The consensus seems to be that the car has much improved steering, ride and handling. I'm surprised to see it still has drum brakes on the base model. The interior and exterior styling gets mixed reviews.
I took my 2012 Hyundai Elantra Limited with the Tech package on a road trip. My first road trip was when the car only had 200 miles on it. I wasn't expecting much because of the low mileage on the car. I averaged 33 mpg on that trip (PA to Vermont 400+ miles).
However I just took a trip from Burlington, VT to Albany, NY this past week. And boy was I impressed. I decided on my way back to Burlington from Albany I would take pictures of mileage alone the way and explain the speeds I was traveling and terrain. My MD had about 2200 miles when this trip was started.
This trip was done without and I repeat without the ECO mode on. I decided to reset my average MPG on the dash when I left Albany because while I was in Albany I was driving around in the city and such so it originally decreased my beginning trip average MPG to 34 MPG.
This picture was taken at the start of the trip. I originally said to myself, "I just reset it, it's not going to stay there." Blah, blah, blah. However I decided to play with traveling at different speeds. Here is my breakdown: 64 mph or under will get you 40 mpg at least on the highway (flat surface) 65-70 mph will get you about 37-38 mpg 80+ mph will get you about 33 mpg
This breakdown was determined without much use of cruise control and here's why. I will only use cruise control on a flat surface. (Tip 1) I will turn it off when a down hill or uphill is coming, even if it is slight uphill. I use the downhill to my advantage. If you leave the cruise control turned on, it will use less gas however it doesn't let you gain speed. It will try and hold the car back to keep it at that speed. Therefore, you aren't using gravity to your advantage. (Tip 2: Turn the cruise control off on downhills.)
Now let's talk about uphills and cruise control. We all know any kind of incline kills the gas mileage in the MDs. There are plenty of inclines in upstate NY and VT and I still got 40 MPG! Tip 3: Turn the cruise control off about 0.5 miles before any incline on the highway. If you leave the cruise control on during an incline, the car doesn't know how long the incline will last or how steep it is so it will shoot the RPMs way up (3200+) to maintain the cruising speed even if it's a slight incline. This equals a gas mileage killer. So to fix this, the driver knows how steep the incline is and how long it will last therefore the driver can control the RPM's and speed. Every time I encountered an incline, I would increase my speed only about 5 mph prior to the incline. This barely increases the RPMs and you make it up the incline. So what if you loose a couple MPH while going up the incline, you are still maintaining the best MPG possible. It is important to watch your RPMs here because you only want them to slightly increase, you do not want to JUMP UP to 3000+ rpms on an incline.
Now you make think this is common sense or I am full of crap. However I felt I should share my 40 MPG story since most MD owners are saying it is un-achievable.
Below are more random pictures of mileage while I was driving.
Final MPG was 39.1 MPG according to the car. I still have yet to fill up and do the correct calculation because I still have 50 miles at least in the tank.The last 15 miles were full of stop lights every few 100 feet. After every stop light (complete stop), I accelerated slowly. I didn't put the pedal to the floor or anything like that.
Main points from this post:
1) 40 MPG is reachable without the ECO mode 2) Only use cruise control on a true flat surface 3) Turn off cruise control on downhills 4) Turn off cruise control on any inclines.
Thoughts, comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Driving home in a new 11 Elantra Limited w/o nav.... Awesome car. Currently going 70mph into a decent headwind and my mpg is 36.6 over the last 38 miles. Should easily see 40 with no wind, and probably a little better than that at 65 and even better still once the engine is broken in...
Bluetooth is great, paired up with my blackberry and can dial by name out my phonebook very easily. So much to write... I'll have to give a better write up when I get home. But for what its worth, its easy to drive with my left knee
1700 mile update (wanted to put this here so we don't have to go fishing through the thread to find them):
Postives:
-Gas Mileage! 38+ mpg on my daily commute plus some town driving, 40+ on long trips -Quiet inside -Lots of room (110 cu ft.) - 5% more than the new BMW 5-series. And why compare it to a Civic, it has more interior volume than an ACCORD! -Drives very nimbly - 17" low profile tires, disc brakes, 26xx pounds, etc. -Leather seats are GRIPPY and you don't slide around. Seating surfaces are vented. -Comfortable (see above), plus lots of leg and head room (see above), and generally very ergonomic -6 speed transmission has great shifts once warmed up, though downshifting can be a bit firm for the 'luxury' feel everywhere else -bluetooth is superior to anything I've used -Dash is WELL lit and backlighting control is digital -Tires are rated for 60k miles -Interior trim seems well made -No rattles/squeaks!
Small complaints:
-Transmission shifts TOO firm when cold and ECU is in open loop. Goes away < 30 sec after starup. -XM Radio song display 'scrolls' even when it doesn't need to 'scroll'. Aritst name does not scroll, period, even if the artist name is cut off. -Trunk and gas cover are MANUAL latches in the car. Wish they were electronic. -No automatic window up/down on passenger or rear windows. -No spare & jack. -Tire noise on PATCHY/ROUGH roads is sometimes louder than what I would expect. Tire noise on decent roads is extremely quiet though. -If you have your Ipod plugged in, radio defaults to Ipod mode at car startup, even if you were listening to XM, CD, etc, when you turned it off. -Rear seats dont fold down very flat. -Gas mileage readout resets after every fill up automatically. No way to change it. -Gas mileage readout seems to be about .2-.3 mpg off. Actual is typically HIGHER than the gauge reads. -Distance to Empty goes to '---' at 30 miles. Wish it was a little more precise, but it does err on the side of safety. At 30 miles to empty I still have over 1.5 gallons left. -No electronic seat adjustment (does the Nav model have it??) -No adjustable lumbar support, though the seats are really comfortable -No climate control -Single CD only (wish it held 5-6)
Recently, i feel that my steering wheel is getting a little stiffer than before. I have my car alignment done and tyres pumped but it doesnt seem to help. I dont think my car has sports mode either. Does anyone face the same problem? How do I fix it? Anyone can help?
