After many tests I have found that these help a lot:

Tires at 40 psi
Use Cruise Control as soon and as much as possible
Turn off Blue Drive (Black Drive)
Try and stay below 60 mph for 45-50 mpg
Do not warm up car but drive off immediately
Park facing out and on the highest part of the parking lot
Long light braking and watch your battery charge go up
Back off your pedal and hold real steady after getting up to speed

Keep your Echo Guide below the second mark for max mpg

If you really want to learn from the Master Hypermiler this is what I went through in San Diego with Wayne a few years ago.

CleanMPG, An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling

Remember that it takes about 15 minutes of driving before you will get over 30 mpg

 

After many tests I have found that these help a lot:

Tires at 40 psi
Use Cruise Control as soon and as much as possible
Turn off Blue Drive (Black Drive)
Try and stay below 60 mph for 45-50 mpg
Do not warm up car but drive off immediately
Park facing out and on the highest part of the parking lot
Long light braking and watch your battery charge go up
Back off your pedal and hold real steady after getting up to speed

Keep your Echo Guide below the second mark for max mpg

If you really want to learn from the Master Hypermiler this is what I went through in San Diego with Wayne a few years ago.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=49Zyyhqwh30

CleanMPG, An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling

Remember that it takes about 15 minutes of driving before you will get over 30 mpg

Why turn off Blue Drive???

 

I know the basics - light on the throttle, no fast starts, anticipate lights and coast up to them and hope it turns green before coming to a stop. Anything else?Time to learn it!

From a stop, ready to accelerate, watch your front end. As you initially move, make sure the first motion is forward, not upward as it rises on its shocks. If the front end rises first, you've already lost the first economy move.

 

From As you initially move, make sure the first motion is forward, not upward as it rises on its shocks. If the front end rises first, you've already lost the first economy move.

I really like this comment. I'll have to study my techniques on the way to work tomorrow. I'm not concerned with my MPG's so much as like the idea of playing with the possibilities. And noticing what the car's nose is doing on initial take-offs fascinates me. Thanks for this.

 

The mileage in this '11 keeps getting better. I wrote this Monday night when I picked the car up -

So I take it for a short ride, about 15 miles between city and highway. First thing that I noticed was the fuel economy is lower than the '13 (reset it when I jumped on the highway) and I noticed a "creek" coming from the sunroof area once in awhile. It rides nice and drives nice. Went back to the dealer to talk but they couldn't find the keys to my car. After about 20 minutes I suggested that I take the '11 home then touch base with them tomorrow. That will give them time to find my keys plus I didn't plan on being there late tonight. So I did that. Short ride home so I didn't really check out the mileage much after I left there. One thing that I thought was "am I driving the same car?" Almost no matter how I drove the '13, it was in the 30s. And driving it nice mostly on the highway, about 10% city/country roads, gave me 39-40 on the display. I know actual mileage could be a few MPG lower.

And this last night -

It was about 9 degrees when I got in the car this morning. The low tire pressure light was on so I put gas in, filled all of the tires to 40psi and drove the car for about 85 miles today. It was a mix of highway (mostly highway), country road and some city driving. The display showed 33.7 MPG.

Today's driving brought that 33.7 up to 35.5-36 before I stopped for gas. It reset itself then I drove another 70 miles after that. Mix of highway and country roads (almost 50/50). It kept climbing. Hung in the 39.3-40.6 MPG range. Dash said 39.6 when I pulled into the driveway. I kind of feel like whomever drove it before just drove it with no car for mileage and now the car is learning/adjusting to my driving.

 

People keep talking about the car learning your driving style and adjusting to meet your style. My wife drives the car 95% and gets 35 during the summer and when I drive it I can get up to 49 mpg. It's all in how you drive and how long the car has been running. You will get your best mpg after about 30 minutes.

 

I've been trying to keep the Echo Guide needle below half. That one's tough. And I'm very light on the throttle. Very light. I try to slowly get up to speed without having a parade of traffic behind me. But even on the highway, maybe around 62-65 MPG, the needle goes to the next 1-2 lines up while maintaining that speed. I watch that and the EV light. After driving this and the '13, I think the '13 stayed in EV more (highway too).

