Hyundai Tucson Real World MPG

stever

Please report on your Tucson's gas mileage here. Please include your odometer reading, driving style, city/highway numbers or anything else you think may help others.

mboyer

I bought a new 2006 limited V6 Tucson. Sooooo disappointed with its performance, with the gas consumption - around 14- 18 mpg (depending if I dare use the air conditioning around town, and it finally made 25 mpg on a run (whoopee) Not only that there seems to be a time delay when I need to put my foot down and overtake someone. Very dangerous at times...Any one else with the same problem? Have done about 4,500 miles.
Want to sell it..anyone want it????

targettuning

A.) your fuel mileage is quite good...so whoopee IS a good term for 25 MPG!!
B.) lack of power or just poor planning on a potentially close pass on a two lane road? They are adequate, not a V-8 but sufficient to make most overtakes safely.
C.) did you perform a test drive on both city streets and a higher speed drive on an interstate to determine if this car met your needs? Yes, test drives are not long enough so that is why I rent cars of the type I am consider buying.

rebavery

What color choices do you have (inside and out) and how much would you want to sell it for? Oh and where do you live?

rcaslick

I have to agree I too have a 2006 V6 Tucson and can't get any better than 28 mpg. I achieved that by filling up on the Hwy and driving with the cruise set and not using A/C.
The dealer did a test by filling the vehicle and driving it 100kms and re-fueling it from the same pump, he claims to have gotten 45 mpg. This is more of an insult than a test. I like the vehicle and have 30000kms on it since Feb. 06, I just wish I could increase and average closer to what the manufacturer advertised for gas mileage.

targettuning

I simply cannot believe why anyone would complain about 28 mpg...simply incredible. Please, please check some of the other posts here concerning fuel economy, people are complaining about low 20's (and truly this is about right for an SUV) and I am surprised you think you got 28. I would have to agree 45 mpg is Toyota Prius territory and NEVER able to be duplicated with any straight gasoline SUV.
I have make my usual speech here about "advertised" fuel economy because apparently people still don't get it.
The EPA mandates every new car, truck, SUV be tested by an outmoded test first devised in the 1970's. Every manufacturer submits a sample of every vehicle they make and the EPA subjects these to that obsolete test that simulates a city cycle...by simulate I mean they test the car on a dyno indoors and the car never actually gets driven. The highway test does have the car being driven for some short period at artificially slow speeds (I think 60 mph or a bit more) and in no way does any of this testing produce anything remotely what Mr Joe public (you and me) will actually get in use so you complain...I'm not getting what the manufacturer, by God, said I would get!! That EPA sticker says, if you care to read the fine print, these numbers are estimates and are to be used for comparison purposes with other vehicles within the same size and type i.e. small-size SUV's. And this is important..it is NOT an advertisement placed there by Hyundai (or any other manufacturer) that promises you WILL obtain the posted numbers. There are published articles by various national magazines...Consumer Reports...among others that detail how and why that little window sticker is almost totally wrong. And before I get blasted by owners who say that they regularly get as much or better than the sticker I say "good for you" and you must be living right and driving slow..

stever

I read not too long ago that manufacturers test their own vehicles (usually a prototype) and they report the results to the EPA. The EPA then tests 10 to 15% of the vehicles to keep 'em honest. link

The EPA is supposedly revising the test to make the numbers more real but I didn't see a link off-hand.

The CR study just used new cars for their testing if I'm reading the article right (link) - my cars have always better mpg after they've broken in a bit.

