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Kia Rondo Real World MPG

219 messages,  Last post on Apr 08, 2012 at 6:29 PM

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What is this discussion about? Kia Rondo, Wagon

Messages Page 19 of 22

#180 of 219 Re: MPG update [garnermike] by bgw

Feb 28, 2009 (5:44 am)

Replying to: garnermike (Feb 15, 2009 6:50 pm)
We bought our 07 EX V6 in August 07, and now it has 25,000 km. We are still getting 33 mpg Imperial on the highway (at 110 km/hr) with 2 adults, 2 kids, a load of cargo and running on studded winter tires. I am mighty pleased with that, considering our 98 Legacy AWD wagon with a 5 sp manual could only ever manage 32 mpg in the same conditions.
Around town, which is largely rural, our V6 Rondo gets 24-25 mpg Imperial.
Overall, I am delighted with this fuel economy.

#181 of 219 Suggestion for establishing database for Kia Rondo fuel economy results... by smoothsailin

Mar 06, 2009 (7:24 am)

If case other owners may be interested, be advised that I have set up categories for Rondo owners to post their fuel economy results at www.brianbauer.org.
 
I just posted results for the first fill up since purchasing my '08 Rondo V-6 last week(25.2 mpg). Note that registration at the site is required before results may be posted. However, registration is free....and simple.
 
I've set up I-4 and V-6 categories on the site for contributors to post results for '07-'09 Rondos. After registration it only takes a minute to login and post your results for each tank. The input fields include:
 
Date
Volume of fuel (in U.S.gallons, imperial gallons, or liters)
Price (in a variety of world currencies)
Distance traveled (miles or km)
Fuel type (regular, mid-grade, premium, diesel, etc.)
 
I've been posting results obtained with my '05 Mazda3i (2.0 L manual transmission) since purchasing it in March of '05. Note that my car's results are the ones posted for Chesterfield, VA
 
As a registered contributor you can keep track of your car's overall average as well as averages based on all contributors.
 
I'm hoping other owners will consider posting their Rondo's fuel economy results for comparison at this site. So please take a look.
 
Thanks!
 
Carey

#182 of 219 MPG results for 1st 2 fillups ('08 Rondo LX V6) by smoothsailin

Mar 13, 2009 (4:42 am)

#1 324.0 miles / 12.857 gal = 25.20 mpg
#2 343.8 miles / 12.894 gal = 26.66 mpg
 
Noted: the car's low fuel light came on right before the first fill up, but had not come on last night. Strangely, the tank swallowed slightly more fuel last night though.
 
May have a few more miles driven on the expressway for the last tank, but still would estimate less than 20% highway miles. Avoided short trips (say less than 10 miles) for the most part.
 
Not bad I'd say

#183 of 219 That's better than my '07 LX 2.4L by garnermike

Mar 13, 2009 (5:36 am)

...typically gets from that kind of driving. Consider yourself blessed. Or being a damn good hyperdriver.......
 
If it's like mine, expect your Rondo tank to vary often between overfilling and underfilling, resulting in wide fluctuations in mpg. For example, for a tankful spent on my usually "suburban" driving, I recorded 32 mpg---a mix of overfilling that tank at the start, and then underfilling upon refueling. The next tank mpg computation---for the same sort of miles driven--- was 20.0 mpg, likely the result of that earlier underfilling and then an over-refilling. Happens to me frequent enough to notice.

#184 of 219 Re: That's better than my '07 LX 2.4L [garnermike] by smoothsailin

Mar 13, 2009 (6:55 am)

Replying to: garnermike (Mar 13, 2009 5:36 am)
I did not use many "hypermiling" techniques on the last tank and in fact I used the manumatic feature a lot to hold the lower gears and allow the engine to spin up to 3-3.5k rpm before selecting a higher gear when accelerating during the initial 600-mile break-in period. Of course, when striving to achieve maximum fuel economy I normally strive to get in high gear quickly in order to keep rpm low as low as possible w/o lugging the engine.
 
However I have been using light pressure on the throttle and braking gently, both of which are techniques that will generally contribute to superior fuel economy results. Planning to avoid short trips as much as possible also can pay fuel economy dividends based on my experience.
 
Of course with the initial 600 mile break-in period behind us I've now turned the Rondo over to the wife. So I would be (pleasantly) surprised if she manages to match my preliminary results, for she tends to have a considerably heavier foot when driving than I do, and she also tends to make far more short trips (often unnecessarily i.m.o.).
 
We'll see...

#185 of 219 Road Trip - towing a trailer by go59

Apr 03, 2009 (7:50 am)

FWIW I recently completed a trip from Portland, OR to L.A. & back, while towing a Starcraft tent trailer. Total milage was 2354.5 using 113.1 gallons for an average of 20.8 MPG. This was with our 08 EX V6. While driving around L.A. (without the trailer the trip computer indicated around 27 MPG.
 
