Hyundai Sonata Hybrid--Real World MPG
nascarnole
Member Posts: 2
I am considering buying a Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and read a MotorTrend article stating it gets far less fuel mileage than the EPA estimates. Please let me know what kind of mileage you are getting with this car and what your city/highway driving mix is. Thanks so much!
Tagged:
0
Comments
Yesterday i've refilled my HSH and get 37.8 MPG.
City 20% / Highway 80% driving.
Thanks in advance for your cooperation on this.
I do a lot of highway driving and typically get 40mpg during the week.
On the weekends when the wife and I do a lot of city (stop n go) driving I'm typically getting about 33mpg.
So, it depends on the type of driving that you're doing as well as how you drive. I don't drive like a teenager for example (and I'm not inferring that those not getting the proper MPG values do) but I have noticed that by doing a couple of minor driving techniques will improve the MPG you get.
For example, use Cruise Control as often as possible. The on board computer does a better job of it than your foot does.
Instead of driving at 65 MPH where posted, set your cruise control to 62-63 (and get in the slow lane)... you'll see an extra 1 to 2 miles per gallon doing this.
You'll also see more tips on this link (Hyundai Forums - Sonata Hybrid)
I would not have bought this car if I thought the MPG was less than 35.
I am also confused when you say
"I would not have bought this car if I thought the MPG was less than 35. "
You said you were getting 35mpg?
The actual EPA information as stated on the Sonata Hybrid is the following:
EPA Economy Estimates:
City: "Expected range for most drivers is 29 to 41 MPG"
Highway: "Expected range for most drivers is 33 to 47 MPG"
This is right off the EPA Estimate sticker that is on every Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. At 35 MPG for driving, you are well within the stated EPA estimates. And you are getting approximately 9 MPG better than the non-hybrid version.
The sales guy at the dealership was trying to talk me into buying a regular Sonata on the lot. At the time I started looking, they didn't even have a hybrid yet. He told me that the regular Sonatas consistently got 40 MPG or better. Again - trying to sell me inventory on the lot. And maybe there were other reasons he did not press to sell me a hybrid.
But because I wanted the hybrid for various reasons, and the product material that was available at that time (Feb/Mar 2011) said the Hybrid would get 35-40 MPG, I waited for the Hybrid. Right now I'm getting 35. I want and expect more. I understand the variations of drivers, seasons, etc., but I don't care about that. I care about the reason I bought it, what I was told, the printed material I have.
My comment about not buying a car with less than 35 MPG estimate - was meant for any car - hybrid or not from Hyundai. There are other alternatives.
No need to reply - I appreciate your previous attempts to help. Bottom line - I'm not satisfied.
Very, very frustrated. At the very least we expected 30 city. In my opinion, the gas engine kicks in when its really not needed. The batteries never say 100% and seem to drain immediately.
You have to actually complain about those symptoms to the dealer to have this installed, as it is not a recall, but a TSB.
Another bump for all 2011-2012 Sonata Hybrid owners who have not had the latest TSB 13-FL-004 performed. It enhances drivability and stops the cold start jerkiness and hesitation.
You have to actually complain about those symptoms to the dealer to have this installed, as it is not a recall, but a TSB.
I have a 2012 sonata hybrid, which I put on 14,000 miles since purchase. This car is being driven approx. 80% local & 20% highway and averaging 26.2 mpg thus far. I've tried driving on cruise control, as some owners suggested, however I've yet to break 29 mpg on local streets regardless of driving style. My wife has a Toyota Prius and even with her lead foot, she is averaging 46.2mpg!
I would've not purchased this vehicle knowing the advertised mpg is nowhere near the actual performance. This type of advertisement should be illegal. Surprised there is no class action on this issue!
Apparently the 2013s are much better, but that is of little benefit for earlier purchasers. They really should offer you guys a gas card like they did when their EPA numbers weren't even close last year on various models.
Being the guinea pig is never fun, especially when you paid a lot for the position.
If it helps, at least your ride is probably a much more quiet and serene place to be than your wife's.
2013 Hybrid Limited, California driven, first two weeks behind the wheel.
60% city, 40% highway, 30 mpg.
Still adjusting how to drive more efficiently.
2013 Hyundai Limited driven in coastal South Carolina. I have about 3,500 miles on with 2 months of ownership. About 50/50 city/highway. Averaging 40 mpg (calculated - don't rely on the computer... it's off by 10%). Gotten as high as 43 mpg on a tank. I get best mpg when I'm in Blue mode and don't speed. I do the speed limit or slightly below, which seems to make a big difference, too. Almost bought a Prius, but happy I got a much more comfortable car for about the same cash with only a small mpg penalty.
I always rely on calculating my mileage and use it as a way to monitor the "health" of my cars by watching for a sudden change in mileage that can't be explained away by short fill up or unusual driving conditions and the like.
