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Now, I do still have 3500 miles on the car. I do see a lot of people talking about the break in period... Maybe it'll go up? It just seems pretty ridiculous to me though that I can drive the equivalent of an entire roadtrip across the country and the car would still not be "broken in". Not sure what to think.
One way you can test it is to find a stretch of open highway, one that will let you cruise at the speed limit without stopping, preferably pretty flat, reset the mpg meter, set the cruise control at the speed limit and measure the average mpg for several miles. If it's not at least in the low 30s, I'd say something is wrong with the car. This assumes tire pressure is set to specs, and no strong headwind.
I was just wondering if anyone has the same issues with a brand new 2012. To date i do not have 400 miles yet.
Using fuel saving techniques, but not holding up traffic, we got an average of 38.7 mpg on the monitor. I calculated 36.9 for the same period. This is mostly rural and highway driving.
Do the test Backy suggests, get setup on a level highway with no wind and set the cruise control for 60mph. Then reset the mileage. I'm guessing a properly running Sonata ought to indicate 40mpg or so on the average mpg screen assuming the speed stays at 60 and there are no hills or wind. If your result is anything near what you've been reporting, I'd say you have a problem that isn't related to your driving technique.
Please let us know your results.
cpeny, this is true of any car not just the Sonata.
I do a lot of highway driving with a 2006 VW Jetta turbo diesel, a car famous for getting great mpg's and I consitently lose 5 mpg when I increase the speed from 70 to 75, then 75 to 80 mph kills it again.
I also drive a Nissan Versa that has NEVER gotten the mpg's on the window sticker. That thing acts like it has a hole in the gas tank, and has from day one.
The car's mpg's can't overcome the factors of increased rpm, and the extra wind resistence, the engine is running out of it's comfort range and sucks fuel like a gravel truck at 75 to 80 mph.
Still, on the higway, the new Sonata has a very low 'drag coefficient', as good as the Prius, without the frumpy look.
Often for you, or was this a generalization?
I just had a 2012 Sonata for a week in Irving, TX, during a spell of 110 degree days. Of course, AC was on Max the whole time. Also I didn't baby the car at all. Still over a week of almost all short-distance city driving, I got 20 mpg. I noticed during my mostly highway run (@ 70 mph) from the airport to my work location, about 5 miles, the mpg meter was at 34 mpg when I arrived.
Based on that and on another week's rental of a 2012 in Austin, TX that was mostly in-town or on congested highways and returned 28 mpg, I am impressed by the FE of this largish and powerful car. For comparison, I rented a Sentra the week before I rented the Sonata in Irving, and the weather was the same. And I got 20 mpg on the Sentra in the same conditions as when I drove the Sonata. But I normally get low-30s in town on my Sentra, which is a 2010 but otherwise the same exact car as the rental was. Both cars have similar EPA ratings.
"YMMV" is definitely a true statement when it comes to fuel economy.
One average in car says 22 mpg the other says 33 mpg, total average 27.
4,500 miles 3 months into my ownership and I have averaged 29 MPG. Mostly local suburban driving, though I am easy on the car. My one highway trip (140 miles round trip got me about 37 MPG.
No real problems thus far into ownership. I have a balky driver side view mirror.
For comparison, my 2006 V6 has been getting 15 to 16 MPG in the city with fairly spirited driving. The EPA city number for my car is 17 or 18 (too lazy to look it up right now).
http://www.fuelly.com/car/hyundai/sonata
For me so far 26.2 avg with 80% hwy 20% city avg.
The Fit is a small and lighweight vehicle that drives with no sense of urgency.
High MPG is expected there.
Your Sonata is larger than a mid-size sedan and has much more weight to carry, all the while actually giving some performance in acceleration.
There is no logic to comparing a Fit to a Sonata.
If you are getting 26mpg combined average for your driving, then that's not bad for such a large car as the Sonata is.
There are people claiming to get 35mpg, but that's only on the highway, not in city nor mixed driving. 35mpg in mixed driving simply won't happen in a car this big.
Also, you're only driving about 10 miles to work. That's barely enough time to get the engine and catalytic converter up to optimal temperature before the engine goes into full lean mode.