In my normal commute (mostly suburban - no freeway) I get around 20 MPG. By comparison the Voyager the Rondo replaced averaged 17 on the same route.
 
- Greg -

#186 of 219 Results for the 3rd tank for '08 LX V6 not as good. by smoothsailin

Apr 03, 2009 (1:48 pm)

After doing nearly all of the driving during the initial 600-mile break-in period, I turned our Rondo back over to the wife a while back.
 
A few days ago I got in it again and was disappointed to see the gas gauge was already nudging the 1/2-tank mark with only around 145 miles registering on the trip odometer. Since I had driven the car around 12 miles after filling it up last, this wife had apparently driven the car around 130 miles since then. Contrastingly I managed to drive ~325 & 345 miles for the first two tanks despite using the sport shift feature regularly to keep engine rpm between 2 and 4k rpm as recommended in the owners manual.
 
After driving the car to work and back for the last few days I stopped to fill up yesterday after 280.2 miles. The tank swallowed 12.115 gallons for an average of 23.13 mpg.
 
My guess is the car may have only averaged around 17-18 mpg over the ~130 miles driven by my wife, where I probably averaged 28-29 mpg over the other ~150 miles driven. Of course, my one-way commute IS much longer than hers around 25 miles vs 3 miles, and longer trips do tend to provide improved mpg results compared to short ones. However, I'm also confident that differences in our driving styles contributed to the reduced results as well.
 
I've had my ScanGauge II connected to our Rondo for a few days and based on what I've observed so far, if you have even a moderately heavy foot you're not likely to be very happy w/the mpg results you may be seeing w/your Rondo V6. I've already seen how my Rondo's instantaneous mpg readings can plummet when more than slight pressure is placed on the throttle. Still, when cruising at steady speeds on level ground it also looks like 30+ or even 40+ mpg results may be possible if you're willing to limit cruising speeds to 60 mph or less. Although I'd don't know how accurate the ScanGauge's readings may be yet since I haven't used it long enough to determine and enter an error adjustment factor, for the past two days at least the computer has calculated 29-30+ averages for my daily trips back and forth to work. While these results do reflect my somewhat conservative driving technique, I haven't used any hard-core hypermiling techniques to obtain them.
I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to drive the car on a longer trip before long to see what she may be capable of. However, based on what I've observed w/my SG I won't be getting my hopes up that my wife may do much better mpg-wise when driving our Rondo than she has with our larger, heavier, older and slightly more powerful '98 Toyota Sienna V-6 (3.0L w/4 speed atx).
 
One other thing I've noticed when using my ScanGauge is that the Rondo's speedometer may be around 3 mpg optimistic an indicated 60 mpg. With the Rondo's speedometer needle aligned on 60 mph my ScanGauge only registers 57 mph. Contrastingly, when connected to my Mazda3 the ScanGauge has always registered the same as the car's speedometer. I've also determined that engine speeds in top gear are ~ 2,000 rpm at 55 mph, or ~ 2,150 rpm 60 mph. Not bad, but I'd be happier if the final drive ratio was higher so the engine would only turn around 1,800-1,900 rpm 60 mph. To me first seems to be geared lower than necessary which makes the car overly sensitive to throttle inputs when starting off. When I stepped down on it for the first time the other day it also quickly became clear that wheelspin can be induced easily at low speeds even when the car is already in motion.
 
Has anyone else determined the Rondo's speedometer may be about 5% (3/60) optimistic?
 
I've also observed that by 40 mph transmission will shift to 5th gear and the torque converter will lock up. As this occurs the instantaneous mpg readings rise significantly. So by making an effort to accelerate gently & smoothly up to 40 mph, followed by immediately reducing pressure on the throttle you should be able to improve your mpg results with your Rondo V6
 
Although I was expecting this might be true, the significant jumps of 7 -10+ mpg in instantaneous fuel economy readings displayed by the ScanGauge after the shift to 5th gear was even greater than I would have predicted.
 
I've also been pleasantly surprised by how smoothly and efficiently the car's cruise control seems to operate. Unlike the one in my Mazda3, when I set the cruise control in the Rondo the throttle inputs seem to be quite steady with a minimum amount of up and down adjustments. Contrastingly, when I set the cruise in my Mazda3 (which has a manual transmission) the ScanGauge's TPS (throttle position sensor) readings clearly show the throttle is being tweaked up and down almost constantly. As a result I'll probably make use the cruise control regularly when driving the Rondo and will recommend that my wife who tends to have what I'd call a "spastic" right foot do the same.
 

#187 of 219 Results for 4th tank ('08 LX V6) by smoothsailin

Apr 10, 2009 (4:04 am)

416.4 miles / 14.094 gallons = 29.54 mpg.
 
