Yeah you are correct--i got 32-33 mpg on a trip to florida and 29-30 on the way back to pittsburgh. I checked computer it sometimes lies aout a mile or two but it check out math wise so the 3.8 does deliver around 21 areound town and 30 on the highway. But really hyundai could improve and what about a fuel cell car?
I agree. We are getting 27.4 mpg. average and our Azera only has about 6K miles on it now. On a trip a while back we got 29.3 mpg. average after resetting the mpg. function. I visited one of the Hypermiling websites and found that in areas with gentle hills I actually got better fuel economy if I allowed the car to speed up going down hills and gradually slow down going up hill. That is one situation where using the cruise control actually hurts fuel economy. On level ground the cruise control wins hands down.
If you have a Discover card you can get a Wal-Mart shopping card and put money on it and then use it to get the 3 cent per gallon discount at the Murphy stations associated with Wal-Mart. The discover card will give you one penny back for each dollar spent. Together you save about 7 cents per gallon. In a year's time I figured it would save us about 1.2 to 2/3 of a month's expense for gasoline. :shades:
Check the Discover card web sight. They have several plans. I use one card for only gas purchases only because I can get 5% off up to a certain amount ($4.07 per gal less 5% nets at $3.87 per gal.). I use the other card for regular purchases @ 1% discount. Great way to know have much gas you buy in 1 year P.S. I have a 07 Azera with 22,000 miles and averaged 27.6 mpg since new. Not bad for large car
Being very interested in purchasing a 2009 Azera later this year or early next year, I just wish the gas mileage was a little bit better than it is. If this car rated at 30 mpg on the highway, it would be awesome!
Does the larger 3.8L engine really get almost exactly the same mileage as the 3.3L engine? Is there a major reason to have one over the other?
And why does the 3.3L engine get a full three highway MPGs less than the Sonata with the same engine? I know the Azera is a little heavier, and I'd expect perhaps a 1 MPG difference, but the drag coefficient is very good in the Azera and once you get the car up to speed, it's only air resistance you are overcoming.
(I figured out that for my annual driving, a 3 mpg difference is about $400 a year, which isn't that much, but I still was looking for closer to 30 mpg. But the Azera is looking so much better than an Accord!)
If this car rated at 30 mpg on the highway, it would be awesome!
Are there ANY large sedans with a FE rating of 30 mpg or better??? Come on, be realistic in your expectations.
And why does the 3.3L engine get a full three highway MPGs less than the Sonata with the same engine?
Because it's hauling around more car in the Azera.
But the Azera is looking so much better than an Accord!
It depends on how much car you're looking for, the Accord is classified as a mid-sized sedan and has less space than the Azera. Which, that being the case...if the Accord is on your scope...I would think you would be comparing the Sonata with it. As far as FE with the Azera, there are folks that have claimed 28,29 & 30 mpg highway with the Azera. Personally, I've seen 28 mpg on a trip to FL using cruise control. That with a trunk full of luggage, A/C, along with 3 adults and 2 kids. In the city...FE falls off a great deal, yet...some claim city FE numbers of 17, 18 & 19 mpg. Personally, I see 15-16 mpg city driving.
Honestly if FE is that big a deal, then maybe the Sonata would be more your liking.
For my financial situation, the $400 annual extra fuel cost between an Azera or V6 Sonata (or $800 fuel difference between an Azera and I4 Sonata) isn't that big a deal. And most of my driving in the northern Indiana/southwest Michigan area is highway miles, as I have a 60 mile round trip commute to/from work on highway roads.
I was just curious how a much larger 3.8L engine could get the same mileage as the smaller 3.3L engine. Is it that the 3.8L engine is just that good?
It is possible that there could have been some minor changes in the newer 3.8 in the '09 Azera as opposed to the original 3.8 in the '06-08 models. Don't really know to be honest. It could boil down to gearing or a few other things. To be honest, you can't go wrong with either car...the Azera is a true pleasure to drive on the highway.
The Azera may not be rated at 30MPG highway, but it will hit that number in the real world -if you keep below 70MPH on a level road using cruise. My '06 Azera has done it, and so have numerous posters on this thread. Total mileage goes downhill with stop and go stuff, though. If you're planning on lots of highway miles, the Azera does just fine - and on regular gas.
