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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpgElantra owners appear to be happier with real-world fuel economy than competitive rivals owners. (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=327407)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2012_Hyundai_Elantra_-_Coupe.jpgWayne Gerdes - CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) - Dec. 7, 2011

2012 Hyundai Elantra Limited – Starting at 16,445 and provides a 29/40 mpgUS city/highway rating in all trims.

In a release yesterday, as a whole, Hyundai USA has now eclipsed the 600,000 annual sales mark for the first time in its 25-year U.S. history with one really nice product leading the way.

According to the November 2011 Hyundai sales report, Nov. 2011 Sales up 21.8% (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41910), Hyundai has already sold more Elantra’s in the US than ever before (173,336 vs. 119,150, up 45.0%). When including both the US and Canada, 216,331 of the C-Segment beauty’s have reached new owners driveways vs. the 151,735 sold in 2010, a 43 percent increase.

In Canada, Elantra sales through the end of November reached its best-ever year of sales and is said to be a contributing factor in the more recent year-over-year sales gains which now stretches to 35 consecutive months.

Fuel Economy Leadership

The most interesting story regarding the 2011 and 2012 Elantra is not that Hyundai engineered the sedan to achieve a 40 mpgUS highway rating but the fact that for 2011, Elantra sedans lead all competitive manufacturers’ 40+ mpg models on an entire line-up basis! All of them which is impressive feat on its own.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Elantra_40_mpg_sales_chart.jpg
40 mpg Elantra sedan vs. Industry sales comparison.

Elantra’s high level of sales and ever increasing market share ensures that US and Canadian citizens whether they purchased an Elantra of their own or not benefit with an overall reduction in oil consumption and an in-kind reduction in GHG emissions. Both are truly noteworthy achievements.

And no customers in the compact car segment are as happy with their real-world fuel economy as Elantra owners are as measured in a recent JD Power APEAL survey detailing how gratifying a new vehicle is to own and drive. According to the study, Hyundai’s Elantra easily out-paces its rivals including the Ford Focus, Chevy Cruze and Honda Civic.

J.D. Power APEAL Fuel Economy Survey Results

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/JD_Power_APEAL_FE_Survey.jpg

Total Cost of Ownership and Residual Value

Not only does the Elantra provide its owners a low up front price and ongoing savings at the pump over the life of the vehicle, the Elantra also won the ALG US residual value award in the Compact Car segment for the second year in a row (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showpost.php?p=321571&postcount=27). ALG annually recognizes automakers’ achievements in producing new vehicles that are predicted to retain the highest percentage of their original price after a three-year period. Customers are finding comfort in the fact that their Elantra is going to be worth more in three years from now than any other car in the segment.

The following is data that I extracted from fuelly.com on '40 MPG' cars, originally listed in a 2011 Motor Trend article, augmented with some 2012 models and a few other near 40 MPG cars. Because I used fuelly.com, the numbers do not represent hypermilers, the numbers do not represent hypermiling potential and most certainly don't represent the average driver. These are fuelly.com numbers; please use caution when interpreting this chart. The chart content is simple to understand with a bit of study. Sorting is based on fuelly.com MPG from high to low (Prius leads).

http://www.crzforum.com/forum/members/gozoner-albums-fuelly-mpg-summary-picture1417-updated-december.png

Note the final column shows the number of cars contributing to the average. Obviously, a smaller sample of cars makes the mpg less reliable.

http://news.yahoo.com/consumer-watchdog-urges-epa-test-elantra-40-mpg-200222161.html

Hi GoZoner:

Considering the Fuelly drivers, it appears that the Elantra is ahead of the Civic, Focus, Cruze and Corolla erring the volume of Elantra sales, dwarfs the rest?

Mike, EPA numbers are the result of the 5 EPA tests, not made up.

Here is a study of CR’s own results:

What explains Elantra fuel economy concerns that Watchdog created? Some have reported a difference between EPA label values and what consumers are actually achieving.

Consumer Reports achieved a 39 MPG highway result for Elantra, within 2.5 percent of the EPA’s 40 MPG value. Also, Consumer Reports’ city rating, which is a much more severe driving cycle than the EPA city cycle, shows Elantra at 20 MPG. That’s better than Honda Civic at 19 MPG, Focus at 18 MPG, and Cruze at 17 MPG. These results
show rank‐order consistency with the EPA results of Elantra (29), Civic (28), Focus (28), and Cruze (22).

Wayne

Wayne --

It is about perception, no? The 2011 Honda Civic EPA numbers are 25/29/36 with a fuelly.com number at 30.3 - above the combined number. The 2011 Hyundai Elantra EPA numbers are 29/33/40 with a fuelly.com number at 30.7 - below combined. A Honda owner getting 30.5 mpg would be thinking 'yea, that is what I expected' whereas a Hyundai owner would be 'hmmm, something must be wrong'.