Steve, Host

targettuning

Yes, manufacturers also do their own testing but must submit "production" versions for official EPA tests. This "production version" term does not prevent manufacturers from tweaking those "production" vehicles to within an inch of their lives...in other words they are optimized for maximum fuel economy and us, as consumers, are unlikely to have the small army of engineers check and double check settings and clearances on actual production vehicle we can buy as they routinely do on the EPA submitted cars.
Yes the vehicles Consumer Reports used are new cars they purchase for their normal testing BUT in other articles on how they perform their testing they always state they perform proper break-in proceedures before official testing so the cars are not "0" miles new. Their biggest concern was the "city" rating (it had the largest discrepency) but the highway rating also didn't track. And as always mileage varies depending on many variables.
Finally, yes again, the EPA itself acknowledges its own testing is outdated and also flawed (it never was very accurate) and has set out to revise the test to reflect more real world numbers. How they will fare this time remains to be seen.

stever

Funny thing is, lots of people around the forum (including me) have always hit the EPA number or better. Go figure.

Steve, Host

bjw1

Hello all,
well let me add my two cents in here, I just came back from holiday trip on 4th of july weekend. And I was going 80mph nad was getting 23.5 mpg when my tucson only had 1000 miles, now I am at 1500 when I got back, I agree that the window sticker mpg is an estimate on averages but it is possible to avg that, but also lots of factors play a role, like tire pressure, speed, weather conditions, road conditions. I saw my mpg plummet when climbing hills, went from 23.5 to 19.0 mpg while climbing hills. Anyone that buys an suv should not expect great mpg and I knew this when I bought the tucson, and when I shop for a vehicle I usaully subtract at least 1 mpg from what sticker states. I have found does not matter what the mpg is on a car if it does not achieve it people complain, when it is an average not a fact. my tuscon has not got more than 23.5 on highway and 19.0 mpg in city, but it is still only 1500 miles. :shades:

targettuning

Yes to all your points.... finally someone who sees that a Tucson, or almost any SUV will not get great fuel economy simply because it is a tall, big, fairly heavy thing with the aerodynamics of the box a Civic came in plus all the parasitic losses of the 4WD/AWD system... some may be good relatively speaking as compared to a Hemi whatzit but none are great.

targettuning

And I have found after owning several SUV's that some have gotten close, say 22mpg verses 23mpg EPA sticker highway but nothing spectacular like 28 or 30. And how and where you drive and conditions, both weather and vehicle, DO make a large difference.

tenpin288

Well, let me throw my .02 in. I have an 05 V6 LX AWD. It is rated at 19/24. When I first got it my mileage varied wildly from a max of 22 mpg to a low of 14.5 mpg. Since then I have put almost 16000 miles on it, changed to a full synthetic oil (Pennzoil Platinum), a K&N air filter, and run the tires a few pounds higher than stock pressures. I am currently averaging 18.5-19 mpg during my daily driving (in the hills and valleys of the Laurel Highlands of PA) and recently got as high as 24.5 mpg on a trip to a conference for work. That trip was about 650 miles round trip at sustained speeds of about 75 mph on cruise control. Not too bad for this comfortable, well-built SUV. :shades:

vegito1971

I am glad to see that somebody else on here supports my experience too. I also run full syntheitc oil (Mobil 1 5W30) and use a K&N air filter. Though I can not nor would not claim that this makes a night and day difference, it does seem to help. I am just happy to see that my numbers were not or are not a fluke.

tucson_girl

So far I have about 1200 miles on my 3 week old 2006 V6 Tucson. I have averaged about 20 mpg by my calculations (not the mileage gage on the trip od). I do about 50/50 hwy/city so I was hoping for something more around 22-23 mpg since I'm not an aggressive driver. However, it is summer in Phoenix and with 100+ degree days, the a/c is always on full blast. Husband plans to put in a K&N filter after 3k miles so we'll see if that helps. May take a road trip to Denver too so we'll see how she does on that.