I have gotten as much as 34 MPG on the interstate at 65 MPH using cruise with the AC on. Highway was pretty level, but some hills. I also tested the car's computer and it is correct.
Someone said "it looks at your last 500 miles of driving". In other words, your typical gas mileage. Let's say that's 25mpg (typical stops and all). It then assumes you've filled the tank completely. For a Sonata, that's 17.8 gallons 25 X 17.8 is 445 miles, so it will display 445 miles to begin and subtract 1 mile for each mile you travel.
This is direct from the 09 Sonata owner's manual about the range or miles to empty on the trip computer:
This mode indicates the estimated distance to empty from the current fuel level in the fuel tank. The trip computer may not register additional fuel if less than 1.36 gallons (6 liters) of fuel are added to the vehicle.
I would imagine the Azera is similar in operation.
I live in the Washington DC area and have owned my car since July of this year. I average around 16 mpg in the day-to-day stop and go traffic around the suburbs. However, when I get on the highway or open road it goes way up!
Two weeks after I bought it, I took a road trip to Tilghman Island, MD. Reset the MPG calculator there and started driving back to Alexandria, VA. On the two lane, open road from Tilghman to Easton, MD, I averaged 30 mpg. Filled up with cheap gas in Easton, MD and drove home. Made it back to DC and then home with an average of about 28 mpg, which is what Hyundai claims the car does.
Have had the same/better performance now that the car is broken in. During weeks when I'm doing 50+ percent highway driving, I'm getting about 22 mpg overall. Of course, this varies on whether I'm having a lead-footed day or not; a sprint from Falls Church to Herndon in less than 15 minutes on the Dulles Toll Road does not contribute to good mileage (but was a hellava lot of fun)!
Hope this helps. Overall, my Azera gets about the same mileage as the 2001 XG300 I traded in for it, despite the larger engine and heavier car.
Best mileage I've yet gotten was 30.5 mpg in VA and looping around Washington, DC (both on a Sunday) where I couldn't legally use my radar detector and the speed limits were 65 and below, little traffic to contend with and much less leadfoot in play than is customary for me... :shades:
Just completed a 2300 mile trip from WI. to NJ and back. Using the old method of gallons used divided into milage returned 27.3 mpg..... 75% interstate 25% city computer on dash showed 28.2mpg ---- 2007 azera lim with 27800 miles with NO problems with suspension THIS CAR DRIVES GREAT ( P.S. the PA. turnpike sucks)
This weekend, I made it a point to leave the shifter alone. Normally, I drive with the shifter in manual mode about 95% of the time and I wanted to see how much of a difference there might be in the fuel economy.
Normally on the weekends, I tend to do a lot of urban driving (combination of city and highway). Anyone that knows the DC Metro area would understand. Anyway, usually I would see #'s at about 16-17 mpg. This past weekend, however...I posted an average of about 21 mpg. This was not exactly using conservative practices either. I wasn't heavy footed, but I wasn't ginger with the gas pedal either.
In short, if you want to see decent numbers in the FE dept., leave the shifter in auto mode. Manual mode definitely allows one to be a little frisky when driving, but the cost'll be 2-3 mpg in the tank.
No, this was not a scientific finding, just some real world driving to find out what my experience would be and felt it important enough to post it. You can try and see if you come up with something similar or even if you come up with something different.
This year's Mn to Fl round trip, with a month in FL resulted in 3414 miles, MPG for the period of 25.91, and avg gas cost of $1.795/gallon. Gas mileage a little down from last year's trip of 26.75 but had a head wind both directions this year. 2007 Limited Ultimate ran like a train---no issues in 23,000 miles--did not see another Azera during the enitre trip.
An average mpg figure I get from Houston to Dallas is around 31 to 32 mpg. The figure is consistent. Around town, I get 23 mpg average.
I think this is a good figure for 3.8L v6. With Jetta 2.8L VR6, I never got above 27mpg from Houston to Dallas or averaged 23 mpg. Jetta started out at sub 20 mpg, averaging 17 to 19 mpg
Hey...rk2469...are you using gas that is infused with ethanol? I tell you, the DC metro area, the gas has up to 10% ethanol and it's killing my fuel economy.
