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Rented a basic economy car in ABQ for a vacation trip with my wife and granddaughter (HS graduation present).

Car is a bare bones 2010 Kia Rio, with manual windows and door locks, and no cruise control. Alamo wanted $10/day for a co-driver - too steep. We picked up the car 5/20 and packed it for departure 5/21. It had 1226 miles on it, and had no dings - amazing for a rental car. It's surprisingly roomy. We got three small suitcases, a laptop, and two day packs in the trunk. The food went in the back seat with the granddaughter.

5/21 I drove 520 miles from ABQ to Estes Park, CO. The Scangauge started with a 13.5% calibration, the same as in my wife's Elantra and my Scion xB. The Kia comes with a 1.6 L VVT engine, close to my Scion's 1.5, so that's where I started. I could see the mpg was optimistic, as current avg mpg went as high as 53 mpg, and it was actually about 41 mpg for the tank. I gassed up after 318.5 miles, and it only took ~7.77 gal, for a 40.94 mpg average. After the fill-up, I adjusted the SG calibration to 22%, mindful that the tank may not have really been full when we picked the car up. We stopped at the site of the Ludlow Massacre, where 27 miners were fired, and killed when they refused to leave the town. There was a Prairie Dog colony nearby. We also saw several groups of Pronghorns, long before we got to Wyoming (the next day).

5/22 we drove into Rocky Mtn NP, and found a herd of Elk inside the main entrance. Trail Ridge Road was closed, so we were unable to go above timberline. I drove us up to the Black Hills via Nebraska, which was surprisingly lush and green, and not nearly as flat as I expected. We saw a couple of groups of Bison and Pronghorn up close, in Wind Cave NP south of Custer, SD. I tanked up in Scottsbluff, NE and got a very impressive 46.3 mpg for 445.8 miles. My main hypermiling techniques have been to HS P&G, between 50 (actually 55 more often than not) and 65 mph. The mpg was a bit pessimistic, so the SG calibration went back to 18.5%.

The Kia seems to do well under those conditions, as I was able to raise my indicated mpg avg into the mid-high 40s regularly with this routine yesterday. It's starting out soundly beating the Toyota Yaris I rented for a week last Summer. The Yaris averaged 41 or 42 mpg over 3 tanks, with just me and my grandson and our luggage, driven about the same. The Kia is doing it with three people and a full complement of luggage

Today's tank will be much worse, ~40 mpg, because of heavy 40-50 mph crosswinds and headwinds that were sending tumbleweeds flying.

Impressive, Darrell! It sounds like Hyundai has made serious improvements there as well as in other new offerings. :thumbs_up:

Yes, we've owned 3 Hyundais in our family, and they've all been reliable. I've avoided considering Kia's because of their earlier reputation. Now I'll definitely consider one for my next car. Hyundai has apparently upgraded Kia's image considerably.

The only flaw I've found so far is a horrible wind-induced roar (actually more of a honk) that occurred twice yesterday under ferocious quartering winds. At first I thought some approaching motorcyclists had honked at me, but then it happened again with no one else around. My guess is a body panel goes into harmonic vibration under those conditions.

I'm thinking the Rio is a serious contender with the Fit and Yaris now. I wouldn't have considered it before, because my Hyundais didn't have DFCO. The one I'm driving does seem to have DFCO, although I'm not able to successfully isolate the conditions that bring it on.

The Rio seems to like acceleration under ~87 LOD once TC lockup occurs.

I've heard that noise in my Elantra as well — it seems to be related to the shape of the side view mirror and the gap from the rest of the body. It does sound like a "honk!"

Tanked up today in preparation for driving to SW MN and NE IA tomorrow. Last tank was 293 miles, and only a 38.13 mpg avg for the tank. The ferocious winds and local tourism cut my mpg, as expected. We saw the Crazy Horse Memorial from the highway, and visited the Mt. Rushmore memorial, Jewel Cave NM, and Wind Cave NP. Last tank was an outlier, although tomorrow we'll be facing 15-25 mph crosswinds in western SD.

We'll visit Wall Drug and the Corn Palace in Mitchell, then past Sioux Falls into MN and down to IA just so my wife and granddaughter can say they've been in those states. I'll probably just go a straight 60 mph for time, and to see how the mpg is at a constant 60 mph (the engine turns 2400 rpm @ 60 mph).

Strong crosswinds again yesterday crossing SD. It was an outlier day. First tank started with Scangauge indicating 40 mpg, but dropping steadily as the wind picked up. MPG dropped to an indicated 35 mpg at steady 60 mph, and to 32 mpg at 70 mph. Second tank was only 31.3 mpg, as I was pushing 70 mph to get to Sioux Falls before rush hour. We reached it at 4:10 p.m., and discovered there is no rush hour.

Today was a little better. First tank was corrupted by about 50 miles driven in yesterday's crosswinds. The tank average was 36.31 mpg. Second tank was back up to 43.91 mpg, as I went back to high speed P&G.

We had a short drive from Riverton, WY to the Star Valley and back to Jackson Hole. We'll be here sightseeing for the next 3 days. Today's tank was 250.3 miles on 5.926 gal, for 42.24 mpg. Pretty decenf for an automatic transmission non-hybrid on completely unfamiliar roads, and loaded to near-capacity

Tanked up again this morning atter driving through Grand Teton and Yellowstone NPs yesterday. 383.8 miles on 8.422 gal, for 45.57 mpg. I can safely say that ~45 mpg is probably achievable with every tank under normal driving conditions. I found the 1.6 VVT engine will enter DFCO in neutral, and stay in it in drive and 2nd gear on steep downhills, when the engine is warmed up. I've rung up five tanks over 40 mpg with this rental with 3 people and all our luggage. The three tanks under 40 mpg came when we were fighting 40 mph crosswinds.

Wow! It enters DFCO in neutral??? I've never heard of a car doing that before.

Wish mine would do that! :o

Yes, it definitely enters DFCO in neutral, according to my ScanGauge. Hyundai/Kia engineers must have programmed the ECU to do that. Sunday 5/30. 400+ mile tank should be another ~45 mpg tank driving from Cody, WY to Missoula, MT.

I squeezed in a couple more tenths of a gallon into the tank today, bringing the mpg down to 43.13 mpg for yesterday's drive. Current tank is ~ 350 miles @46 mpg, per my Scangauge.

My trip is over. Overall, I totaled 3586.4 miles and used 82.694 gallons, for an average of 43.37 mpg. If I throw out the two outlier tanks where I was fighting 40+ mph crosswinds, my other tanks averaged 45.05 mpg! That's darned impressive for an AT automobile loaded with three people and driven on unfamiliar roads. My last two tanks over 750 miles were both 49.7 mpg (!), although the last tank was a short fill. I didn't want to give the car rental company a full to the brim tank.

A Kia Rio or Hyundai Accent will definitely be a candidate for my future automobile stable in the future, considering what this AT Rio was able to accomplish with three people and all our luggage, driven on unfamiliar roads.

My FE avg for the 12 day road trip was 145% of the EPA's 30 mpg combined FE estimate, although it's only 120% of the 36 mpg highway estimate. If I throw out the 2 outlier tanks, I got 150% of the EPA combined mpg estimate, or 125% of the highway estimate.

last month, i rented a 2010 Rio (daily drive on the shop) and i got about 47mpg over a 3 day period and 63 miles (1.33 gals), it was the auto tranny and a 50/50 city/hwy driving... prety good for an auto (i think)...

47 mpg with an AT is quite impressive.