Hyundai Elantra 40 MPG claim under fire

[dirtyblueshirt]

Untrue At Any Speed: Former Nader Associate Puts Hyundai In His Sights | The Truth About Cars

Some very interesting reading here. Most interesting is that the EPA doesn't run their own fuel economy tests, instead relying on the manufacturer's honesty.

[PowerShift]

I always thought Hyundai's claim of 40 mpg for the Elantra was a bit suspicious. Apparently Ford did too,they invited a bunch of journalists to drive the Focus and Elantra back to back on the same course and the Focus got better MPG. (Focus vs. Elantra exercise proves Ford really wants mpg title) Heck, even Consumer Reports beat the Elantra's fuel economy in a Corolla. I'm not a big fan of Nader and his ilk, but I do hope something comes of this investigation.

[aspitaletto]

just 40 MPG, pfff

[ECOmaniac]

Here are 10 cars in order of EPA listings and their Fuelly averages.
Fiesta rules in Reality Driving not Reality Marketing.

MODEL YEAR CITY/HWY. Combined TRAN. FUELLY
Accent 2012 30/40 34 M 32.2
Fiesta 2011 29/40 33 A 35.6
Cruze 2011 28/42 33 M 32.8
Focus 2012 28/40 33 A 31.2
Elantra 2011-12 29/40 33 A 30.5
Fiat 500 2011 30/38 33 M 33.6
Yaris 2011 29/36 32 A 35.0
Mazda2 2011 29/35 32 M 34.0
Mini 2011 29/37 32 M 30.9
Fit 2011 28/35 31 A 33.0

[ECOmaniac]

Interesting Stat: Hyundai Veloster has better real world MPG (according to Fuelly) than both the '11-'12 Elantra and the '12 Accent. (However there are only 14 currently on the site so far.)

MODEL YEAR CITY/HWY. Combined TRAN. FUELLY
Veloster 2012 28/40 32 M 33.3

Here are 10 cars in order of EPA listings and their Fuelly averages.
Fiesta rules in Reality Driving not Reality Marketing.

MODEL YEAR CITY/HWY. Combined TRAN. FUELLY
Accent 2012 30/40 34 M 32.2
Fiesta 2011 29/40 33 A 35.6
Cruze 2011 28/42 33 M 32.8
Focus 2012 28/40 33 A 31.2
Elantra 2011-12 29/40 33 A 30.5
Fiat 500 2011 30/38 33 M 33.6
Yaris 2011 29/36 32 A 35.0
Mazda2 2011 29/35 32 M 34.0
Mini 2011 29/37 32 M 30.9
Fit 2011 28/35 31 A 33.0

[archenok]

I called their crap awhile back - their Canadian ads use UK gallons and reports some ridiculous MPG number. We're supposed to use L/100km first of all, and using a larger gallon than is the North American convention and then sticking that fact in the fine print is completely misleading.

[Captainmorbid]

Originally Posted by archenok

I called their crap awhile back - their Canadian ads use UK gallons and reports some ridiculous MPG number. We're supposed to use L/100km first of all, and using a larger gallon than is the North American convention and then sticking that fact in the fine print is completely misleading.

Ford's using that same silly technique as well. I think everyone that sells cars in Canada is doing it... I spend most of my life trying to finally understand metric, and poof! We're England...

[FXSTi]

Originally Posted by ECOmaniac

Here are 10 cars in order of EPA listings and their Fuelly averages.
Fiesta rules in Reality Driving not Reality Marketing.

MODEL YEAR CITY/HWY. Combined TRAN. FUELLY
Accent 2012 30/40 34 M 32.2
Fiesta 2011 29/40 33 A 35.6
Cruze 2011 28/42 33 M 32.8
Focus 2012 28/40 33 A 31.2
Elantra 2011-12 29/40 33 A 30.5
Fiat 500 2011 30/38 33 M 33.6
Yaris 2011 29/36 32 A 35.0
Mazda2 2011 29/35 32 M 34.0
Mini 2011 29/37 32 M 30.9
Fit 2011 28/35 31 A 33.0

Those are the SFE numbers for the Fiesta. The rest of us are 37/38 hwy which makes it even sweeter.

[sunstealth]

ah , our commercials in french for hyundai are cited in Litres per 100km.

[blue moon]

Originally Posted by aspitaletto

just 40 MPG, pfff

I wouldn't knock Hyundai's 40 mpg just yet. There are a couple guys at work that both bought Elantra's. On the highway they get 40 mpg easy and one of the guys took a long road trip and said he was getting almost 50 mpg using the cruise control.