Would that be true with all other brands of fuel? I was wondering if the 10% would be in the mid or premium grades of fuels or if the ethanol is just put in the 87 octane fuel.
Maybe this is the oil companies way of making us pay more for our fuel, and the government is behind it with the regulations they have in place. I may have to try a tank of premium to see if my fuel economy goes back up.
My 2006 Azera has the worst city mileage of any car that I have previously owned. I get around 15.6 in city only driving calculated over the last four months. I was hoping it would improve with more clicks on the odometer (28,000) but no such luck :sick:
If you're using fuel with ethanol in it, don't expect it to get any better either. It really isn't the car. Before ethanol was "mainstream", I was seeing an average of 17 mpg in the city, since ethanol has really been pushed, that number has dropped to an average of 13 mpg. I did find a BP station that didn't show any signs of using ethanol in their fuels and I filled up there. I have noticed better gas mileage since that fill up as well.
On another note, the Azera was never a noted fuel economy bargain. Don't know what you were expecting, but I hope you weren't expecting Accord-like numbers.
I recently purchased a used 2007 with the 3.8 and for the past 2500 miles I've been averaging 22 MPG every tank and that's with 80% country road driving and only 20% highway driving. That's great in my opinion for a car with that type of power and weight. If I wanted better then I should have bought a smaller car.
I do notice if I have a lead foot my MPG will drop fast but since I always catch up to a car in front of me there is no reason to accellerate any faster then I do.
2007 Hyundai Azera Limited with 25,000 miles; I average 24.7 with a combo highway and city driving. On freeway trips driving 70 it runs 25-26. It used to be around 2-4 mpg lower until I started adding 4oz of Marvel Mystery Oil to each 10 gals of gas on fill ups.
Just returned from a 2800 mile trip and averaged 25.9 for the complete trip, city and highway driving much at 75-80 MPH. My car is a 2008 Azera Limited with 12000 on the speedo. I"m very pleased with the MPG and really appreciate the 19 gal tank.
On the occasion, especially if you empty the tank down to where you're running on fumes, you may find that a fill-up exceeds the "official" 19-gallon point by up to three gallons more! It's actually a 22 gallon tank which normally cuts off early, most likely to prevent overflows which can shorten the life of the fume-recovery canister.
Sometimes you'll get poorer mileage and wonder what happened. Well, on those occasions you probably managed to squeeze an extra gallon or so into the tank on a refill, making it look like your mileage had suffered. On the other hand, NEXT fill-up you'll wonder why your mileage suddenly got better!... :shades:
2009 Limited Azera, 14,000 miles, just recently switched to Mobil 1 5W30 synthetic oil. Trip from South Carolina back home to Indiana averaged about 27.8 mpg, with speeds often near 77 mph and some highway mileage at 65 mph.
$2.65/gallon regular unleaded in northern Indiana - and $2.39/gallon in northwestern South Carolina!
In my 3 month old '09 Azera LTD in a 1400 mile trip I averaged 27mpg, but in city driving I am getting about 13 3/4 mpg. I have been reading the blogs that 10% ethanol cuts down the mpg is this true?
Stop and go city driving, as previously noted in these blogs, will not return good mileage in an Azera. If you're getting 27 MPG highway ( especially in new car with a somewhat tighter engine ), then IMO, your fuel is not the problem.
I'm not sure of the BTUs in ethanol ( it is less, for sure ), but even if it's 15% less than gas, and it's only 10% of the gasahol mix, then the total BTUs are down less than 2% from straight gas - not enough to affect mileage all that much.
IMO, long spells of idling at lights ( with the A/C blowing hard ) combined with constant on and off the gas is the culprit here.
Our 2006 Azera approaches 30MPG at a constant 70 MPH, but combined mileage for the last year is only 21.5 and that is with almost no " big city " driving. The driving mix is almost exclusively small town, suburban, and rural with an occasional short hop on the freeway.
A gentle throttle foot and coasting ( when you can ) will help, but don't expect a big and powerful V6 to get 4 cylinder mileage in the city.
Cobrazera...trust and believe, that ethanol mess doesn't help at all when it comes to city driving. When I first purchased my Azera, I was seeing anywhere between 17-19 mpg city, but over the last year and a half or so when ethanol infused fuel because a standard at the pump...it's more like 12-14 mpg.
