Unexpectedly good results

[2011accent]

I filled my third tank since starting a firm effort to hypermile. I just calculated this tanks mpg at 39.3- the tank before that was 38.4, and the first tank was 38.5. 39.3 seems really good when I thought my efforts on this tank would only net 36ish at best because of the use of A/C and a day trip overs hills. I think the mpg increase must have come from habituating good driving habits during the two previous tanks. Maybe I could reach 44 mpg during August as long as it doesn't get too hot to go without A/C.

I've been reading Consumer reports and Motor Trend recently and it's crazy how low the rate the average mpg for their test cars. I feel more relaxed and less stressed after hypermiling for a few weeks. I wonder how hypermiling could effect society if more people tried to do it.

What are the limits of my 2011 Hyundai Accent GLS 4 door automatic?

[Ophbalance]

Originally Posted by 2011accent

I've been reading Consumer reports and Motor Trend recently and it's crazy how low the rate the average mpg for their test cars. I feel more relaxed and less stressed after hypermiling for a few weeks. I wonder how hypermiling could effect society if more people tried to do it.

It'd make for fewer accidents, less delay's, and therefore happier commuters. Course, it's hard to prove that to someone who doesn't want to change.

Originally Posted by 2011accent

What are the limits of my 2011 Hyundai Accent GLS 4 door automatic?

It depends? I thought Wayne had reviewed an accent at one point, but it was likely a stick. If one of those reviews is hanging about it should tell you what you could expect if you let everything out.

The ceiling (for me) on my 99 Elantra auto was in the high 40s with a very long highway commute. There's fewer options on what you can do with an auto, especially one that's not able to be flat towed (which tends to include the entire Kia/Hyundai line). Very likely, and given that mileage is more important to you than time, I'd think 50 MPG could be doable. It's not something that will happen overnight, but rather something that takes months to really become a second nature every time you're in a car.

[CRT1]

Great work, 2011accent! I find your results perfectly believable. I am one tank ahead of you on the learning curve and now breaking 40mpg with you hot on my heels.

I averaged 41 mpg on a hilly highway stint through northern CT with constant A/C use. These newer AC units seem pretty efficient so long as it is not too hot out and you are moving at a good pace. Really hot and/or slow speed will kill that efficiency.

Also, I find that I can actually get better mileage with some moderate hills because I can use the ICE more efficiently (LOD 70-80%, RMP 1800-2500) on the way up and coast on the way down (preferable with ICE-off), rather than running on the flat with the ICE continuously at an low, inefficient LOD. Notice that I said hills and not mountains . . .

[MaxxMPG]

Originally Posted by 2011accent

What are the limits of my 2011 Hyundai Accent GLS 4 door automatic?

Your 2011 Accent is rated by the EPA at 27/36 and 30 combined. A good target to shoot for is unadjusted CAFE (actual dynamometer test result) numbers. For a 2011 Accent 4AT, that's 34.5 city, 50.4 highway and 40.2 combined. It seems like you're almost there.

Your Accent is not flat towable, so keep the engine running if the car is moving. But if stopped at a long red light, railroad crossing or other extended stop, keying off with the lever in N will help to keep the city driving mpg number up.

[2011accent]

What are the unadjusted cafe standards and is it theoretically possible to surpase them?

I wish I was able to figure out precisely what speed is the most efficient to cruise in. I saw a chart on another thread that indicated a cars best cruising speed is not necessarily the lowest speed in the highest gear. It also seems that the necessity for the torq converter to be locked up seems to be in question. It seems that if a car is traveling on level ground at a constant speed without the torq converter locked up, the torq converter would act like it was locked up as long as there isn't any throttle modulation or change in grade or wind resistence. This torq converter thought would lead me to think that it is better to accelerate slowly rather than quickly accelerating to torq converter lock up speed like some have stated to be their beliefs. I wish I could afford a scan gauge because it seems the only sure way of sorting through these things. I just calculated that, since I drive about 30,000 miles annually, I can almost pay for it if it helps me to get 2 mpg better over the first year of use.

[some_other_dave]

A ScanGauge should help you get rather more than 2 MPG, if you're willing to use the info it shows you.

It is my understanding that torque converters all slip unless they are locked up, so until that lock happens you are always turning some of the engine's power into heat in the converter.

-soD

[MaxxMPG]

Accelerate at a rate that causes the transmission to upshift when the engine is at or just above 2000rpm. I think the '11 Accent should be in top gear (overdrive) with the converter locked by 45mph. It's not easy to know where the sweet spot would be (in the 45-55mph range) without a ScanGage or UltraGauge to see fuel GPH or instant MPG to know for sure. Best guess is 45-50mph on level ground, and 45-55mph on hills, drooping to 45 going up and reaching 55 going down (DWL).

The unadjusted CAFE numbers can be exceeded with intermediate techniques and a very disciplined right foot. These numbers are the actual dynamometer results for the city (FTP75) and highway (HWFET) EPA tests. Until 2011, when the 5-cycle tests were rolled out in force, those two numbers were adjusted downward to make them more "realistic", and rounded to the nearest whole number, and then printed on the window sticker of the car. These numbers should be a goal for budding hypermilers, although not everyone can hit them consistently due to very heavy traffic, trip length issues, or bad terrain or bad weather.

[EdwinTheMagnificent]

THe unadjusted numbers have always been my goal. Now that I've hit the EPA unadjusted highway number, I need another goal. And I need to try a technique I really didn't use yet , because I thought it was too awkward with a slushbox.
Pee and Gee.

[RedylC94]

Before about 1984(?), the actual test results were not "adjusted" (by fudge factors of 0.9 city, and 0.78 highway), although they were rounded to the nearest 1 mpg.

On most tanks (admittedly not always), I exceed the unadjusted highway number in mixed conditions.

[EdwinTheMagnificent]

RedylC94 , I recall that the GLC was able to handily beat that unadjusted number. I found that mine could get 48-49 mpg while driving at 55-57 mph , no DWL. The EPA numbers were 35/45.