diff --git a/samples/cxx/demo.cpp b/samples/cxx/demo.cpp
index 2197eae96..44ca9fb3b 100644
--- a/samples/cxx/demo.cpp
+++ b/samples/cxx/demo.cpp
@@ -65,16 +65,16 @@ void demoprog()
     //   Reaction information
 
     int irxns = gas.nReactions();
-    double* qf = new double[irxns];
-    double* qr = new double[irxns];
-    double* q  = new double[irxns];
+    vector_fp qf(irxns);
+    vector_fp qr(irxns);
+    vector_fp q(irxns);
 
     // since the gas has been set to an equilibrium state, the forward
     // and reverse rates of progress should be equal for all
     // reversible reactions, and the net rates should be zero.
-    gas.getFwdRatesOfProgress(qf);
-    gas.getRevRatesOfProgress(qr);
-    gas.getNetRatesOfProgress(q);
+    gas.getFwdRatesOfProgress(&qf[0]);
+    gas.getRevRatesOfProgress(&qr[0]);
+    gas.getNetRatesOfProgress(&q[0]);
 
     printf("\n\n");
     for (int i = 0; i < irxns; i++) {
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ void demoprog()
 
     // create a transport manager for the gas that computes
     // mixture-averaged properties
-    Transport* tr = newTransportMgr("Mix", &gas, 1);
+    std::auto_ptr<Transport> tr(newTransportMgr("Mix", &gas, 1));
 
     // print the viscosity, thermal conductivity, and diffusion
     // coefficients
@@ -95,20 +95,13 @@ void demoprog()
     printf("Thermal conductivity: %14.5g W/m/K\n", tr->thermalConductivity());
 
     int nsp = gas.nSpecies();
-    double* diff = new double[nsp];
-    tr->getMixDiffCoeffs(diff);
+    vector_fp diff(nsp);
+    tr->getMixDiffCoeffs(&diff[0]);
     int k;
     printf("\n\n%20s  %26s\n", "Species","Diffusion Coefficient");
     for (k = 0; k < nsp; k++) {
         printf("%20s  %14.5g m2/s \n", gas.speciesName(k).c_str(), diff[k]);
     }
-
-    // clean up
-    delete qf;
-    delete qr;
-    delete q;
-    delete diff;
-    delete tr;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/samples/cxx/flamespeed/flamespeed.cpp b/samples/cxx/flamespeed/flamespeed.cpp
index c086a6a5f..e9d106bf3 100644
--- a/samples/cxx/flamespeed/flamespeed.cpp
+++ b/samples/cxx/flamespeed/flamespeed.cpp
@@ -59,16 +59,16 @@ int flamespeed(int np, void* p)
         gas.setState_TPX(temp,pressure,DATA_PTR(x));
         doublereal rho_in=gas.density();
 
-        double* yin=new double[nsp];
-        gas.getMassFractions(yin);
+        vector_fp yin(nsp);
+        gas.getMassFractions(&yin[0]);
 
         try {
             gas.equilibrate("HP");
         } catch (CanteraError& err) {
             std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
         }
-        double* yout=new double[nsp];
-        gas.getMassFractions(yout);
+        vector_fp yout(nsp);
+        gas.getMassFractions(&yout[0]);
         doublereal rho_out = gas.density();
         doublereal Tad=gas.temperature();
         cout << phi<<' '<<Tad<<endl;
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ int flamespeed(int np, void* p)
         // create an initial grid
         int nz=5;
         doublereal lz=0.02;
-        doublereal* z=new double[nz+1];
+        vector_fp z(nz+1);
         doublereal dz=lz/((doublereal)(nz-1));
         for (int iz=0; iz<nz; iz++) {
             z[iz]=((doublereal)iz)*dz;
@@ -98,13 +98,13 @@ int flamespeed(int np, void* p)
         z[nz]=lz*1.05;
         nz++;
 
-        flow.setupGrid(nz, z);
+        flow.setupGrid(nz, &z[0]);
 