My highway mileage has slipped a little bit, but not as drastically as the city mileage. On a recent trip to NY (about 4 hours one way), I managed almost 26 mpg round trip. Back in '06, a trip to Orlando (from DC) netted an average of about 28 mpg round trip.
Sorry, Mike. I just can't buy that a 30% drop in your city mileage is due to your fuel only. Does your HP seem like it's down 30%? IMO, there are a lot more variables at work here than just the fuel. Even your stated highway trip mileage comparisons are not really comparable. Different roads, speeds, traffic, hills, wind, temperature, etc. Tires and wheels affect rolling resistance, too. Your larger wheels are heavier and wider, and will adversely affect mileage. I had a 2001 Tahoe with 20" wheels and the mileage with those wheels mounted was less than with the stock setup. With our Azera, the largest variable in the mileage is how many miles per tank were with my wife behind the wheel. She's used to driving cars that didn't have a lot of power, so she dips into the gas pretty hard. I accelerate more gently and coast up to stops instead of going straight from throttle to brakes. Posters here have complained about the poor city mileage with their Azeras from the car's intro back in '06, it's not a new thing.
Cobrazera...there's nothing wrong with the HP, car's running just great to be honest. There are a lot of variables, but they are roads I traverse on a regular basis, it's not like I've been suddendly taking new roads.
The mileage change I've indicated is with the OEM wheels and tires, not my 20" wheels. Those have been off the car since last year for repair. I just recently purchased new tires to replace the OEM Michelins (General Altimax HP's).
I know the Azera isn't a FE champ in the city, but to drop anywhere between 4-5 mpg sucks and the only thing that has changed in my area is the gas and the amount of ethanol being put in it.
Mike, I asked about the HP because if the ethanol has so much less energy (because it has dropped your FE so greatly), then it seems that the car should feel down on HP also, due to that same energy loss.
True, though, this whole ethanol thing is absolute BS, we're up to 10% now, and I heard that 20% is in the future. Since it takes the equivalent energy of a gallon of gas to make a gallon of ethanol, the energy savings are not there. Proponents (Iowa corn farmers?) also argue fewer emissions, but if that gallon energy equivalent is in the form of electricity generated by coal fired powerplants, overall carbon emissions are greater not less. What a scam.
Just put 1,200+ miles on a Denver/Topeka rt. Speed averaged 80 mph, a few sprints to 100+, but not for long. AC full time both directions. Now have abut 57K on my 07 Azera Ltd. My mileage was solid at 25mpg. I have made the same trip and gotten as much as 30 mpg, but didn't need the AC full time and average speed may have been slightly less.
Recently relocated to Atlanta and now my mpg is worse with my daily drive to and from work. I live and work only a few miles away and do not have to get on any of the highways, so it is all "city" driving. I am averaging 15 mpg whereas I used to get an average of 22. Why would it get so bad? The car was checked out before I made the move. I'm not using the A/C, although the fan is on high with the outside heat and I am not sitting in traffic for long periods. Is it the hilly drive?
I doubt it's the hills, you should save gas coming down. I've made a few trips down I75 from Michigan to Florida and actually got better mileage through the mountainous areas in Kentucky and Tennessee. The energy required for acceleration is what takes a toll on fuel economy. You can gain that energy back to some extent by coasting up to lights and stop signs whenever possible - but be prepared to PO others with this type of driving. The savings come because modern engines shut fuel off completely when coasting. Changing your moving car's stored energy ( momentum ) to brake heat is the biggest mileage killer in city driving. Of course, you get 0 MPG while waiting at traffic lights, but an idling engine uses only about a gallon of gas per hour, so that's not a huge factor. The summer months do not require a lot of startup fuel enrichment, but your short trips are affected to some extent by that also - expect the situation to get worse when it gets colder.
Also, did you have non-Ethanol gas where you were and are now using gas with Ethanol (E10 / "up to 10% Ethanol)? You'll lose an MPG or two from that alone.
And honestly, the hills might be at least something of a factor. If you can coast down the hills without having to brake at the bottom then it'll come close to evening out but if you have to brake while descending or at the bottom of the hills then the extra gas used to get up hill is not balanced out by coasting downhill.
