. Yet this savings does not come at the cost of safety. In fact, the construction of the car is based on the driver-protection "crash box" found in Formula One race cars. "Composites are enormously strong and lightweight," says Fambro. "That's why all the aircraft manufacturers are switching to them."

So why aren't the auto makers switching? "Cost," says Fambro. "They haven't figured out cost-effective manufacturing processes for composites. But we have."

The Aptera(C) utilizes proprietary composite construction that significantly lowers manufacturing cost when compared to most other composite construction methods, and even steel. The patent-pending "Panelized Automated Composite Construction," or PAC2(C), lends itself to parallel assembly and has a very low initial capitalization. Additionally, AC's patent-pending hybrid technology allows off the shelf engines and electric motors to be seamlessly integrated for a very low cost. Another reason the big automakers aren't jumping to composites is corporate inertia. "They have many billions of dollars invested in factories and infrastructure for making cars the old-fashioned way. They couldn't walk away from that if they wanted to. This is something that only a new company can do, and that's where we come in. We are going to disrupt the status quo."

Mike Brady, The Brady Bunch: The infamous head of the Brady clan drove a variety of different vehicles during the show's run, from a 1968 Dodge Polara convertible to a 1973 Chevy Caprice convertible. Probably the most memorable, however, was his 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible with an MSRP of $3,124. Today, that same car's high retail value is $51,800 -- one heck of an investment for a guy with six kids, a house in the suburbs and a live-in maid.

Ward Cleaver, Leave it to Beaver: Beaver Cleaver kept his family on their toes with his innocent antics. It makes sense, then, that his dad Ward would seek refuge on the open highway in his beloved car -- a 1961 Plymouth Fury 4-door hardtop. Back then, the car sold for around $2,777. Today, that same vehicle would sell for $6,475. Not exactly the investment Mike Brady made, but definitely not a loss. This should make Ward (who some speculate was an accountant on the show) pretty darn happy.

Sheriff Andy Taylor, The Andy Griffith Show: Ah, the good 'ole days of Mayberry, where life for Opie, Andy and Deputy Barney Fife was about as warm as Aunt Bee's hugs. And who could forget Andy and Barney's squad car -- a Ford Galaxie. Rumor has it a nearby Ford dealer would supply the set with cars free-of-charge and every time a new model came out, the show's old Galaxie was returned to the dealer where it was re-painted and sold. Let's say Mayberry's top crime fighters drove a 1963 Galaxie. Its price tag back then? $2,562. It's high retail price today? About $9,000. (LoJack not included).

Ozzie Nelson, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet: Not much is written about the Nelson family car, although urban legend has it a 1932 Ford Roadster appeared in two episodes. Seems Ozzie's son Ricky was desperate to buy the car with earnings from the show (what kid wouldn't want a car like that), but like most fathers of that generation, Ozzie put his foot down and firmly refused. Today, a 1932 Ford Roadster, similar to the one that appeared on the show, sells for $46,500 high retail. In 1932, you could buy one for right around $460. Maybe Ozzie should have put his foot down on the Roadster's accelerator instead.

Ricky Ricardo, I Love Lucy: Don't tell Lucy, but it seems Ricky had another love ... his red & white 1955 Pontiac Star Chief convertible. Mr. and Mrs. Ricardo took their '55 Pontiac cross country from New York to California in episode #110, entitled "California Here We Come." With 180 horsepower and a hydra-matic transmission, its price tag in 1955 was $2,691. Today, a '55 Pontiac Star Chief convertible sells for about $56,500. No wonder we love Lucy ... and Ricky, for that matter.

Al Bundy, Married with Children: Al Bundy's not a sports car kinda' guy. In fact, he hates his job, his wife is lazy and his kids are a dysfunctional bunch. About the only thing he DOES like is reminiscing about his high school football days and his Dodge Dart (which dates back about as far). Sources say Al thought his '72 Dart was the color brown, but after a car wash in episode #917, it turns out the car was red after all. The vehicle's original price tag -- $2,420 and what it would sell for today -- $6,175. This guy just can't catch a break.

