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Hyundai Elantra Real World MPG 2012

745 messages,  Last post on May 18, 2013 at 10:29 AM

You are in the Hyundai Elantra Forum.

What is this discussion about? Hyundai Elantra, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), Hatchback, Sedan

Messages Page 47 of 75

#457 of 745 Re: Hyundai MPG [madmax512] by crankeee

Apr 27, 2012 (2:29 pm)

Replying to: madmax512 (Apr 27, 2012 1:15 pm)
Max: agree with your comment on the computer MPG. Felt compelled to reply to your comment on German vs. other imports. I have driven for over 50 years and have to say that some of the best cars we had were Japanese in terms of value, durability, reliabilty and ergonomics. Comparing the Elantra to a comparable price German car would be tough since that would be an Opel, Voklswagen or whatever they sell for $20,000. Consumer mags have been pretty tough on the big name German cars we all know. VERY expensive to buy, drive and maintain and poor overall grades for quality - esp. long term with VERY high maintenance costs for the A's, B's and M's of the world. Guess if you pay $40-$80,000 for a car you don't care since you get free maintenance for 3 years at that price. The current Korean cars are getting pretty good consumer's comments and for the price are often deemed value vehicles - that term applies to few German made "upscale" machines.

#458 of 745 Re: Hyundai MPG [madmax512] by fushigi

Apr 27, 2012 (3:19 pm)

Replying to: madmax512 (Apr 27, 2012 1:15 pm)
If you are using the computer you are not getting the real results.
 
There is a potential for that, yes. Trip computers can be off by as much as a couple of MPG. But I already countered that argument by stating that the 40 reported by the computer represented suboptimal conditions. There's no reason to think the number reported wouldn't be higher if conditions were better.
 
I am glad however you enjoy your car.
 
As I stated it is my wife's car, not mine. If it were mine I'd be able to tell you the exact MPG as I track economy (via miles driven/gallons consumed, not the TC) and vehicle expenses on my cars with a spreadsheet. My V6 AWD CUV, for instance, has a lifetime MPG of 21.15 but my last tank got 24.13. EPA is 20 overall/24 highway so in the grand scheme of things I'm exceeding expectations.
 
IF you ever owned a german car and understood the quality..
 
Nope. Never have and probably never will. Literally everyone I've ever known who has owned a VW loved the car but would never buy another due to reliability issues. And every issue was a few hundred bucks in repairs. That speaks wonders about German quality, at least from one manufacturer. They all - every last one of them - replaced their German cars with Asian cars.
 
There are many more people on here have an issue with trying to get 40 mpg..
 
In terms of active posters, yes. In terms of numbers of Elantra owners who are dissatisfied, we really don't know. There are perhaps 10 or 20 dissatisfied owners who post here. Maybe more. I haven't counted. But Hyundai is selling around 15K Elantras a month, give or take.
 
And many folks are failing to account for the 40MPG being just part of the actual range, which is something like 34-43MPG highway. Anything in that range is considered normal by the DoE.
 
..and then it also could be some cars in the production do and others dont? But again that would point to a lack of engineering perfection.
 
Or it would point to the various reasons that have been pointed out time and time again as to why people might not be getting the economy they expected. Or a bad batch of parts from a supplier.
 
Automotive engineering perfection has yet to be achieved. By any company.

#459 of 745 Re: Hyundai MPG [madmax512] by backy

Apr 27, 2012 (6:25 pm)

Replying to: madmax512 (Apr 27, 2012 1:15 pm)
IF you ever owned a german car and understood the quality and feel of a precisely engineered vehicle you might understand more of what the Elantra lacks?

What I can't understand is, why did you ever buy an Elantra in the first place? Since you love German engineering and needed 40+ mpg, I would think you would have gone for the Jetta or Golf TDI.
 
I do appreciate the Golf and it's on my shopping list for my next car. But I don't like diesels, so I could never hit 40 mpg in the 2.5L Golf. But I know I could do that in the Elantra, because I've done it. For the few miles a year I drive, 35 mpg highway in the Golf is close enough.

#460 of 745 Re: Real World MPG at fuelly.com [ronnomad] by ronnomad

Apr 29, 2012 (3:59 pm)

Replying to: ronnomad (Apr 12, 2012 10:48 pm)
Continuation of my last post #405
 
Just took a round trip Mesa, AZ - Tucson, AZ. Most driving on I10 where speed limit is mostly 75MPH (a few construction zones where it drops to 65). The speed limit on most of the other Hwys in the Phoenix area are set at 65MPH. Tucson (for those not familiar) has no city Hwy system (all streets with traffic lights and speed limits of 40-45 MPH). In addition to the Elantra's readouts, I also took my Garmin out of the Jetta for comparisons sake and the fact that the Garmin has a trip computer.
 
Some facts: I took the info from the Garmin when we arrived at our initial destination in Tucson and then again when I refueled at home.
 
                                      OUT BACK Elantra
Distance...................... 115.9 126.5 237.9
Overall AVG MPH........... 53.4 46.0 51.0
Moving AVG MPH........... 59.5 51.8
Max Speed.................... 82.3 76.9
Stopped Time (min)....... 13.5 18.3
 
The two Max Speed number were both passing situations and lasted less than 30 seconds. Otherwise, based on the Garmin's satellite readout, I never exceeded the speed limit.
 
