Archives

Scenario: Cross-country trip in Winter with wife, dog, and a fully loaded car (Christmas presents, a closet-load of hand-me-downs, extra suitcase for airline passenger family member).
Car: 2006 AT Hyundai Elantra. Tires inflated to 50 psi, 5W-20W synthetic oil, no other mods. 2008 EPA rated 21 mpg city, 29 mpg highway, 24 mpg combined
Technique: Set cruise control at 63 mph, make frequent rest/pit/dog walking stops. I'll drive ~90% of the trip. My wife will drive the rest. She doesn't know how to set the cruise control, and wouldn't use it anyhow.
Goal: 500 miles/day, driving 10 hrs/day during daylight hours.

How do you think this will turn out? What mpg will we average? Comments?

Caveats: The trip is already underway. I'll get caught up as time allows. I've managed ~34 mpg on 2 tanks of city driving, and 40 mpg on 10 highway tanks with this car hypermiling it in the Summer. For this trip, I won't be actively hypermiling, just setting the cruise control most of the time, and relaxing.

Days 1 & 2. 12/10 Drove from the Bay Area to SoCal, spent the next day visiting with my mom. Wife Tammy didn't set the trip odometer when she filled the car, so the mileage log has no first day entry. We gassed up in Oxnard, CA to officially start the trip. 12/11 We ran some local errands to the Post Office & grocery store

Day 3. 12/12 Drove to Flagstaff, AZ. We got a late start, choosing to wait until the LA rush hour was winding down ~9 a.m. before departing. We still got stuck in stop and go traffic for nearly an hour on Hwy 118 near I-5 in the Northridge/Castaic area. The traffic jam, 4000' elevation gain to our next gas stop in Kingman, AZ, and cold temperatures gave us 393.5 miles on 12.131 gal, for a disappointing 32.4 mpg first tank.

The worst was yet to come. It was dark when we left Kingman at 5 p.m., with 145 miles still to go to Flagstaff. Snow started falling, and we still had another 3000' elevation climb to get to Flagstaff and our motel reservation. I was to rue my decision to leave late for the next 2-1/2 hours. No, make that the next 4 hours. The snow started sticking to the road 5 miles out of Kingman. Instead of 60 mph driving, we followed a tractor-trailer the entire distance, for safety. He went 35-40 mph most of the 140 miles to Flagstaff, with occasional bursts to 55 mph when the roads were merely wet, not snowpacked. It was a good decision. We passed a trooper car at the scene of a hapless car down an embankment, with its lights pointing skyward.

Day 4. 12/13. Flagstaff to Albuquerque. Flagstaff got 6-8" of snow. Our California car was not equipped for winter conditions. We didn't have snow tires, broom, ice scraper, shovel, chains, blankets, etc. At least I have 15 years of snow driving experience. I needed it to rock us out of a driveway depression and countersteer us out of a near spinout this morning.

We expected, and got, improving conditions during the morning, as the snow melted off the plowed and sanded/salted roads. It didn't come soon enough for a semi and pickup truck that we passed as they lay on their sides, attended to by state trooper cars. I tanked up in Joseph City, AZ for tank 2, the (expected) worst tank of the trip: 222.3 miles on 7.721 gal, for 28.8 mpg. 28.8 mpg is bad, but still close to 30 mpg under slippery snow, headlights on, heater on, wipers on driving. And still within kissing distance of the 29 mpg '08 EPA highway estimated fuel economy for the '06 Elantra.

We got to ABQ with daylight to spare, and spent day 5 with my daughter's family, unloading the back load of hand-me-down clothes, and Christmas presents. The snow followed us to ABQ as rain, but the snow at higher elevations closed the lodge at Sandia Crest, and kept me from birding for the Black Rosy-Finch and Brown-capped Rosy-Finch.

I filled tank 3 on day 6, 12/15, outside of ABQ: 293.1 miles on 6.763 gal for 43.3 mpg.

Day 6 (12/15) we drove from ABQ to Wichita Falls, TX. I worried about snow on the mountain roads of I-40 east of ABQ. but the roads were dry. We filled tank 4 the next morning: 494.4 miles on 13.513 gal, for a 36.6 mpg tank average. Wichita Falls was dark under storm clouds when we arrived. I attributed some of our poor mpg to 20-30 mph crosswinds all day from SE winds blowing up from the gulf. Sub 50 degree weather didn't help.

