Yet another 2012 Elantra (AT) owner!

SentraSE-R · #1 12-29-2011, 07:26 AM

See my sad story here. I'll update my experience with the new car here.

SentraSE-R · #2 01-01-2012, 01:55 AM

I put 2300 miles on it driving from Louisiana to the Bay Area. I drove it at the speed limit (up to 80 mph in West Texas, varying speeds during break-in) for 1200 miles, then 1100 miles at 60-65 mph. Averaging 39.1 mpg overall, and 44.7 mpg for the last 1100 miles after I raised the tire pressures to 55 psi (hot).

FSUspectra · #3 01-01-2012, 06:50 AM

And it seems you didn't really have to try THAT hard to get those numbers out of a brand new car. Well done! I hope you weren't put out too badly with having to purchase the new car though.

SentraSE-R · #4 01-01-2012, 09:32 AM

All I did was air the tires up, and set the cruise control to 60. In the major cities, I followed trucks at 2-3 seconds behind, and let them make a path for me. They accounted for a lot of my 65 mph speeds.

MaxxMPG · #5 01-01-2012, 12:59 PM

Darrell,

When you get your UG calibrated, set "Relative TPS" as one of the parameters on the first screen and keep it around 9% or less on the highway. Mine seems to follow odd numbers like 8.24%, 8.63%, 9.02%, etc. On level ground at 55-60, those 8.xx% numbers will put the MPG up into the high 40s. That's where lots of air in the tires really helps.

When I installed my snows, I assumed they were at 35psi when they arrived from Tire Rack. On my first highway drive, I noticed I needed 12-14% throttle to maintain 55. Check the pressure (on a very cold night) - 30psi. Break out the compressor and fill them to 40 and it made all the difference in the world. This car does well even with knobby, spongy snow tires.

My '11 Elantra doesn't have Active Eco so its throttle is very finicky. I find the only way I can fine tune throttle position is by actually rotating my hip slightly to bring the right femur forward or backward. No fancy footwork - even barefoot - can consistently dial in the exact throttle position to get highway mpg numbers consistently into the 50s. Once you get the exact 8.xx% TPS value displayed, don't sneeze or it will change.

With your '12 equipped with Active Eco, you can provide valuable data for Elantra owners with A-E, since it is supposed to take that overly sharp response out of the throttle curve.

SentraSE-R · #6 01-01-2012, 08:47 PM

Thanks for the tip, Chris. I keep my Ultra-gauge in my Scion, and the cable is zip-tied in place. I use my Scangauge in my wife's Elantra. When the UG is set to display both TPI and RTP in my Scion, there's a linear relationship: RTP is TPI - 8. I don't know if the same values are present with the 2012 Elantra, but the idle TPI is the same with both vehicles. Driving the Elantra with an SG TPI of 19-20 seems to work to maintain/raise mpg during a test drive this afternoon.