         // specify the objects to use to compute kinetic rates and
         // transport properties
 
-        Transport* trmix = newTransportMgr("Mix", &gas);
-        Transport* trmulti = newTransportMgr("Multi", &gas);
+        std::auto_ptr<Transport> trmix(newTransportMgr("Mix", &gas));
+        std::auto_ptr<Transport> trmulti(newTransportMgr("Multi", &gas));
 
         flow.setTransport(*trmix);
         flow.setKinetics(gas);
diff --git a/test_problems/cxx_ex/kinetics_example1.cpp b/test_problems/cxx_ex/kinetics_example1.cpp
index ee3d8d187..3229a4e3f 100644
--- a/test_problems/cxx_ex/kinetics_example1.cpp
+++ b/test_problems/cxx_ex/kinetics_example1.cpp
@@ -43,8 +43,7 @@ int kinetics_example1(int job)
 
         // create an ideal gas mixture that corresponds to GRI-Mech
         // 3.0
-        IdealGasMix* gg = new IdealGasMix("gri30.xml", "gri30");
-        IdealGasMix& gas = *gg;
+        IdealGasMix gas("gri30.xml", "gri30");
 
         // set the state
         gas.setState_TPX(1001.0, OneAtm, "H2:2.0, O2:1.0, N2:4.0");
@@ -74,9 +73,9 @@ int kinetics_example1(int job)
 
         // create a container object to run the simulation
         // and add the reactor to it
-        ReactorNet* sim_ptr = new ReactorNet();
-        sim_ptr->setVerbose(false);
-        sim_ptr->addReactor(r);
+        ReactorNet sim;
+        sim.setVerbose(false);
+        sim.addReactor(r);
 
         double tm;
         double dt = 1.e-5;    // interval at which output is written
@@ -90,7 +89,7 @@ int kinetics_example1(int job)
         // main loop
         for (int i = 1; i <= nsteps; i++) {
             tm = i*dt;
-            sim_ptr->advance(tm);
+            sim.advance(tm);
             saveSoln(tm, gas, soln);
         }
 
@@ -104,8 +103,6 @@ int kinetics_example1(int job)
         cout << "Output files:" << endl
              << "  kin1.csv    (Excel CSV file)" << endl
              << "  kin1.dat    (Tecplot data file)" << endl;
-
-        delete gg;
     } catch (CanteraError& err) {
         // handle exceptions thrown by Cantera
         std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;
diff --git a/test_problems/cxx_ex/kinetics_example3.cpp b/test_problems/cxx_ex/kinetics_example3.cpp
index b5510d91e..57210720c 100644
--- a/test_problems/cxx_ex/kinetics_example3.cpp
+++ b/test_problems/cxx_ex/kinetics_example3.cpp
@@ -44,8 +44,7 @@ int kinetics_example3(int job)
 
         // create an ideal gas mixture that corresponds to GRI-Mech
         // 3.0
-        IdealGasMix* gg = new IdealGasMix("gri30.xml", "gri30");
-        IdealGasMix& gas = *gg;
+        IdealGasMix gas("gri30.xml", "gri30");
 
         // set the state
         gas.setState_TPX(1001.0, OneAtm, "H2:2.0, O2:1.0, N2:4.0");
@@ -71,7 +70,7 @@ int kinetics_example3(int job)
 
         // create a container object to run the simulation
         // and add the reactor to it
-        ReactorNet& sim = *(new ReactorNet());
+        ReactorNet sim;
         sim.setVerbose(false);
         sim.addReactor(r);
 
@@ -102,8 +101,6 @@ int kinetics_example3(int job)
         cout << "Output files:" << endl
              << "  kin3.csv    (Excel CSV file)" << endl
              << "  kin3.dat    (Tecplot data file)" << endl;
-
-        delete gg;
     } catch (CanteraError& err) {
         // handle exceptions thrown by Cantera
         std::cout << err.what() << std::endl;