Day 7 (12/16) was from Wichita Falls to Alexandria, LA, still fighting 20-30 mph winds, except they were mostly headwinds today. Dry roads, overcast, with (finally) warmer temperatures in the mid-60s by afternoon. We started with temperatures in the mid-30s. We tanked up tank 5 the next morning: 464.4 miles on 13.104 gal = 35.4 mpg

Day 8, 12/17. Alexandria, LA to Panama City, FL. Had dinner with friends. We drove in temperatures as warm as 69-74 degrees. Filled tank 6, 345.9 miles on 11.34 gal = 30.5 mpg. The SG showed we were getting ~35 mpg, so the discrepancy has to be catching up from accumulated short fills. This was a very disappointing tank.

Day 9, 12/18. Panama City, FL to Brunswick, GA. My wife's family is from the Panama City area, so we drove around looking at old houses, visited a cemetery, etc. I haven't tanked up yet. I'm hoping the return trip with warmer temps will improve our mpg. Right now we're averaging 35 mpg for the 2400 miles from CA to FL. We'll be in GA for the week.

BTW, 63 mph indicated (what the cruise control is set at) is actually 60 mph.

Day 12, 12/21. We've been making short trips around town. Today we were going to drive 120 miles round-trip to Savannah, so I tanked up. Tank 7 was 411.2 miles on 11.00 gallons, for 37.4 mpg. Our avg stands at 35.3 mpg for 2811 miles.

I've planned our itinerary for the return trip. Since we'll have time zone changes to our advantage going westbound, I'm planning to average 550 miles/day. I'm hoping we'll average ~38 mpg on the return trip, but realistically expecting 36-37 mpg. We'll see.

Expected overnight stops are Slidell LA, Fredericksburg TX, Las Cruces NM, Blythe CA, and my mom's in the Simi Valley before returning home to the Bay Area.

Good luck and maybe your weather will be better on the return trip.

Thanks. I don't see how I could do worse on the return trip, but I hope I don't learn how.

Hi Darrel:

You should be on the flip side as I type this now, right? Break out the digital point and shoot and post some pics when you get the chance!

It is also great to see you besting the EPA so significantly even while loaded down too :)

I have to tow a rather large U-Haul trailer behind the MDX from Northern IL to Southern CA in two days and I am not looking forward to the results.

Wayne

Tanked up leaving Brunswick this morning. 261.5 miles on 8.316 gal for 31.4 mpg with ~33% local short hops.

Today is Day 17, 12/26/11, driving from Brunswick to Slidell, LA. Second tank today was in Loxley, AL: 422.4 miles on 10.027 gal for 42.1 mpg. I'm at 35.64 mpg for 3500 miles.

Just for you, Wayne. First, a photo of our car in the motel parking lot in Flagstaff after the 140 mile snow drive. The snow half covered the headlights and tried to close off our grill.
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x397/BestmpgxB/100_0140Medium.jpg

My wife, daughter, & a Scion owner friend in Savannah.
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x397/BestmpgxB/100_0172Medium.jpg

Ouch! I destroyed the '06 Elantra's engine Tuesday. Leaving Slidell, there was no heat coming into the cabin. My mind didn't comprehend what was going on until it was too late, on the freeway with the coolant temperature pegged at 287 degrees F.

We had the car towed to a nearby Hyundai dealership. It needed a new engine, but they're back ordered with no estimated shipment date. The search for a used engine could take a week, while we'd have to live in a motel.

The dealership only had one used car that was remotely suitable, an '08 Sonata with 85k miles and a 3.3 liter V-6. I ended up buying a 2012 AT Elantra at MSRP, with a $600 trade-in credit for the old car. Following photo shows old car next to the new one.
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x397/BestmpgxB/100_0174Medium.jpg

The first three tanks in the new car are promising, but also disappointing. We're averaging 33.3 mpg driving at the speed limit (80 mph in central/west TX) to get back on schedule, while varying speeds during break-in. The current tank is the only tank I've driven at sane speeds, and it's showing ~41 mpg in mixed 60-65 mph driving per the AFCD and still-uncalibrated SG. 33 mpg with 70-80 mph speeds isn't bad, but we're not seeing mid-high 40s at hypermiling speeds, yet, either. I'll be filling the current tank this morning.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, but congrats on the new car!