But, perhaps I'm a different person. I've learned 'under promise and over deliver'; others have a different approach that works for them. My CR-Z 6MT is EPA rated at 31/34/37, and I'm getting ~43.5 on my commute loop - yeah, I'm really happy; I'd be pissed getting ~32.

Also, great forum and wonderful information. Really appreciated!

-- Ed

Hi Ed:

The CR 's numbers are eye opening and I looked them up after the consumer group PR was posted last week. I collected more from local Chicago area and national auto journalists driving the Elantra, Civic, Focus and Cruze. While all showed truly poor numbers, the average showed the Elantra higher than the others. Except for the Civic. The most fuel efficient vehicle we have driven this year is the Civic HF and HCH-III in fact.

The Civic bested the Elantra which bested the Cruze which bested the Focus in that order.

Wayne

Kia has really mastered the EPA testing cycles.

Hi Herm:

I would say Ford and GM's car teams are the best right now with Toyota's Prius team being number one. Hyundai is pretty darn good too ;)

Wayne

My first-person contribution to this discussion can only be considered anecdotal at best, and nothing approaching scientific, but I'll throw it in anyway!

I had the opportunity to drive the Elantra in both auto and manual transmissions. The auto car was test driven in short loop of around 10 miles, of which 7 or 8 were on the highway. I think my overall mpg number was only around 32, which seemed somewhat disappointing to me.

A few weeks later at a different dealership, I got the chance to take a manual Elantra for a spin. This test loop was again around 10 miles, but was much more stop-and-go in nature, with a short stretch of 55 mph 4-lane divided highway. This loop had some seriously hilly parts through residential areas as well. Somehow, I managed to achieve 41.3 mpg for the test drive!

My conclusion - Hyundai's manuals are awesome, but I don't think I'd take an auto if you gave one to me. Still can't resolve the debate raging in my mind between the manual Elantra and Civic HF, given my love for manuals while at the same time trying not to ignore my great history of reliability with Hondas over the years.

Of course, boasting that the Elantra outsold Toyota's efficient vehicles is Hyundai saying "Japan got hit by an earthquake and tsunami. Isn't it great!"

More data to throw into the mix. I went to fueleconomy.gov, and checked out the figures for the new Elantra.

2011 Elantra / 6A (23 vehicles) : 30.5 mpg
2011 Elantra / 6M (1 vehicle) : 43.0 mpg

2012 Elantra / 6A (19 vehicles) : 29.1 mpg
2012 Elantra / 6M (no vehicles) : -

It looks that on fuelly and fueleconomy.gov, the Focus and Civic are on par or slightly better than the Elantra. Forgot to check the Cruze. I wonder if Hyundai's calibrators are a little better than Ford's and Honda's, or if the Elantra may be more sensitive to driving style than the others.

Our 2012 Civic goes above and beyond EPA MPG without any effort. I applaud all the efforts of those that do all the extra things that are denoted by acronyms (FAS, P&G and such). Have never seen it read lower than 33 MPG all city with my wife driving. See some of my better numbers here: http://www.9thgencivic.com/forum/9th-gen-civic-general-chat/2626-best-mpg-most-miles.html Not knocking the other brands I am just a Honda man: 89 Accord LXi Sedan Manual, 91 CRX DX Manual, 96 Civic CX Manual, 96 Civic EX Coupe Manual, 04 Accord LX Sedan Manual and now my wifes 12 Civic LX Sedan Automatic.

I wonder....... if the Elantra may be more sensitive to driving style than the others.

Despite the Elantra manual 6 speed transmission, highway rpms could be lower(~2200rpm @60mph?). Believe the Eco Cruze is way under 2000rpm at 60mph. With its turbo creating high torque at low rpm, Eco Cruze should be able to make minor speed adjustments or take shallow hills without having to shift down. MPG, going up said shallow hills in high gear, could slump a bit, tho. Got to use intelligent thinking, driving & the car computer to maintain the superb Eco Cruze mpg, when working hills.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/12/900-miles-and-runnin-searching-for-truth-in-a-rented-elantra/

Jack Baruth trashes a rental Elantra at 80mph+ on a long trip and gets 34mpg..

Meanwhile, Tyler Lipa (https://twitter.com/#!/talipa2012) reported

"41 mpg at 75 mph, cruise control in my Accent."

"I think its lead foot drivers living in lala land "

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do?action=browseList2&make=Hyundai&model=Elantra

For those seriously interested in the observed differences between EPA sticker and "real world user values" you will find SAE Technical Papers #2011-01-0618 © 2011: "Predicting Individual Fuel Economy" by Lin, Z., and Greene, D. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is an excellent resource.

Fueleconomy.gov has the words "Your Mileage Will Vary" displayed. Note that they've changed it from "may" to "will".

all i know is.... My LRE is getting low 30's mpgs (colder and rain) now, but has gotten an all time high of 50 MPGave, on the same trip (13.1 miles 1-way with a ton of hills & 9 stops between home and the base but PSL varies from city speeds to 55mph) in 100+ temps no rain. i'm quite happy.