I am not sure which info is correct but I am trying to figure out if my Elantra 2012 has a transponder key. I found online that the 2013 does not but I am not sure about the 2012...I am fairly confident it doesn't but would like a correct answer without having to tear up my key.
My '11 Elantra Touring's original battery is starting to become weak with start-up. It's over 5 years old now. Are new ones just remove/replace, or is there some re-coding I need to do? I was looking at an Interstate replacement rather than a Hyundai. Any feed back would be appreciated.
I need to pick your brains for a minute or two on an issue that has popped up with my vehicle.
When I purchased my 2012 from the dealership I had a remote starter installed and its worked great with no issues. In the last week and a half on two separate occasions the vehicle was started with the key, but switched over to the starter state (By starter state I mean the dash lighting will turn off and the car will suddenly think its been started with the remote and will only shut off if I apply the brake. Maybe not the right word to use?) for no reason as far as I can tell. The first time I had parked the car after driving for say a half hour and removed the key only to notice the vehicle stayed running, but the dash lighting had turned off. The second time was a cold start in my driveway with the key, but then it almost instantly switched over.
In a quick conversation this morning, the dealer was quick to say that the module needs to be reprogrammed or could be shot, but of course the warranty on the starter has expired. They also want to run a diagnostic on the entire vehicle on my cost to make sure there isn't an underlying electrical issue. My question is has anyone else seen or experienced something similar? I did a quick search of Google and couldn't find anything mentioning the issue, but I might not have been wording it correctly.
Early this week my car started making a loud knocking/rubbing sound (Kind of in between when your brakes are ground down to the rotor and a knocking pattern).
FIRST, it started only when I turned slightly left or left.... NOW, it's doing it as I go straight and when I turn to the right as well... oddly enough it's not as bad when going left anymore...
Does anyone know what this could be?? And if it's an easy DIY fix..... (maybe a link on how ) and how much the part(s) might be??
Thank you very much!! Ive taken video (for sound as I drive)...but not sure if I can upload it (size limit)
So I just passed 2500 miles on my '12 Elantra Ltd. This morning my TPMS light came on on the dash so after I dropped the kids at school I stopped and checked my pressure. All four tires were at precisely 35.0 psi. WTF???
Anyone else had this were your brakes make an audible growl when it's raining? They are perfectly fine any other time just when it's wet. Weirdest thing ever.. I have had cracked rotors and warped rotors make crazy noise but not like this.
I have a 2011 Elantra Limited with manual heated seats. The thigh support is lousy. I was wondering a couple of things:
1) Will there be better thigh support with the power seat? 2) If so, how can I get a Power drivers seat to replace the current seat? 3) Will the heating system still be available and work?
Any insight and/or help would be greatly appreciated!
Looks nice but it really is all about how it drives and how much it costs. If Hyundai prices it up there with cars like the GTI, it's not going to sell.
Still don't get the chrome trim and lack of rear spoiler. Go figure.
I'm a newbie so if I am posting this in the wrong area, please let me know.
I just purchased a 2011 GLS model (Canada). When I got home from the dealership, I opened and closed the sunroof and noticed the sunroof does not flush up with the roof when closed. It did at the dealership but does not now. I noticed the cabin is louder now. Is this an issue that I could fix? The dealership is over an hour away and would rather not make the drive, is possible.
I recently surpassed 100,000 miles with my 2013 MD. I am curious if anyone on here has experienced any unusual problems with their car after the warranty expired. Any surprises?
Still kicking the idea of putting 18s on my 12 white Elantra GLS. Like the look of the XXR 555 chromium black with machined lips. Looks like they're 18x8.5 +35 or +25 offsets. Just wondering if that 8.5" width is too much to fit since it's 1.5" wider than the standard 17" rim. Anybody with 18x8.5s?
Although this car has already been shown in Korean spec, this is our North American production car.
I'm very disappointed in what Hyundai has done here. While the styling is good it isn't much of an improvement over the outgoing model. The interior is a step back IMO. Yes it has great features and tech and hopefully it will handle better than past models. But... those drivetrain two drivetrain choices...
New ECO 1.4 Turbo motor producing 128hp and 158 ft/lbs. of torque (mated to 7 Speed DCT) Standard 2.0 engine with 148hp and 132 ft/lbs. of torque
While the 2.0 is ok as a base engine, I am shocked they are using a 1.4 liter turbo as the option. This thing only has 128 hp. Sure it has 158 ft./lbs. of torque, but still... this isn't what we were expecting. I was hoping for some sort of truly sporty Elantra. After all, even the Forte has a 201hp turbo option.
This car will have trouble competing against the new Civic and the Mazda 3. Looks like Hyundai set their sights on stuff like the Corolla and Sentra. Ho Hum.
They surely aren't targeting enthusiasts. I guess their target was fuel economy and being a decent grocery getter with some nice tech. Nothing wrong with that I guess, but...
Sorry, Hyundai. Color me bored. Why are you always disappointing the enthusiast crowd?
New owner of a 2013 Elantra Limited and I am looking for roof rack options. I use it mainly for my kayak and bike and hope to find something that looks like it was an option with the car. Cannot find any fix mounts and was wondering if anyone knows if they are out there.