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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