Other factors: Driving very fast will reduce fuel economy. Driving in stop n go traffic will reduce fuel economy. And for sure both of those are possible in Atlanta.
short drives are always worse than long hauls when it comes to fuel economy. I experience the same issue...when I make a bunch of short trips, the average tends to be around 15 mpg. However, when highway driving is mixed in with the short trips, the average is up to about 18 mpg. Hills would only be an issue if you were taking long steep hills.
Best mileage I've gotten was 30+ mpg when I drove through VA doing 65mph max (radar/laser det. illegal there). In Florida I get about 20-21 mpg when using SOME interstate; 18 mpg when all secondary roads. I do very little stop-'n-go driving, mostly 1 - 2 miles or a little more between stop lights, 40 -60 mph...
'06 Azera with 115k miles on it and here's where it stands on fuel economy. Had to drive down to NC & back twice in the same week. Me with 3 passengers, trunk loaded with luggage, averaging about 75 mph with the a/c on...27 mpg was my average fuel economy on both trips. Actually, going to NC yielded 26 mpg, but the trip back was always slightly higher. Travel was on main routes I-495, 295 & 95.
This past weekend, we took a family trip to VA Beach, this time going down routes 301, 17, I-64 & 264. The average was a bit lower due to more stop and go driving while on 301 & 17, but not bad either...25 mpg.
All in all, I would have to say I'm very happy with the Azera as a road car...still! :shades:
Got 28mpg from reno to San francisco last night. Normally would get 25 with California Gas. I thought they only put Ethanol in the winter. Guess its all the time. :mad:
I bought my new '06 AZERA in June of '06 and was one of the earlier posters on this site. At the time, I really grumbled about the awful milage I was getting. I still have low milage on the car, but I am consistently getting 30 to 30.5 MPG on our Calif. freeways. I find that if I reset the MPG info before I enter the freeway, I get an accurate reading for that purpose. I get about 18 to 19 in town driving. I keep the trunk clear of anything I don't need and don't forget to keep your tire pressures up where they belong, depending on your tire brand. Gary
I'd been disappointed with mpg on my 2006 Limited. It now has just 25,000 miles on the clock. However, on a recent 200 mile trip from PA to VA this past Saturday, I averaged 30.7 mpg. Needless to say, I was MORE than pleased, especially with a moose of a 3.8 litre engine...
WOW...a 2006 w/just 25K miles on it!!! I'm about to turn 125K miles on my '06. Not sure what's to be disappointed in with the 3.8 regarding fuel economy, it's definitely not a city car. I live in the DC Metro area and commute to work everyday. When it's strictly city driving, my average is anywhere between 14-17 mpg. When I mix in trips to the 'burbs or out to VA...it shoots up to about 21-23 mpg. On long distance trips (mostly highway driving) I hit anywhere between 26-29 mpg. Considering it's a 3.8 V-6 w/o direct injection & only a 5 speed tranny...that's not bad at all. :shades:
Comments
If you have a Discover card you can get a Wal-Mart shopping card and put money on it and then use it to get the 3 cent per gallon discount at the Murphy stations associated with Wal-Mart. The discover card will give you one penny back for each dollar spent. Together you save about 7 cents per gallon. In a year's time I figured it would save us about 1.2 to 2/3 of a month's expense for gasoline. :shades:
P.S. I have a 07 Azera with 22,000 miles and averaged 27.6 mpg since new.
Not bad for large car
Does the larger 3.8L engine really get almost exactly the same mileage as the 3.3L engine? Is there a major reason to have one over the other?
And why does the 3.3L engine get a full three highway MPGs less than the Sonata with the same engine? I know the Azera is a little heavier, and I'd expect perhaps a 1 MPG difference, but the drag coefficient is very good in the Azera and once you get the car up to speed, it's only air resistance you are overcoming.
2009 Azera Limited V6 3.8L engine, 17/26 mpg, 3629 lbs, 0.29 drag coefficient
2009 Azera GLS V6 3.3L engine, 18/26 mpg, 3629 lbs, 0.29 drag coefficient
2009 Sonata V6 3.3L engine, 19/29 mpg, 3494 lbs, 0.32 drag coefficient
(I figured out that for my annual driving, a 3 mpg difference is about $400 a year, which isn't that much, but I still was looking for closer to 30 mpg. But the Azera is looking so much better than an Accord!)