Yikes!!
I've done the middle part of your trip maybe 8 times(both ways) over the last 10 years.
New Orleans to Flagstaff AZ.Depending on the car it is 3020 or 2990 miles one way.
All but once was summer-and I always got better mpg W>E that E>W except it was a bit closer with the Suburban(think I drove faster on return trip)
Ive done it with
1998 Tacoma AT 4 CYL-23mpg E>W 25MPG W>E- actual average was 24mpg-doing 72mph
2001 Tundra 4.7 V-8 15.9 average-about 1mpg better W>E
2003 Honda Pilot 3.5 V-6 AT ROOF BASKET -HORRENDOUS 16MPG-on two trips.But we had a roof basket-stuffed to gills and drove 70+ mph!
2003 Pilot-NO ROOF BASKET- "built" a carrier basket that I suspended from bike rack and sat on back bumper shelf 22.3 MPG YES 22.3 MPG- same speeds same car same time of year-once again better W>E about 1.5mpg better
1998-Suburban two trips 21.3 mpg-barely under the Pilot- but now I am driving 65mph or less-probably 5 mph less than with Pilot-not much W>E difference-probably drove faster.

Not sure why we always got measurably better W>E mpg-suspicion is prevailing winds.
The 7000 foot altitude drop should be just 1/2 gallons or so of the 3 gallon difference.

How did the engine destroy itself??
Lost coolant? No coolant would mean no heat going to the cabin.
If I had no heat I would figure "bad" HVAC not no actual coolant. I would be foolin' with the switches-trying to get some heat-
I would probably completely MISS the water temp gauge until it was too late! Probably would figure no coolant was getting to midget radiator under dash-switch problem.

On the bright side -it is nice to have a new car!!

80MPH-were you on I-10- just W of San Antonio heading to El Paso- it was 80mph?? I-40 my memory says was 70-75 in TX- but 75 in NM AZ??
We did all 3 routes-across TX- most often not the I-10 route
So why did the engine fail? On long trips I get hypnotized-I would never notice the gauge has suddenly changed-until I smelled cooked motor-but you car probably doesn't let engine bay smells in.
Charlie

Note to self :

Pay more attention to coolant temp gauges.

I was proud of daughter #1 , who DID pay attention to her gauges ( and loss of cabin heat) in time to avoid engine damage when her radiator developed a fatal leak a few weeks ago. But I can also understand that when driving thousands of miles in a few days' time , one can be lulled into a dazed complacency. I once drove about ten miles with the temp gauge pegged in the Si after hitting a large-ish racoon and losing all or most of my coolant. No damage, thank Honda.

Good luck with your excellent new Hyundai , Darrell.

Sorry to hear Darrell, but alas, bet of luck with the new beauty! I was really glad to see that picture and not one of a wreck!

I'm surprised more manufacturers haven't put in warning chimes for stuff like that. My car likes to make noises about everything, it beeps for simple stuff like washer fluid low, parking brake still engaged, or low fuel warning. Hoping if it ever starts overheating, it'll beep about that too. Nice upgrade though! The Elantra and Sonata look nice to me in light colors.

Two observations:

1 - Looking at the photo above, it is easy to see how the Elantra has grown in half a decade. The '11-'12 appears wider and taller, and I'm not entirely sure it's a photo-perspective error or a lighter colored car looking larger than a darker colored car.
2 - If you haven't checked the tire pressures, make sure they have enough air in them. In this car, you will see a 10psi difference show up clearly in the FCD result.

41mpg at 65mph loaded with passengers and luggage sounds about right for a brand new car. As the engine loosens up, the numbers will improve. Also, low temperatures and headwinds eat into FE. And finally, remember that the odometer is very likely off by about 3.5%. You may want to take advantage of the mile markers on the interstates and measure the degree of error. If it's 3.5-3.8% under like other Elantras, your actual mpg will be about 1.5mpg higher than calculated.

