Hyundai 2007 Santa Fe 2.7 V6 low fuel mileage

I have this Hyundai with an auto transmission and two wheel drive and I'm getting only about 19-20 in town and 21-22 on the highway.

In town travel is typically with one person and light or no loads. Highway is usually 2 people with up to 100# of load. Highway speeds are not above 60mph with cruise control.

All driving is quite conservative. Air pressure is maintained at

30psi religiously.

The rating EPA is 21/26. I really think I should be getting better given my conservative driving and speeds.

Does anyone experience this same low fuel economy on this vehicle? Any ideas on solutions or paths to pursue? I suspect that my dealer will not be very receptive to diagnostic tests under warrantee since the mileage is not way far out of line and he may just suggest that it is my driving habits.

Reply to
Rich
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The intown mileage looks good, how are you figuring the highway mileage ? How many highway miles were driven to calculate mileage.

You might be able to get slightly better milage with the cruise control off, depending on your driving style.

Better than what, the EPA rating ? The EPA recently cahnged the way they calculate fuel mileage as nobody could get the mileage figures they posted when driving in the real world. You would have to drive like you had an egg under your foot just to get close to EPA estimates.

Other than making sure the engine is in proper tune there is not much you can do.

Reply to
Mike

Someone else already pointed out the old EPA numbers weren't real accurate so they changed the way they figure them. Current EPA is

17/24 on this vehicle so you are doing pretty good.

Gas formulations make a difference too as does the terrain you are driving in.

Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.

Thanks, Steve.

Actually I have found that I can beat the EPA numbers with my conservative driving. And the car is only 6 months old with 12,000 miles, so the air filter and engine tune should be OK. My previous car was a 1999 Cadillac Deville with the 4.6 Northstar V8 and I could routinely turn 20-21 city and 25-26 on the highway. I think this is more than the EPA estimates for that vehicle.

On this Hyundai I have gotten 21-22 around town last October and have turned 27+ on the highway also. I realize that the terrain makes a difference too, but a recent highway trip with 2 people and no cargo from NJ to MA on hilly terrain at 60mph got me only 23.1mpg. I really think I should be doing better.

One of the things I am strongly considering is to get the agressive tread M+S stock tires off and replace them with a high-mileage rated highway tread. I think my mileage should improve by 1-2 mpg and the tire road noise should drop dramatically.

What do you think of this idea?

TIA, Rich

Reply to
Rich

That's not what you stated above.

And the car is only 6 months old with 12,000

EPA estimate for that vehicle is 17 city and 28 highway. I would say that is pretty close.

Is that with the cruise control on ? The reason I ask is that you better the EPA estimate for city driving were I assume cruise control is not used. A person can control the throttle more efficiently than the cruise control can as they are able to see a hill coming up and start to increase the throttle gradually were as cruise control will generally just snap the throttle open when it senses the load. I have always been able to do better than cruise control by at least 2 miles per gallon, more in really hilly terrain.

I don't think it is a good one. Have you figured out how long it will take just to pay for the tires with that small an increase in MPG ? How about this idea that costs nothong to try, raise your tire pressure by about 5 psi and see if that has any affect on your mileage. The pressure chart on the door jamb is meant to give the best ride not so much the best mileage. See if a small increase in tire pressure will help. If you play with tire pressure be sure to monitor tire wear as well.

Reply to
Mike

Driving hilly terrain with the speed control engaged will likely result in lower mpg than if you manage the speed yourself. Cruise controls usually do a decent job on the flats but can go a little crazy in the hill country. I tried a speed control in the drumlin country of Pennsylvania and it could get downright scary.

Reply to
John S.

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