While I'm slightly disappointed in the mileage (a relative just bought a Santa Fe a week after we bought the Tucson and gets the same mileage), I didn't buy it for fuel economy. I bought it because I loved how it drove, how it looks, how comfortable it was, and how practical it is with all the cargo space and features. It's so much more enjoyable to drive than my old sedan.

fk322

I agree. If you are looking for impressive MPG DONT BUY A SUV. In particular, a SUV with a V6 plus AWD/4WD. I just got back from a long road trip (Minnesota to South Carolina) and was able to get 26MPG (at best) with AC on travelling 70 to 75 MPH in my 05 Tucson GLS. IMO, not bad for an SUV.

vegito1971

Hyundai cars/SUV's seem to have a longer "break-in" period than some others. Just give it some time (and mileage) adn you will begin to see some improvement. This held true for both my 2002 Santa Fe and my 2005 Elantra. But the K&N air filter is a good idea and full synthetic oil helps too. Just like others are saying, you do have to remember that it is an SUV and will not yield mind-boggling fuel economy. But it should improve a little after the "break-in" period. My Santa Fe started doing better after nearly 10k whereas my Elantra took until arount the 5k mark.

targettuning

After reading this last batch of posts I am gratified that they all seem to be so rational and the writers understand that an SUV is, well, not an Elantra or Civic and therefore are satisfied with the low to mid 20's they are getting. I have been beating my head against the EPA sticker trying to explain that those are probably "pie in the sky" numbers and the low to mid 20's obtained (in the summer-lower in winter) is about right for highway driving. As a matter of interest...to the writer who said their relative's Santa Fe gets about the same mileage as the Tucson. The Tucson isn't really much lighter or smaller than the Santa Fe. All those swoopy fender lines on the SF makes it look much larger but it isn't and in fact the Tucson actually has a larger passenger compartment although smaller cargo area with seats up. Both share the same 2.7 liter engine and transaxle and driveline type. Too all...you bought the vehicle for utility...4WD feature...drive height for the ability to see over traffic ahead...style, but probably not fuel economy and I'm glad at least one group is happy with what they get.

tucson_girl

Both share the same 2.7 liter engine and transaxle and driveline type...Too all...you bought the vehicle for utility...4WD feature

Actually, his Santa Fe is the 3.5 L V6, so it's a bigger engine. And my Tucson is 2WD - not 4WD. I did buy it for the utility, as I stated previously. I also think it's just plain cute and fun to drive.

[i]the low to mid 20's obtained (in the summer-lower in winter) is about right for highway driving.[/i]

I'm averaging 20 mpg (haven't gotten over 20 yet) doing mixed driving. I expect it may go up in the winter when I'm not using the a/c. Everything is reversed down here in the desert; we get better mileage in the winter when it's only 60-70 degrees instead of 112+ degrees like it was yesterday.

targettuning

Yes, since I have owned both the 2.7 Santa Fe and the 3.5 liter version (a 2002 4WD and the 3.5 was a 2003 4WD) I can explain the reason.... first the 3.5 has a 5 speed automatic verses a 4 speed and I found the engine runs about 600-700 RPM slower at any given road speed and therefore uses less fuel and also since the 3.5 has much more torque I found it didn't need to downshift nearly as much on the hills and mountains of Pa. So, as a result it stayed in 5th gear when previously the 2.7 might have been in 3rd gear. All in all I got slightly (about 1-2 mpg)better on the highway with the bigger 3.5 but less in town where the torque and 5th gear didn't matter.

slogo1

I'm just passing thru thinking about buying--I think your 26 mpg is great--I just wonder--what it would be like if you traveled 55-60 MPH?

kyedsel

I just got back from a 1500 mile trip. Overall the fuel milage was 23.5. Coming back with 600 miles interstate driving with speed at 70 MPH and air on the fuel milage was 26.7.

fk322

The posted speed limit was 65MPH and 70MPH in most locations. The 26MPG was the best I averaged. Overall,it was probably 23-24 for the trip. I'm not sure what 55-60 MPH would have got me in terms of MPG. There are very few interstates I have driven that still have 55MPH as the speed limit. I really like my Tucson and would recommend it to anyone thinking of buying one.

vegito1971

Congratlutions and thank you for supporting my claim. I previously owned a 2002 Santa Fe 2.7L AWD and managed this routinely while cruising along at 65-70 MPH with the A/C running. I did find that using full-synthetic oil and a K & N air filter helped a little too.