Two observations:

1 - Looking at the photo above, it is easy to see how the Elantra has grown in half a decade. The '11-'12 appears wider and taller, and I'm not entirely sure it's a photo-perspective error or a lighter colored car looking larger than a darker colored car.


Elantra's have moved from the compact to intermediate car size at the rental companies I deal with, so indeed they have continued to grow as they age. Someone could see if they have also gained weight. Base model I had rented before Christmas had no spare, as in air pump and sealant can. Weight and cost saving for sure.

Car had 18K, a lot of road noise but nice seats and likely easy epa numbers if the MN head wind hadn't been doing 20+.

Bummer to lose a vehicle on a road trip:(. Hope all is well again and you are liking the new Elantra.

Mike

Hey- you are right-give me noise when I lose coolant oil or trans fluid,
Forget the "you haven't fastened your seat belt" noise.And the "you are backing up noise" I have a horn-I always hit it when I back up-neighborhood cats etc.Besides-I back slowly!!
We have info overload-zillion readings-zillion switches-that water temp gauge needs to be LOUD!!

New cars are FUN!!
Full MSRP?? Is that what they go for- or was it a "captive buyer" price?? Not as if you can do much shopping in that situation-$1000-$1500 doesn't seem worth bothering with when you are 2500 miles from home!
Charlie.

The Elantra is selling right around MSRP because they are selling as fast as they can be built. The captive-buyer price would have had an extra 500-1000 worth of pinstriping, glass etching, free-range natural-fiber trunk mats, custom mud flaps, and other dealer installed essentials.

And 600 for an '06 Elantra with a bad engine isn't too insulting considering many dealers don't offer more than 100-200 for a car that won't run. Sounds to me like one of the mechanics in the shop spotted an incoming exc-cond Elantra and he wanted the carcass to do a quick engine swap and trans-fluid change so he can get himself a nice daily driver.

So they treated him OK in Slidell?? Good to know-we-Louisiana- have PLENTY of chiseling dealers.
And yeah-$600- not running-even worse with a toasted engine-it is worthless until someone spends many hours of labor(probably 30-40 hours if you are shade tree doing it in driveway-12 hours mechanic with air tools lift etc) hunts up a good used motor(maybe $1000+)
You are right-a mechanic spotted it-and he has his eye on a totaled one with a good motor trans.
It will be a a great upgrade for him.Mechanics work really hard now-$40000 if they are lucky around here-he'll put maybe $1200(he'll have gotten the engine cheap) and 12 hours and will have a great car.

What a bummer Darrell toasting your engine and being away from home and all. My regrets on your emotional and financial hits but I hope you are happy with your new car. Given the overall buying conditions you will probably be hard pressed to be satisfied. Give it time. I find as I get older I'm not much satisfied with anything but then again I don't expect to be either.

On another note the ultra-gauge has alarms you can set with variable tolerance limits and then both visual and I believe audio alarms flash and sound. I know there is one for coolant temp that sounds an alarm, I have one and I want to get one for my wife's 2009 Elantra which doesn't have a temp gauge! It was a feature they removed the second half of the model year so there's only an idiot light. It's a nice feature of the gauge, I don't know if the scangauge offers alarms also but I imagine it would.

Thanks, everyone, for your kind thoughts. It helps to know I'm not the only idiot who doesn't check their car daily on a 3 week trip.

The dealership, Northpark Hyundai in Covington, LA, treated us well. They showed me their invoice as proof they were only making a $500 profit on the sale. Barring a hidden dealer incentive, that's not much wiggle room. Thanks to the Hyundai threads on this site, I was aware of the average $250-$500 sale price below MSRP. I was pleasantly surprised to receive anything for the old car, which was in really good condition other than the blown engine.

Our salesman even phoned us yesterday as we were nearing the AZ border. XM radio (free 3 month subscription) and our Bluetooth phone connection are two of the best features of the new car. The only frill we didn't need or want was a $198 glass etching charge the dealership puts on all its cars.

I didn't ask the service guy what might have caused the engine's death. I'd had the belts changed before the trip. I'm guilty of not checking fluid levels daily. But the overheating could have come from a bad water pump, burst coolant hose, stuck thermostat, or? My Scangauge doesn't give audible alarm warnings. As noted above, the Ultra-gauge does.