Ozzy Osbourne, The Osbournes: He's been dubbed the 'Prince of Darkness' -- not exactly an Ozzie Nelson-type, but modern-day families have fallen in love with (and can seemingly relate to) Ozzy Osbourne. This quirky Brit and his 'eccentrically normal' family -- Sharon the wife, Kelly the daughter and Jack the son -- have become favorites among younger generations. So what does a multi-millionaire Beverly Hills rock star resident drive (or rather, ride in)? A limousine, of course. Seems you can buy a Matchbox replica of Ozzy's limo on eBay these days. The price tag for a 2003 black Cadillac? About $75,000. Forget the Crazy Train -- Ozzy knows how to ride in style.

Tony Soprano, The Sopranos: He's ruthless. He's powerful. He's a ... Dad? Tony Soprano might be a hardcore mob boss, but he's a softy when it comes to his kids -- and, it seems, GM sport utility vehicles. Ever since the show's debut, he's owned various SUVs, including a red Chevy Suburban and two Cadillac Escalades. His most recent ride, a 2003 Cadillac Escalade ESV, sold for $57,620 new (with all the bells and whistles). Ba-Da-Bing.

Hulk Hogan, Hogan Knows Best: Believe it or not, Hogan knows best and Hogan knows cars. This modern day Dad owns an impressive car collection, including a 1994 'Hulkster Viper' (with yellow stripes), a 1996 Viper GTS and a 1998 Toyota Supra TT. Our favorite? A candy apple red 1957 Chevy Bel Air 2-door hardtop sport coupe (one heck of a 40th birthday present). With an MSRP of only $2,399, this car's high retail price today is about $45,400. In the ring or on the road, big muscles or muscle cars, we like Hulk's style.

Gas Station TV, based in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park, has been testing its service for several months in Dallas with TV monitors installed above gas pumps that show short clips of news, weather and traffic, and, of course, advertising.

This fall, the company plans to expand the program to a total of 100 gas stations in Dallas, Houston and Atlanta, all owned by Murphy Oil USA, which operates filling stations at Wal-Mart stores.

Walt Disney Co.'s ABC will sell ads for the screens and also provide local news, weather and other programming for the screens, mainly from ABC's locally owned or affiliated television stations.

David Leider, a former marketing executive at Yahoo Inc. who is the company's chief executive, says they are focused on making the programming useful to users and tailored to the average length of time it takes to fill up with gas - about 4 minutes.

"People think it's bad behavior and that you just need an attitude adjustment, but what they don't know ... is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this," said Dr. Emil Coccaro, chairman of psychiatry at the University of Chicago's medical school.

Road rage, temper outbursts that involve throwing or breaking objects and even spousal abuse can sometimes be attributed to the disorder, though not everyone who does those things is afflicted.

By definition, intermittent explosive disorder involves multiple outbursts that are way out of proportion to the situation. These angry outbursts often include threats or aggressive actions and property damage. The disorder typically first appears in adolescence; in the study, the average age of onset was 14.

"Everyone is suffering at the same time," said Sam Shirazie, a clerk at a Chevron station east of downtown Los Angeles. "If I could help to reduce that pain, I would."

No detailed statistics are kept on incidents of gas rage. But the National Association of Convenience Stores said anecdotal evidence indicates they have increased since prices began climbing in February.

Employees of Fleming Corp., which operates 14 gas stations in Kansas and Missouri, have heard everything from "just a mumble-grumble kind of thing to a cheap shot or blaming the clerk for world oil prices," owner Ed Roitz said.

Division manager Ron Davis hears complaints firsthand.

"Out of all our customers, probably 1 percent does the loudest squealing," he said. "I don't want to repeat some of it. They'll talk about the blankety-blank oil companies."

The world premiere of the "zaZen" marks the beginning of a new era in vehicle design. The smoothly contoured, transparent, one-piece roof dome is made of Bayer's high-tech transparent Makrolon(R) polycarbonate. The lightness of the roof construction ties in with the surface coating of the "zaZen" - a white mineral shade based on the Bayer raw materials, Desmodur(R) and Desmophen(R). The gloss is made with millions of tiny precious Swarovski crystals protected by a self-healing polyurethane clearcoat.

The name of the new concept car - "zaZen" - has been carefully chosen by Rinderknecht: "After all, Zen - borrowed from Buddhist teaching - is a special form of perception: You only get there if you are prepared to give up preconceived ideas." Both partners went out of their way to emphasize that a concept car presented at a motor show can only be a snapshot taken from an unceasing development process. For example, the work on the switch-on/off transparency for three-dimensional forms is always ongoing.