Consumer Reports September 2022

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, Americans are looking at grocery bills, watching gas prices tick up—and wincing. Skyrocketing costs for food, fuel, housing, and travel make it hard to forget inflation is the highest it has been since the 1980s. Inflation is clearly weighing on your minds: A nationally representative CR survey of 2,076 U.S. adults this past May found that 85 percent are at least moderately concerned about higher prices, and just over half said they’re more cautious in their spending habits than they were six months ago. The ongoing debate over the cause of our current inflation might not offer solace—but it has led to overdue recognition that competition matters to the economy and to consumers. Take this year’s baby formula crisis. Parents scrambled to buy formula amid a shortage exacerbated by a…

Women have far greater odds than men of being seriously injured in a car crash, even when everyone is wearing a seat belt. One reason, many experts believe, is the lack of crash-test dummies made to represent female bodies—resulting in safety designs and systems that tend to be better suited to protecting the average (5-foot-9-inch, 170-pound) male body in the 1970s. So CR is now urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to require the use of female crash-test dummies in safety testing. This effort is one part of a broader CR campaign to encourage NHTSA to thoroughly update its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). For decades, NCAP has given consumers the safety data they need to make smart buying decisions, and created incentives for automakers to equip more vehicles…

WITH RESPECT TO the tip in “Save More, Waste Less” about how to use your dishwasher, I agree that prerinsing is unnecessary and wasteful. In my home, the hot water goes cold in the line. So it is necessary to run the hot water in the sink for a minute or two to flush out the cold water. Rather than let that water go down the drain needlessly, I use the prewash cycle of my dishwasher to flush the line. That way, when I start the wash cycle, the water is hot. This cold-water prewashing rinses the bulk of the food waste from my dishes. That also means I can use less detergent (good for my wallet and the environment), and my dishes come out extra clean! —Phillip Ortiz, via CR.org EDITOR’S…

When you replace your tires, you may see a slight decrease in your gas mileage because the fuller tread of a new tire is heavier and flexes more with the road compared with older tires, which have a shallower tread depth. “Tires literally lose rubber over time,” says CR tire expert Ryan Pszczolkowski. That means your old tires required a little less energy to turn, thus using less fuel than your newer tires with deeper treads. As they wear, the fuel economy of your new tires will improve, but you’ll also see a slight decrease in the foul-weather grip. Nevertheless, don’t hang on to unsafe, worn-out tires to save a few pennies. Buy new tires that do well in our tests and that will last, like the ones above.…

Nonstick Frying Pans WE TESTED: 39 models WE TEST FOR: How evenly the surface heats up, how easily a fried egg slides off the pan’s nonstick surface, how durable the nonstick coating is, and more. ABOUT THE SCORES: Median: 78 Range: 39-88 BEST OVERALL & OVEN-SAFE GreenPan Reserve $100 HOT DEAL & MOST DURABLE GreenLife Soft Grips $20 INDUCTION-COMPATIBLE Le Creuset Toughened Pro $110 All-Season Tires WE TESTED: 26 all-season and performance all-season tires WE TEST FOR: Performance during dry and wet braking, road noise level, how many miles of tread life you get (see mileage, right), and more. ABOUT THE SCORES: Median: 63 Range: 55-74 COMFY RIDE & LONG TREAD LIFE Michelin CrossClimate2 (85,000 miles) $200 SUPER-QUIET CHOICE General Altimax 365 AW (60,000 miles) $165 GOOD FOR FUEL ECONOMY Firestone All Season (65,000 miles) $145 For the latest ratings of these and other product categories, readers with a Digital or All Access membership can go to CR.org. Countertop Microwaves WE TESTED: 63 models WE TEST…

Who wouldn’t want to fill up on cheaper gas, given the high prices right now? And premium gas, according to AAA, costs roughly 70 cents more (at press time) per gallon than regular. But whether you can fill up with regular depends on the vehicle you own. Some cars can take both types of gas, but others can’t, depending on how those cars were designed by the manufacturer. To find out, check the inside of the fuel door or filler lid on your vehicle (or look in your owner’s manual). If there’s no label on the filler lid that states the type of gas required, or if it simply reads “Unleaded,” then using regular 87 octane is fine. If it says “Premium Required,” then you must use premium. But what…