According to the Elantra's readout, for the entire trip we averaged 33.6MPG.
Based on the amount of fuel used, the average was 33.46MPG. I did find it interesting that according to the Garmin the distance traveled came to 242.4 miles (4.5 additional miles or just under 2% more). But, if that is correct, it changes the fuel economy to 34.1MPG.
 
Another pieces of info. There were only 2 of us in the car (together we weight under 260) and the AC was on. At 75MPH the Tach indicated approximately 2,500RPM. Drove very conservatively...no jack rabbit starts...slowly built up to speed limits and kept in highest gear possible (no abrupt downshifts...except for the passing situations). I did notice that, at the beginning of the trip, once I got on the first 65MPH road (about 6 miles into the trip) that the AVG MPG indicator was creeping up past 34MPG but then dropped once the speed limit went up.
 
So, what do I take from all of this? Still not getting the MPG expected (especially when considered against how aggressively I drive the Jetta which, at the same 75MPH speed, would be turning about 3,500RPM and I still would be getting 30+MPG). Even if we could have averaged 35MPG, that is still 13% below the EPA estimate of 40MPG.
 
I will say this. I probably would be less focused on the fuel economy if the car was more 'fun' to drive. But, it really does not handle that well; has three obvious (and in certain instances, dangerous) blind spots; automatically downshifts on the gentlest slopes; and the SAT/NAV system is a joke (on this trip it directed me to a route that was 30 miles and 45 minutes longer than my Garmin - not the first time this has happened).

#461 of 745 Re: Real World MPG at fuelly.com [ronnomad] by m6user

Apr 29, 2012 (4:42 pm)

Replying to: ronnomad (Apr 29, 2012 3:59 pm)
Don't understand why you think you should have averaged 40mpg. Your trip included surface streets, stop lights, idle time and on the freeway portions you were probably at around 70mph or more most of the time. I believe the Elantra EPA combined number is around 33. Your combined mpg for the trip was over that so why would you complain about that? Or am I missing something?

#462 of 745 Re: Real World COMBINED MPG [m6user] by g2iowa

Apr 30, 2012 (9:36 am)

Replying to: m6user (Apr 29, 2012 4:42 pm)
Great point about the combined mileage result and EPA estimate. Too bad the manufacturers mainly tout the highway mileage figure, so that uninformed consumers wrongly get the impression that their car should be getting 40 MPG overall when it is only a highway estimate. The EPA combined number is really the one most drivers should be shooting for. I'm getting about that, in light of my heavily city-weighted stop/start short-trip driving. Is a bit odd to see people reselling their Elantra so soon (both because the car's engine does need to break in and they are likely selling at a loss) for more expensive cars in order to achieve next to nothing...3-5 more MPG highway. They won't ever recover the additional expense. Is that penny wise pound foolish?

#463 of 745 Re: Real World COMBINED MPG [g2iowa] by m6user

Apr 30, 2012 (9:46 am)

Replying to: g2iowa (Apr 30, 2012 9:36 am)
Agree that people should be more informed and realistic. However, I suspect very few have taken a huge loss by trading in an almost new car just because of gas mpg. It sounds like there were other things about the car that they personally didn't like after owning it for awhile that they may have overlooked if they were getting better mpg.

#464 of 745 Re: Real World COMBINED MPG [g2iowa] by dc_driver

Apr 30, 2012 (10:26 am)

Replying to: g2iowa (Apr 30, 2012 9:36 am)
What the Consumer Reports tests confirm for me is that most cars (whether it be Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, Chevy, etc) are not going to get the EPA estimated city numbers. Highway, is seems most cars are close. It just comes down to all these other variables and I suspect more people just fixate way to much on the EPA estimates (which are, at the end of the day, estimates).
 
Since moving to Minnesota and doing more city driving (especially shorter trips in very cold weather) I watched the MPG numbers on my Mazda 3 and Honda Odyssey plummet. Was I happy? No. But I understood why. Not exactly ideal driving conditions and I have learned that those shorter trips (lots of stopping and going) in cold weather are a mpg killer. Also letting your car idle for 10 minutes to warm up when it is 20 below is a killer...
 
What is odd about the Elantra is you have a high number of people getting at or near the EPA estimates, and what seems like a high number of people not hitting the numbers or coming close. It is very strange.

#465 of 745 Re: Real World COMBINED MPG [dc_driver] by m6user

Apr 30, 2012 (10:53 am)

Replying to: dc_driver (Apr 30, 2012 10:26 am)
Especially the high number of people that achieved the hwy EPA numbers with prior autos and can't come close to the hwy EPA numbers in the new Elantra even driving more conservatively than they did in their old vehicles. Anyone can understand a big difference if they move to a different part of the country and have vastly different commutes and temp conditions. But when you change nothing but the vehicle and can't get similar results it ends up with a lot of people scratching their heads.

#466 of 745 Re: Real World COMBINED MPG [m6user] by dc_driver

Apr 30, 2012 (11:58 am)

Replying to: m6user (Apr 30, 2012 10:53 am)
Agreed. It is odd. But clearly some people can hit the numbers without changing their driving techniques.. So you can't completely blame the car or nobody would be able to achieve the EPA numbers. Just odd.
 
I am driving an Elantra loaner car while my Genesis Coupe is getting 3M Clearshield installed.
 
Not a bad car. I really like the exterior styling and the interior is nice. This car has over 5K miles on it and the trip computer says 32.7MPG average (and I am guessing most people who drive the loaner are doing a mix of city/highway like me). It has decent acceleration and the handling is actually better than I expected (I liked it better than the non-SE Sonata model I drove).

Messages Page 47 of 75

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