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Hi guys. I have a 2011 Sonata Limited (auto transmission, 2.4L 4cyl) and will be taking a trip from Pittsburgh, through West Virginia, up to the New Jersey suburbs of New York and back starting today. The last trip I took from Pittsburgh to New York and back gave me 36 MPG, but I figure that I should be able to do better than that - I was able to wring 34 MPG out of our (thankfully departed) 6-cyl Pontiac G6.

Any suggestions about what I can do to improve this? The last few trips I've taken in the Hyundai have all been slightly below that - 35 on a trip coming back from South Carolina to Pittsburgh, and I was not being a speed demon on these trips, either.

Thanks in advance!

Wow -- when did you pick up that gem of a vehicle?? :thumbs_up:

Keep your speeds down and do your best to DWL over any undulations. Put the AC on full cold and manually pulse it to keep consumption down if you need to use it. Do whatever you can to keep rolling -- a large car guzzles when it has to start from a stop!

Had it since November - my wife does some travelling for her job, so it was a good fit for her. USAA Car Buying Service FTW on the pricing, too. I've always been skeptical of in-car nav systems, but I'm glad we splurged for it. This one works well, and the backup camera is really helpful, too!

Thanks for the suggestion about pulsing the AC, hadn't considered that one. I try to DWL going up hills (have a Scangauge, of course,) I'm just used to being able to keep ahead of the new EPA highway rating regardless of the car I'm in, and this one is proving to be tougher for me....

I'm finding it hard to keep above 35 MPG because city driving keeps dragging it down. Clocked in a 34.0 on the last fillup, but that was a 600 mile tank, so it isn't like it's the end of the world, though. Keeping it at 55 on the Turnpike really helped.

Still, any more suggestions are welcome....

Depending on your mix of city driving, you're doing very well with the Sonata. EPA is 22/35 and 26 combined, based on 55% city and 45% highway. If you're hitting EPA highway in a combined driving commute, you're no slouch! Keep up the good work, and look for opportunities to let the Sonata glide in a NICE-on and keep it rolling as much as possible when in town.

Thanks! Alas, the 34-36 numbers were not really combined - they were mostly highway (though with some city traffic and a few stop-and-go traffic jams - probably 85% highway/15% city.) Overall average since getting the car is 27.2 - my wife uses it for a lot of city driving, but it's balanced by the fact that it's our go-to road trip car, and when I use it for my commute to work, it's more of a true 50/50 city/highway split.

I hadn't been doing much NICE-on, I might give that a try.