I do recall "ruining"someone's gas mileage once here in the forums. They were debating whether to buy a new car and said they were getting something like 35 mpg from their old car. But the EPA numbers for their old car were more like 25 highway at best. So we got into how they were driving, how they were figuring mileage, etc. Turns out that the very first time they filled up their car, they put 10 gallons in the tank, and they assumed that 10 gallons was a fill up. They would divide their miles driven since last fill up by 10, never paying attention to how much gas they actually were putting in. And since it was actually more like a 15 gallon tank,their calculation was WAY off. Somehow that translated into ME ruining the mileage they were getting.
Had the 13 fl 04 software updated on the main comp couple weeks ago. Immediate improvement in mpg and got rid of the cold start sluggishness. It seems the car runs more on the elec motor on local driving. Thanks for the advice Vinny!
What kind of bump did you get in MPG? It's ALWAYS great to see shared info on the forum helping out!
On straightaway, it hit 40mpg and on slight hilly roads, it is getting approx 28mpg. This car never came close to 40mpg in any road condition before the download! Average mpg bump is approx +3mpg overall.
What mileage are you getting over a tank of gas? Those instantaneous numbers are interesting, but (for me, anyway) the average mileage is a more useful number.
I don't think the Sonata Hybrid and the Prius are really comparable, because there is a significant weight difference. The Camry is more of a comparable.
Well, the weight difference is one of the points of comparison where they differ
Welcome to the forums! Always nice to see the new faces. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. That's why the moderators are here.
We purchased our 2013 HSH used in April of this year. It was a fleet vehicle and had about 18,000 miles on it when we drove and bought it. In the first few weeks it was used primary for local driving and we got 31-32 MPG. We live in southwest Connecticut.
Then last week (May 12-18), we took it on vacation to Shenandoah area of Virginia, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Chincoteague, VA before returning home to CT. We drove almost 1700 miles on this trip. The estimated MPGs reset upon each fill-up but we kept written records of odometer and trip mileage on each fill-up. Except for the first fill-up which included some of our local miles before this trip, the others calculated from 38.8 to 42.2 MPGs. The Estimated mileage on the screen remained mostly in the 40s going as high as 49.9 at one point. This included some local driving at several points during the trip. On the Interstates, we did drive much of it at 65-72 MPH so could have done better gas mileage if we kept the speed down.
We love this car. We had been looking at the Toyata Prius v (small wagon) but when searching for a red hybrid on carmax.com, this one turned up so that is where we bought it. We got a better trade-in for our 2004 Saturn Ion at Carmax than some other quotes.
I have a couple of minor questions about the car. We don't find a compass, neither on radio or mirror. Is it hiding, not available on a Basic, or because it was a fleet vehicle? Similarly why no accessory jacks for the rear passengers? Is there any fine tuning that should be performed, like the one mentioned for the 2011/2012?
Bernie in CT
The difference between reported savings and actual experience is sort of sad. But it's probably similar on the gas-guzzling side, too.
Hi folks. I'm new to the hybrid. I just bought my 2014 HSH last Thursday. I love it but I'm concerned about something I didn't recognize a few days ago. Friends.....Please advise me.
For the 1st couple days, I was getting amazing gas mileage and then after about 225 miles I recognized something strange. When I would accelerate from a traffic light or up an on ramp, the mpg gauge in the center of the dash would go all the way down to 5-10 mph. Also, the EV gauge on the far left shoots up during this moment almost to the red and then returns like its supposed to.
Quite often over the past couple days, when I would accelerate with the gas pedal even during normal driving ( not coming from a stopped position), the mpg gauge would constantly go under 25 mph to around 10-15 mph and then go back up after I release the gas a little.
When I'm level and at a set speed the gauges seem to act as expected. Yes, when I coast, the car gets great gas mileage. Question- Is this supposed to react like this and go all the way down on the center gauge and almost up to the red on the left side of the dash?
Please help advise me as I'm concerned that there may be something wrong already. Thanks.
I sincerely hope not.
But again, it sounds like things are working normally for you. Don't drive yourself crazy by "chasing the needle"
I have a 450 mile trip starting tomorrow but I'm taking it in to the dealer to get checked out 1st thing in the morning. I'll keep you posted.
Since you're in a new vehicle, I have to assume that we're not looking at a different tire size affecting the computer calculation, or that you're running with under-inflated tires, things like that.
How much difference is there between your calculations and the dash reading? And i assume you reset the avg mpg readout when you filled up.
I drive in and out of Boston every day, so I'm loving the mileage, and the car in general hasn't put a wheel wrong since I bought it. The car is as comfortable as my 15 MPG Grand Marquis was, but gets mileage as good as the little Toyota Corolla penalty-box I drove before the Mercury. Heading to sub-zero Montreal this weekend, I'll be curious to see if there's any impact on performance or mileage.
I have since found a way to fix the problem. I noticed that when I filled the tank, I got great gas mileage for about a 100 miles or so, then it started sinking. Now is just reset the dashboard system when it start to drop and it immediately goes up to around 45 mpg for a while. I'm now finding that the need to reset is getting fewer and fewer and last month made it through the month with no resets and got 39 mph.