kyedsel

I use multi blend oil and a regular Car Quest filter. As I was driving on the trip I traveled of a 4 lane that had a lot of stop and go. The gas milage was around 23 MPG. My gas milage inproved when I got on the interstate and had a constent speed.

jvenezia

I just drove 300 miles in the last two days, filling up once half way through. It was a mix of interstate and city driving, about 90 degrees, air conditioner running constantly, highway speed (between stop-and-go construction zones) was about 80 mph. Just me and a bit of luggage. I averaged 32.3 on the way to my meeting site, and 32.3 on my way back home. That's consistency. BTW, I use fully synthetic oil and a good aftermarket air filter.

targettuning

And I get 100 mpg at 100 mph...please excuse me if I don't buy your claims. Maybe you transposed your numbers..it would be more accurate I think.

tidester

And I get 100 mpg at 100 mph...

Now I am impressed! Seriously, perhaps jvenezia could provide some details on his calculations?

tidester, host

stever

Sounds entirely plausible to me. Tides will have to check my math as always but on my minivan, my spreadsheet is current through 345 tanks. 45 of those tanks exceeded the 24.0 EPA highway rating. Five tanks were over 28 and my all time high was 29.9. Sixteen were less than the EPA city rating of 17.

So my all time best tank of 29.9 is 124.58% of 24 mpg.

The 2.0l Tucson is rated at 22/27.

So 32.3 is 119.62% of the highway EPA rating of 27 mpg.

Maybe you'll do better next time, Jvenezia. :shades:

All bets are off if Tides indeed "fixes" my math (let me guess, it should be 24% better, not 124% of), in which case I'm going to try to delete this post before the search engine spiders memorialize it for prosperity. :P

tidester

Ya done good, Steve!

You make a really good point noting that there is significant variation from tank to tank. I've never been able to find reliable data on the spread in variation but I think it is important for people to realize that YMMV or, more correctly, your mileage WILL vary!

tidester, host

targettuning

You know if that person had said he/she achieved this kind of mileage at a 55 or even a 60 mph average speed I might be more inclined to buy it. But, as we all know, fuel economy takes a nose dive as speed increases particularly with a blunt, tall, vehicle such as a Tucson (or almost any SUV) when air resistance overcomes any aerodynamics. To say you achieved over 30 mpg while averaging 80 mph is too much to believe...I have informally tracked how increased speed kicks economy in the rear and 72mph was the "sweet spot" on my Taurus after which I could literally see economy drop quite rapidly. I had a digital dash with a fuel monitoring function that turned out to be quite accurate tracked over about 100K miles of ownership. Keep in mind the Taurus was a lot more aerodynamic too. So, no, I don't believe that statement.

stever

Couldn't be much blunter than my minivan.

targettuning

True enough, but my point is all about high speed verses aerodynamics and the point at which air resistance overcomes any designed aerodynamics. This is when fuel economy takes a dump and the faster you go the worse the fuel economy and the effect is worse on tall blunt SUV's and yes mini-vans. Also lets not forget the engine is revving considerably faster at 80 as compared to 65. So I maintain my disbelief of that statement for all of the above reasons.

stever

It's about time for Jvenezia to pop back in here and mention that he was really driving his Elantra at the time, LOL.

Anyone else keeping track of their mpg?

tenpin288

Anyone else keeping track of their mpg?

I have an 05 LX V6 AWD and I have a little over 16K miles on it now. Initally, I was only getting 16-18 mpg in everyday driving(hills and valleys and 2 lane roads in the Laurel Highlands of PA and maybe 21 mpg on the highway). After getting the miles on it, putting in a K&N air filter, inflating the tires to 32-34 lbs and using full synthetic oil (Pennzoil Platinum 5w-30), I am now getting 19-19.5 in everyday driving. On two recent trips of roughly 600 mile round trips, I managed to get 24 mpg while running around 75 mph on cruise and about 25% AC useage. I think that is acceptable for a vehicle like this.

tucson_girl

I haven't even hit 3,000 miles so have not had an oil change yet. Will a Hyundai Dealer put in full synthetic oil if you ask when you take it for an oil change?