I drove 42.7 miles after the low fuel light came on and would estimate I had about 1.5-1.7 gallons left in reserve (15.8 - 14.1) by the time I finally stopped to fill up.
 
This tank was 100% commuting miles over the past week ~ 55 miles/day. Note: I'm a tax accountant and have been working 7 days/week for a while now.
 
About 50% freeway w/the rest on rural & suburban roads and highways.
 
Morning temperatures ranged from around freezing up to the low 50's. No hard-core hypermiling, just steady driving conservative speeds w/gentle acceleration for the most part. Observed and used the instantaneous mpg, tps (throttle position sensor) and LOD (engine load) readings from my SG (ScanGauge II) to try and drive more efficiently.
 
I'm pretty confident that the car is capable of averaging in the mid-30's on a trip at moderate speeds limited to 60 - 65 mph. However, based on what I've observed with the SG it's also pretty clear that making short trips, especially in cold weather and driving w/a heavy foot will cause the average mpg results to drop significantly.
 
Have to say was pleasantly surprised by how quick my V6 Rondo is when I finally decided to step on it last night after passing the 1,300 mile point!
 
The v-6 Rondo would leave a Mazda5 sucking dust imo.
 
Zoom-Zoom;)

#188 of 219 Congratulations if that's the mpg you are getting by garnermike

Apr 10, 2009 (4:45 am)

Replying to: smoothsailin (Apr 10, 2009 4:04 am)
...but I must say that you are getting mileage that I suspect VERY FEW RONDO OWNERS (I-4 or V-6) ARE GETTING, no matter how they drive the car.
 
I have an '07 LX 2.4L I-4, and I MIGHT get 29 mpg on a tankful---IF the tank is overly full to begin with; IF I'm not driving into a head wind or over hilly terrain; IF all miles are straight highway miles; IF I'm especially easy on the throttle; IF I don't go over about 68 mph. And I have the I-4, estimated to do a tad better than the V-6.
 
As for your saying "the car is capable of averaging in the mid-30's on a trip at moderate speeds limited to 60 - 65 mph," I'd say sure---maybe if your car is a one-off anomoly, i.e., it's the only V-6 Rondo ever made that can reach those efficiencies.
 
If I sound like I'm unhappy with my mpg, I'm not at all. My normal tankful gets 24-25 mpg (mixed driving) and my all-highway driving gets about 29 mpg tops. For a car as un-aerodynamic and as heavy as the Rondo, that's pretty damn good.
 
As for the cruise control, the CC on my car is way overactive. Downshifts all the time instead of easing up to set speed. If I want better mpg, I don't engage it.

#189 of 219 Re: Congratulations if that's the mpg you are getting [garnermike] by smoothsailin

Apr 10, 2009 (6:03 am)

Replying to: garnermike (Apr 10, 2009 4:45 am)
After reading many of the posts to this thread I realize many owners aren't seeing 29+ mpg tanks w/their Rondos. I'd also admit that I had to drive very conservatively to average over 29.5 mpg for the last tank. But my results do show it's possible to manage better than the EPA highway rating for the Rondo if you're willing to modify your driving habits for better efficiency.
 
In all honesty I'll be pleasantly surprised if my wife manages to average over 20 mpg when she starts doing most of the driving in our Rondo. After April 15th is history and I can get my life back, I'll be able to work on cleaning and fixing up her '98 Toyota Sienna before advertising it for sale. Until then, the wife says she'd rather continue driving her old van most of the time. I think she's worried about the kids or her doing something to stain, scratch or otherwise damage the new one!
 
Based on what I've seen on my sg, very small differences in throttle pressure can make a significant difference in the car's instantaneous mpg readings. So unless you have and use something like a sg or if you have an EX equipped with a mileage computer you may not be aware of how sensitive the car is to how much pressure is placed on the throttle.
 
The v-6 model is definitely not a mpg monster-but if you have the tools and are willing to modify how you drive it can produce respectable results imo.
 
Note that I've managed to average 6.6 mpg above the EPA highway estimate 32 mpg for my '05 Mazda 3i (2.0L w/5-speed manual). Over 61k+ miles I've averaged 38.6 mpg with that car. Since most Mazda3 owners apparently have not been as successful, I'm probably a more conservative driver than most. The fact that I have a fairly lengthy commute has also helped since I rarely end up taking short trips-and in my experience in general the longer the trip, the better the mpg.
 
Lastly, I'll point out that I've been very careful to follow the manufacturer's break-in recommendations over the first and the second 600 miles. Whether or not this may have made a measurable difference in how efficient our Rondo turns out to be remains to be seen. Some Kia owners have claimed it can take several thousand miles before Kia's engines may fully loosen up and realize their best fuel economy results.
 
We'll see.

Messages Page 19 of 22

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