Bud H
Are there ANY large sedans with a FE rating of 30 mpg or better??? Come on, be realistic in your expectations.
And why does the 3.3L engine get a full three highway MPGs less than the Sonata with the same engine?
Because it's hauling around more car in the Azera.
But the Azera is looking so much better than an Accord!
It depends on how much car you're looking for, the Accord is classified as a mid-sized sedan and has less space than the Azera. Which, that being the case...if the Accord is on your scope...I would think you would be comparing the Sonata with it. As far as FE with the Azera, there are folks that have claimed 28,29 & 30 mpg highway with the Azera. Personally, I've seen 28 mpg on a trip to FL using cruise control. That with a trunk full of luggage, A/C, along with 3 adults and 2 kids. In the city...FE falls off a great deal, yet...some claim city FE numbers of 17, 18 & 19 mpg. Personally, I see 15-16 mpg city driving.
Honestly if FE is that big a deal, then maybe the Sonata would be more your liking.
I was just curious how a much larger 3.8L engine could get the same mileage as the smaller 3.3L engine. Is it that the 3.8L engine is just that good?
Bud H
Good luck!
Does it reset when you fill up the gas tank?
Thanks, Jerry
How does it compute the MPG?
Is it dynamic as you are driving?
Thanks, Jerry
That's my GUESS.
This mode indicates the estimated distance
to empty from the current fuel
level in the fuel tank.
The trip computer may not register additional
fuel if less than 1.36 gallons (6
liters) of fuel are added to the vehicle.
I would imagine the Azera is similar in operation.
Two weeks after I bought it, I took a road trip to Tilghman Island, MD. Reset the MPG calculator there and started driving back to Alexandria, VA. On the two lane, open road from Tilghman to Easton, MD, I averaged 30 mpg. Filled up with cheap gas in Easton, MD and drove home. Made it back to DC and then home with an average of about 28 mpg, which is what Hyundai claims the car does.
Have had the same/better performance now that the car is broken in. During weeks when I'm doing 50+ percent highway driving, I'm getting about 22 mpg overall. Of course, this varies on whether I'm having a lead-footed day or not; a sprint from Falls Church to Herndon in less than 15 minutes on the Dulles Toll Road does not contribute to good mileage (but was a hellava lot of fun)!
Hope this helps. Overall, my Azera gets about the same mileage as the 2001 XG300 I traded in for it, despite the larger engine and heavier car.
computer on dash showed 28.2mpg ---- 2007 azera lim with 27800 miles with NO problems with suspension THIS CAR DRIVES GREAT
( P.S. the PA. turnpike sucks)
Normally on the weekends, I tend to do a lot of urban driving (combination of city and highway). Anyone that knows the DC Metro area would understand. Anyway, usually I would see #'s at about 16-17 mpg. This past weekend, however...I posted an average of about 21 mpg. This was not exactly using conservative practices either. I wasn't heavy footed, but I wasn't ginger with the gas pedal either.
In short, if you want to see decent numbers in the FE dept., leave the shifter in auto mode. Manual mode definitely allows one to be a little frisky when driving, but the cost'll be 2-3 mpg in the tank.
No, this was not a scientific finding, just some real world driving to find out what my experience would be and felt it important enough to post it. You can try and see if you come up with something similar or even if you come up with something different.
2007 Limited Ultimate ran like a train---no issues in 23,000 miles--did not see another Azera during the enitre trip.
I think this is a good figure for 3.8L v6. With Jetta 2.8L VR6, I never got above 27mpg from Houston to Dallas or averaged 23 mpg. Jetta started out at sub 20 mpg, averaging 17 to 19 mpg
Maybe this is the oil companies way of making us pay more for our fuel, and the government is behind it with the regulations they have in place. I may have to try a tank of premium to see if my fuel economy goes back up.
I get around 15.6 in city only driving calculated over the last four months. I was hoping it would improve with more clicks on the odometer (28,000) but no such luck :sick:
On another note, the Azera was never a noted fuel economy bargain. Don't know what you were expecting, but I hope you weren't expecting Accord-like numbers.
I do notice if I have a lead foot my MPG will drop fast but since I always catch up to a car in front of me there is no reason to accellerate any faster then I do.