I did get 20.6 mpg on my last tank though! I do mixed driving. Yay!

tenpin288

Will a Hyundai Dealer put in full synthetic oil if you ask when you take it for an oil change?

Depends on the dealer. My dealer doesn't stock any synthetic oil but said if I wanted to use synthetic in my Tucson, just bring in the oil and they would only charge me for the filter and a minor labor charge. I bought my synthetic oil, Pennzoil Platinum Plus 5w-30, at a local Walmart for $18 for a 5 quart jug and took it to the dealer and they kept their word. Beats having to dispose of the old oil!

guyfr

My 2WD, 4 cyl, manual Tucson just reached 10K miles. I noticed a small improvement in mileage. Now overall average is 23.5 mpg and that includes city, suburban and highway. That's about what I expected.

merf1

I averaged the last 8 tanks and got exactly 23 mpg. My best was 30 mpg highway ,and my worst was 19 mpg in mostly city driving. I have 5k miles on it.
One thing else that can greatly affect mileage is the wind direction. If you are driving into a 20 mph headwind your mileage will be poor. Likewise driving with a 20 mph tailwind will add to your mpg.

bullseye98

Hi guys,

Brand new Tucson owner here... 2006 V6, about 1100 miles at the 3 week mark. Bought it with 310 miles already on it.

I've seen my mileage steadily increase point by point, from a starting point of 20.1 to the 22.9 I'm currently pulling. Most of that is highway driving (or, if you're familiar with the Phoenix area freeways, parking lot driving) with the air conditioner firmly fixed in the ON position for self-preservation.

LOVING the car so far. Huge step up from my trade-ins.

zippythechimp

Have seen a low of 8MPG city and a best of 16. Avg for hwy- 19MPG. Unfortunately, this is less than a friends' Escalade which averaged 20.8 hwy on a recent trip and has averaged 16.2 urban driving in first 28k. In an effort to obtain maximum mileage out of the Tucson, I drove 125 miles (all flat land), never exceeding 55MPH, coasting to all stops (very few at that) and delicately accelerating (proverbial egg under the accelerator driving) and could do no better than 24MPG. It's disappointing when friends with larger, more powerful SUV's (not to mention roomier- especially cargo with back seat up) get better mileage.

seniors711

help i am so unhappy with my 2006 tucson what a rip
i average 13-18 mpg
i need help getting better mileage
the thought of owning this car for 5 more years while i pay it off and spending so much time in a gas station
i have never seen 19 mpg cant even get 300 mile tank
how do you go anywhere or take some weekend trips
this is what this car should be for
instead of enjoying my new car bought sept 3, 2006 my eye is constantly on gas consumption
what can i do do you have this problem?

arkainzeye

why not change your differental fluids to synthetics oils? what about a transfer case.( not sure it has one) i did all this with my tracker and i get above what my sticker said i should be getting plus i get better protection and smoother shifting. just a thought

arkainzeye

today i test drove a tucson V6 awd and i drove it up laurel highlands my self. up rt40 towards the summit. with the gas pedal pressure completlely to the floor i could only get 55-60mph. this was the 2.7litre engine. i must say i expected a little more power than this. i thought it rode very nice and was quiet. but for a V6 with NO extra weight in the car. Im a little concerned about the lack of MPG im reading and after driving one and what i called the lack of power on the up hill climb this worries me. i wasnt thrilled with the radio either but that is not a sale breaker. i also noticed in the maintance booklet they want you to replace the timing belt at 60000 miles $$$$. when i asked what this would cost the salesperson changed the subject, so i brought it up again and he said Over $600!! and it is not a warranty item it is a maintance item and if it is not done your warranty for a engine problem could be voided.. he also said it is a timing BELT not chain. he claims they are going to change it to a maintance free timing chain in the future. but that does me no good for now if i got this suv...

