I have a 2011 Sonata that I'm concerned about the fuel economy. I've done fill-drive-fill MPG calculation tests on the car multiple times and I've never had a tank that was more than 21 mpg. The car is rated for 22city/35hwy. Now I live in the Los Angeles area, so I understand that traffic kills fuel economy, but I also do a fair amount of clear highway driving.

If the city mpg is 22 and I'm doing a fair amount of driving at 35mpg, is it naive to think that the average would be somewhere in the middle? Logically it would seem that my city driving was actually well below the 22 mpg mark if it's dragging the average down so much. The eco button is always on (though whether or not that does anything seems to be a matter of debate).

What are other people's real world fuel economy like? I bought this car thinking I was getting some kind of impressive economy but thus far I'm not getting anything better than my old Jetta.

 

How many miles are on the car? Use the A/C alot? Idle much? How do you drive, Dale Earnhardt or grandma?

 

Miles on the car: 2500
I use the AC: When it's necessary (realizing that it does reduce the mpg)
Idle: at traffic lights only

I've brought my car in to Hyundai for service. They said nothing was wrong with the car and the tech drove the car around town and came back with 15mpg average and said that wasn't unreasonable. (are you kidding me?) Ever since then I've been driving like my grandma in a coma to make sure it's not just my driving style. Trying to coast as much as possible with a feather light touch on the gas.

 

First of all, the car is not even broken in. Mileage will increase as you get more miles on the car. A/C and city driving kill mileage. Sounds normal to me as well. Using gas with 10% ethanol lowers fuel economy as well.

 

Case in point- was just driving to work. I drove 2 miles of city streets (approx 40mph) and 5 miles of highway at about 58 mph (half of which was flat and half was DOWNHILL). The AC was not on. The Eco button was on. My average MPG at the end of my trip was 19.1. I simply don't understand how that's mathematically possible unless my city MPG is about 10.

Is breaking in really still a thing? That was for older model cars whose rings needed to settle into position. Even then, it was approximately a 500-1000 mile break in process.

 

How are you determining the MPG? By the computer? That's just an estimate and are you resetting it every time you fill up?

While a specific break-in "procedure" was more for older cars, new engines still take time to loosen up and get to peak MPG.

 

Well yes, on short trips like that I have to determine it based on the computer (which apparently just got a software update on my recent service, so should be relatively spot on). After filling a tank though, I do the math manually to double check it against the computer. It's typically pretty close, and never more than 21 combined average (usually lower).

Appreciate the replies btw.

 

The computer is a cumulative average so you have to reset it after each tank.

 

The computer auto-resets when you fill the tank on the Sonata. Plus I reset it constantly as I'm trying to gauge mpg. For the 19.1 mpg I got this morning, I had just filled the tank and reset the computer.

 

If this helps I am getting in the high 20's in city driving and 35mpg on the highway.

Some also say I drive like grandma.