Sometimes you'll get poorer mileage and wonder what happened. Well, on those occasions you probably managed to squeeze an extra gallon or so into the tank on a refill, making it look like your mileage had suffered. On the other hand, NEXT fill-up you'll wonder why your mileage suddenly got better!... :shades:
$2.65/gallon regular unleaded in northern Indiana - and $2.39/gallon in northwestern South Carolina!
Bud H
I'm not sure of the BTUs in ethanol ( it is less, for sure ), but even if it's 15% less than gas, and it's only 10% of the gasahol mix, then the total BTUs are down less than 2% from straight gas - not enough to affect mileage all that much.
IMO, long spells of idling at lights ( with the A/C blowing hard ) combined with constant on and off the gas is the culprit here.
Our 2006 Azera approaches 30MPG at a constant 70 MPH, but combined mileage for the last year is only 21.5 and that is with almost no " big city " driving. The driving mix is almost exclusively small town, suburban, and rural with an occasional short hop on the freeway.
A gentle throttle foot and coasting ( when you can ) will help, but don't expect a big and powerful V6 to get 4 cylinder mileage in the city.
My highway mileage has slipped a little bit, but not as drastically as the city mileage. On a recent trip to NY (about 4 hours one way), I managed almost 26 mpg round trip. Back in '06, a trip to Orlando (from DC) netted an average of about 28 mpg round trip.
IMO, there are a lot more variables at work here than just the fuel. Even your stated highway trip mileage comparisons are not really comparable. Different roads, speeds, traffic, hills, wind, temperature, etc.
Tires and wheels affect rolling resistance, too. Your larger wheels are heavier and wider, and will adversely affect mileage. I had a 2001 Tahoe with 20" wheels and the mileage with those wheels mounted was less than with the stock setup.
With our Azera, the largest variable in the mileage is how many miles per tank were with my wife behind the wheel. She's used to driving cars that didn't have a lot of power, so she dips into the gas pretty hard. I accelerate more gently and coast up to stops instead of going straight from throttle to brakes.
Posters here have complained about the poor city mileage with their Azeras from the car's intro back in '06, it's not a new thing.
The mileage change I've indicated is with the OEM wheels and tires, not my 20" wheels. Those have been off the car since last year for repair. I just recently purchased new tires to replace the OEM Michelins (General Altimax HP's).
I know the Azera isn't a FE champ in the city, but to drop anywhere between 4-5 mpg sucks and the only thing that has changed in my area is the gas and the amount of ethanol being put in it.
True, though, this whole ethanol thing is absolute BS, we're up to 10% now, and I heard that 20% is in the future. Since it takes the equivalent energy of a gallon of gas to make a gallon of ethanol, the energy savings are not there. Proponents (Iowa corn farmers?) also argue fewer emissions, but if that gallon energy equivalent is in the form of electricity generated by coal fired powerplants, overall carbon emissions are greater not less. What a scam.
But don't blame the farmers who raise the corn.
Blame the corporations who lobby Congress for the legislation to create a market for their refineries' ethanol.
The energy required for acceleration is what takes a toll on fuel economy. You can gain that energy back to some extent by coasting up to lights and stop signs whenever possible - but be prepared to PO others with this type of driving. The savings come because modern engines shut fuel off completely when coasting.
Changing your moving car's stored energy ( momentum ) to brake heat is the biggest mileage killer in city driving. Of course, you get 0 MPG while waiting at traffic lights, but an idling engine uses only about a gallon of gas per hour, so that's not a huge factor.
The summer months do not require a lot of startup fuel enrichment, but your short trips are affected to some extent by that also - expect the situation to get worse when it gets colder.
Hope this helps.....Richard
And honestly, the hills might be at least something of a factor. If you can coast down the hills without having to brake at the bottom then it'll come close to evening out but if you have to brake while descending or at the bottom of the hills then the extra gas used to get up hill is not balanced out by coasting downhill.
Other factors: Driving very fast will reduce fuel economy. Driving in stop n go traffic will reduce fuel economy. And for sure both of those are possible in Atlanta.
This past weekend, we took a family trip to VA Beach, this time going down routes 301, 17, I-64 & 264. The average was a bit lower due to more stop and go driving while on 301 & 17, but not bad either...25 mpg.
All in all, I would have to say I'm very happy with the Azera as a road car...still! :shades:
Gary