Poor Gas Milage!, Poor Gas Milage Options

[San Diego Linda]

I have almost 6K miles on my 2011 Elantra GLS A/T. I am not impressed w/ getting 230 miles on a tank of gas!!! I don't drive like a maniac & actually have the "ECO" light on & the light never goes out. I drive in the city & hwy, combined. My MPG is going DOWN not up. The dealer tells me to be "patient" that I need to drive 5-7K miles before I'll see great milage. This car is wonderful in every other way. I had a good car, '96 Camry 6 cyl. A/T that gets 20.5 mpg average. My Elantra has averaged 23 mpg. NOT IMPRESSIVE! I use regular 87 octane gas. Break in doesn't make sense to me. I think the government tests should be done by regular people driving normally & taking the average of everyone's gas milage. Forget the city/hwy. Most just want an average.

If anyone has any ideas on increasing the mileage, I'm interested in hearing what you have to say. If I could get
30 mpg, I'd be ecstatic!!!

Linda in San Diego

This post has been edited by San Diego Linda: Jul 20 2011, 09:01 PM

[elantragt]

Linda, do you drive mostly city stop and go? By the way at 6K your engine is pretty well broken in.

[Vinnie]

First step I'd do just for s/ and giggles is disconnect the black wire on the battery (negative) while disconnected - hold down your horn to drain all the electricity and then reconnect it and make it re-learn everything.

Dont know if it will help, but if that was happening to me, it's what I'd do.

[FSUspectra]

Linda, your driving style will be very indicative of what your car "gets" MPG-wise. Can you be more specific on your typical commute? Miles driven in city vs. highway, how many stop signs, traffic lights, etc you encounter. (Sorry guys, going into CleanMPG mode, if I may )

First off, this car HATES idling. It chugs gas when idling. Secondly, is your A/C on all the time? I don't mean the fan, I mean is the little light in the A/C button on all the time? This runs your compressor, and uses more fuel. Hills will kill MPG. Do you accelerate to the speed limit or above until the last possible second, then hit the brakes? Are you still paddle-shifting like you mentioned before, or are you letting the car shift itself? How fast are you driving on the highway, and are you in bumper-to-bumper traffic often? Do you have extra stuff/passengers in your car often? Are your tires inflated to at least the door placard pressure? Did you calculate that average of 23 MPG by dividing miles driven by gallons pumped for just that tank, or are you going by the dash display? Are you resetting it every time you fill up?

These are all things that can and do affect your car's MPG. Specifics will help, but I have to say I seriously doubt it's the car. It's the driver, the environment, or both. When the EPA tests cars for economy, they aren't actually moving. They're "driving" in a garage on a dynamometer. There are no hills and there is no wind (although this can be accounted for by the computer during the test). Their results are probably what most average drivers "can" get in average circumstances. I'm sure San Diego is FAR from average circumstances. Also, if you still have you monroney (the name of the new car window sticker than has the EPA info), read the fine print under those big city and highway numbers.

You can check out (and mods, correct me if you don't want me doing this) CleanMPG, where there are drivers getting the EPA and above in their new Elantras. It will take some driving style adjustments, but anything that helps the pocketbook should deserve a glance, yes?

Good Luck!

This post has been edited by FSUspectra: Jul 20 2011, 11:21 PM

[VIG]

That's a pretty solid post. Covers all your bases.

[ChicagoJoe]

hmmm... have you read this thread yet?.... http://www.elantraclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3931

those are the tips i used to get good mileage on my elantra GLS

and its not even broken in yet.....

this is my average driving normal


and this is my MPG average driving...well i guess un normal... (55 on highway, eco mode, light accelerations at red lights, etc etc)

***the tank still looked full after my 50 mile commute home from work
But even when i was in the city (downtown chicago) i was stop and go every 2 minutes and the lowest i got was 32 (which really bummed me out but what can ya do)

[popeye]

Since she's in my neck of the woods I'm wondering what her driving patterns and routes are... SD is nothing like LA traffic wise but it has it's moments and the terrain varies widely so some details would be instructive. Linda, who is your dealer?

[FSUspectra]

Bumping because Linda seems to be ignoring the fact we're helping her here and she's still complaining about it here. Cars don't just magically get the EPA numbers because you put gas in them and go.