I solved the mpg issue yesterday by inflating the tires from their 32 psi (hot) pressure to 55 psi when I finally found a gas station with an air hose. My previous tank at sane speeds (60-65 mph) was 38 mpg. The next tank was 48 mpg, and I had the AFCD up to 50 mpg several times. What an amazing difference a few lbs of air make! The new car had a few frills - 205/55-16 wheels/tires among them, so I did check odometer and speedometer error. Over 50 miles, against my GPS, there's a 2.6% odometer underreporting error. The speedometer also underreports, by about the same %.

If you haven't checked the tire pressures, make sure they have enough air in them. In this car, you will see a 10psi difference show up clearly in the FCD result.
I solved the mpg issue yesterday by inflating the tires from their 32 psi (hot) pressure to 55 psi when I finally found a gas station with an air hose. My previous tank at sane speeds (60-65 mph) was 38 mpg. The next tank was 48 mpg, and I had the AFCD up to 50 mpg several times. What an amazing difference a few lbs of air make!
Bingo!
If the rear axle hop becomes objectionable, lower the rear pressure to about 80% of the front axle pressure. With the full complement of passengers and luggage, you won't notice it, but with one aboard and plenty of air in the tires, the rear axle has been known to do the bunny hop on sharp bumps.

The new car had a few frills - 25/55-16 wheels/tires among them, so I did check odometer and speedometer error. Over 50 miles, against my GPS, there's a 2.6% speedometer underreporting error.
Compare also to mile markers along the interstates and you may find the error is closer to - if not more than - 3%.

You should notice the car glides much better than the '06, and the fuel cut is excellent - down to 20mph in some instances - so there is a lot of good stuff to work with, and the car responds very well to intermediate techniques.

Safe travels. :)

We're home, after 6000 miles and 3 weeks on the road. We visited with >20 family members in 5 cities in 4 states, and with 10 friends. Photo of my beautiful daughter & her plain sister
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x397/BestmpgxB/IMG_0137Small.jpg
Another photo of my beautiful daughter & her plain cousin.
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x397/BestmpgxB/IMG_0150Small.jpg

You know your Elantras, MaxxMPG. I need to recalibrate glide distances with the new car. My boxy xB glides like a lead sinker, compared to this streamlined new car.
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x397/BestmpgxB/100_0182Small.jpg

I averaged 35.4 mpg over 3600 miles in the '06 Elantra. My overall average for the '12 Elantra is 39.1 mpg over 2300 miles, including 1200 miles of speed limit driving. After inflating the tires on the '12 Elantra and slowing down to 60-65 mph, I'm averaging 44.7 mpg over the last 1100 miles in the new car.

I drove to our local Costco on the frontage road and back on the highway today. It looks like the highway at 55 mph gets better (45+ mpg) results. The 6 speed AT doesn't hold 6th gear TC lockup at 45 mph, and wants to be in 5th gear at 40 mph.

Hey they are both cute-no doubt favor their mothers!!!

What is you best guess on 60 mph or 65mph fuel economy on the two?

On the overheating cooked engine.
We-well mainly me-drove two 3000 mile trips with a leaky radiator-heck even let it idle for 6 hours straight-twice per trip-PURE LUCK!!
This FSP Suburban is idiot owner proof to some extent. I need idiot owner proof vehicles!!

Charlie




44mpg true midsized non hybrid car- 10 years ago I would have bet dollars to donuts that it wasn't possible-certainly not from a HYUNDAI-they were pieces of junk in the early 90's with worst in class FE.

Charlie, I had a 10 tank Summer highway average of >40 mpg with the '06 Elantra. I'm guessing the 2012 Elantra is easily capable of 50 mpg on Summer highway trips.

I'm very sorry you had to go through that, Darrell. :( On the other hand, look what a jewel it got you into! :D:thumbs_up:

Thanks, Sean. It was an experience I hope never to have to repeat. My wife has to drive an automatic because of her arthritis. I wonder what I'd have bought under other circumstances? A Leaf? A Prius? Or the same Elantra?