jay07

My Tucson got averagely 19(winter) and 23 (summer) with mixed city and highway driving(about 50% -50%)

The best I got was 25 with all highway driving and A/C on.

rxcapt

As an update, I have a 2005 Tucson V6 AWD. It has 26K on it already as I drive it at least 60miles a day to work and back. When I first bought it I drove from Washington, DC to far western Va. On that trip I averaged in the summer with air, approximately 24mpg. Over Christmas I drove it from Washington, DC to Louisville, Ky and back (approx. 600 miles each way) on this trip, even with the mountains and highway speeds I got 22-23mpg. While I am not discounting the claims of sub-par mileage, I would point out that provided that the car is in good tune, it would seem that driving style and trip length may be the biggest factor contributing to low mileage, but please don't jump on this statment, this is only an observation and an update on my mileage for the purposes of this discussion.

content

hello all, I'm a new tucson owner and i must say there are some things i really like and some things that have me concerned. I did not expect great mileage buying this thing, but i'd kill for 20mpg right now. I bought new and the vehicle now has 1800KM (1120miles) so far my mileage ranges from 12-15mpg calculated on miles driven / gallons consumed not trip meter this is probably 80% city, 20% highway. People in this thread have said mileage gets better through the break-in period but most seemed to have started off better then 12-15mpg.

I test drove the 06 and noticed the delay in the electronic pedal so waited for the 07 and it seems to be better.

I live on the east coast of Canada and it can get pretty cold and a few things have me concerned with the potential longevity of this vehicle. When you turn the defrost on the a/c automatically comes on, well the a/c compressor really doesn't like the cold weather, makes some awful noises. Also if you put the fan on full (level 4) the fan motor really struggles so you have to back it off until the car is warmed up (but once its warm you don't want it on full anyway). The door beeper sounds terrible in the cold, doesn't make a crisp ding noise more of a doingggggg and the lcd on the cd player sometimes isn't visible.

wylldshark

I've had my Tucson now since the beginning of December.

Just went past 1,300 miles about three days ago.

When I fill her up my range reads 343 miles till empty. That number changes though depending on my driving. The faster I drive, the lower it dips; conversely, when I drive at normal speeds it goes back up.

I average 19-25 mpg in the city, depending on how fast I drive. I usually drive around 45-45 mph here in town and get on average 22-23 mpg. When I get around 60 mph it dips to 19-20 mpg

On the highways I get from 25-30, depending on the speed. Normally I'm travelling 65-75 mph at a constant speed and get on average 27-28 mpg.

I've not been on the interstate yet, so I can not account for that.

Also, it is worth noting that I always have either the A/C or the heat on, and lots of time the radio is on too.

I love my little Tucson and have been very happy with it!

wylldshark

Sorry, I put 1,300 miles when I meant 1,400.

jappi

I think there is something wrong with '06 Tucson V6. It has been averaging only 15mpg. I do a combination of city and highway, but mostly city driving.

I am really disappointed - I had hoped it would be a little better than this. I bought it in August and have 4500 miles on it. My brother told me in September that the mileage would get better as I drove it but it's actually getting worse.

Anybody else experiencing this.

smartsally

Hello fellow Tucson owners.
I picked up my 2007 GLS, FWD AT January 16, 2007. I've been trying to track mpg but it I have to take into account that I have been using the autostart and running the engine for 20 minutes at a time due. The best I have gotten so far is 24 mpg. That is mostly highway driving on flat interstate with heater on constantly. I am hoping for improvement when the weather warms and I am not idling the engine for long periods.

My bigger concern was the 18 inches of snow that we had last weekend. I was stuck 3 times. It didn't take much to get me out but the traction was terribly disappointing. I had better traction in my old Grand Prix fwd. I had originally thought of buying a 4wd but thought the mpg would be better and less vehicle maintenance on fWD than 4WD. I'd like to hear opinions of others.