Given that you drive such a short distance that often, I recommend that you check your oil level often and consider a shorter drain interval, one that is more in line with "severe" conditions.
I too have experienced in my car forum, people who make MPG claims that are way beyond what most can achieve, and yet, these cars are the SAME cars.
In my 135i BMW with MT I average about 21-22mpg. That's overall average for all my driving which includes suburban and highway. I don't find it useful to try and break down city vs highway because where does your "city" stop and "highway" begin? Overall avg. MPG with a city to highway ratio is much better.
Anyway, on my car forum most manual trans drivers are getting between 18-23mpg. That's a good average range that accounts for varying terrain, city/highway ratio, lead-foot, etc... But, then we have those who come on and claim they get 35MPG highway or 28mpg combined.
Really? This is the same car, same engine, same transmission. Yet, somehow someone is getting 8mpg better than the average owner of the same car.
18-23 reported, so I figure about 20.5mpg average, yet someone claims 28mpg, amazing mpg to be sure.
As you said, it's easy to make a claim.
I was very disappointed in the mpg. Only 20.2 on the trip computer (which is usually optimistic) for suburban type driving. This is about the same as my Sienna in the same conditions and my Accord stick shift would be mid 30's under those conditions.
(2677miles RT) using gas purchased divided by mileage I avraged 31.7 MPG.
I think that is great mileage considering heavy south winds and some mountain driving + driving 7-8 miles over speed limits
This is a great car for the money.
P.S.
Speedometer is off by+2 miles (shows 70 actual 68) and trip comp. shows
33.7 actual 31.7
Has anyone experimented with the "manual" transmission on the 6-speed automatic? I like the option of being able to do my own downshifting on a hill, but have not noticed any mileage differences
have not done manual calc but computer seems close.
Hills have noticeable negative effect but speed is the biggest variable. At 65 MPH the mileage is phenomenal IMO. Shifting on hills is very smooth - no searching as on some 6-speed automatics. 2.4L and 6-speed very well mated for the car's weight. We also got the GLS with PEP ($750) to get the alloy wheels but avoid the low profile tires. The 205 65 R16" tires at 33 # of air made for a firm ride with some bouncing on bumps but overall a very well mannered car and the MPG was right on the EPA estimate at 70MPH
Great car and even greater value in one family opinion.
I was unaware that the Hyundai GLS didn't have a tach. If that is indeed the case, I would suggest you get a ScanGAuge 2 and plug it into to the OBD2 port under the dash just in front of your knee.
Everything you ever wondered about your cars performance can be set to display. MPG's, Tach, battery charge, gallons used, on and on...it checks the fuel used 2wice every second, and the tach read out is dead on.
The hybrids get great city MPG with the battery and the Elantra is rated at 29 city. we wanted a more roomy vehicle than a Prius or Elantra and drive a mix of city/highway so it works for us.
The only true way to verify mpg is by dividing gallons purchased into mileage
I've had the 2011 since May 2011. Over 14,456 miles used 530 gallons, average 27.5 mpg. While not great what concerns me is the variability. I've gotten as much as 34, as little as 19.82. Pure highway I can get it up there. City esp. up hills the mpg drops like a rock. But get this: Hyundai did a recal service on June 29 involving the transmission or some such thing, car popping out of drive while you're driving or something. Before the service I was averaging 29.66. After 26.93. That's my real concern, that Hyundai service did something.
Anyone know anything?
30 MPG city or better in town requirse a low mass roller skate or a car with a $6000 battery that needs replaing ultimately.
Someday we may enjoy taking ethanol out of the mix to restore the BTU energy of pure gasoline and the resulting 10%+ increase in feul efficiency.
Ethanol subsidy to farmers and producers allows us to use more gas which
helps increase the cost of fuel, gas, energy and federal governemnet debt but we prefer the old efficiency of pure carbon fuel - NOT corn!
Still significant though.
I also love my Sonata but I am so very disappointed with the gas mileage. Perhaps when the car breaks in further the gas mileage will improve, but I am not counting on that to happen.
Say what you want, but I think Hyundai knows the mpg's are exaggerated.