 

You won't be able to beat the 13 with a 11 or 12 as it will always get about 2-3 mpg better because the hybrid system is better.

 

I kind of figured that. My Cobalt gives me an average of about 30 MPG for a mix of driving. That's paying attention to mileage but not really. When I try I see about 40 on the highway with a high of 44. Getting off of the highway kills it and brings the average down to around 32. I'll be happy if this car gets at least 30-32 but I know it can do better. And right now, I think it's at it's lowest. Everyone seems to see their lowest mileage when it's cold out plus I don't think that ECU update has been done so I'm going to see if they will do that. Overall I'm satisfied but I know it can and will improve.

 

I just had my first fuel up since I bought my '13 and I got 480 miles and filled up 13 gallons - so about 37 MPG, with mostly freeway driving and some city driving on the weekends. Overall I'm pretty satisfied - I haven't been too light on the pedal - driving pretty similar to how I did with my previous vehicle.

 

One big thing is to learn your route, and learn it well...learn it to the point of knowing pretty much every stop light and if it will be red based on all the ones you've passed previously. Know what times of day have least traffic. Basically, good MPG's don't come from anything ridiculously hard to do, it just comes from applying the basic techniques that you probably already know.

And by the way, prepare yourself to be honked at for driving like a grandma (sorry to any grandma's on the forum). My wife made fun of me for it all the time back when I was trying to get good MPG (50+MPGs).

 

You're absolutely correct on that "red light anticipation" comment. The exit I take off the highway has a pretty lengthy ramp. I can glance over to the left and see the cross traffic and know what is happening in the intersection. Who's going next, how soon I can expect to see a green light in my lane, when the yellow caution light is near. 75% of the time, I can get thru that intersection without ever stopping. That's just one intersection, but it counts for something.

Sometimes I leave for work at 5AM. With the rare exceptions, I usually have a green light in every intersection because I'm the only idiot out at that time of the morning. I not only save fuel, but I shorten my drive by as much as 7-10 minutes. Time normally spent waiting on lights to turn green, school zones, being stuck behind two little old ladies in adjacent lanes, stuff like that. It does make a difference. Needless to say, I get the "prime real estate" for parking Ingrid in the employee parking lot, too. BONUS!

 

Have people found that mileage increases after everything breaks in? Like after 10-15k?

Also, can all of the Eco stuff be reset? People that drove the car before me really didn't care about mileage so the forest is pretty bare. I'd like to start it fresh with me.

 

I don't think you will get any better mileage with more miles and I don't think you will be able to reset your ECO Score. I got 51.9 mpg driving with Wayne around San Diego with about 3,000 miles on the car.

 

I just signed up to fuelly.com so that will make it easy for me to track mileage.

I was watching the Echo Guide and EV light tonight. Tried keeping it at the second mark or lower. Noticed that the EV light isn't on much there but I guess it's just a matter of getting good fuel economy from the gas motor then EV mode is a bonus. I played with speed a little. 55-60 pretty much kept me at that mark. The graph that I've attached is from when I left the bank to home. It was about 36-38 miles.

I'll try with Blue Drive off. Do you think I'll see a benefit from the ECU update? Or, maybe I should ask if everyone that gets the update sees a MPG benefit?

 

That is a very impressive picture but it is overly optimistic because it looks like you should be averaging about 45 mpg but will display about 40 mpg which is normal.

You may not want to get the update if you like to throw it in Neutral and have the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) shutdown and then just glide. After the update when you throw it in N the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) continues to run and charge the HV Battery. I recommend getting the ECU update as it will give you a much smoother transition between EV and Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). Remember that you have to complain about sluggish takeoff or it jerks during transition between the two motors when it's cold to get the update.

 

Fishnrib thanks for the tip. I have a 2013 and have my first maintenance appointment in a couple of weeks. I'm going to mention the sluggish acceleration when it's cold and ask if there's any updates.

 

I'm pretty sure the ECU update doesn't cover the 2013s... but you should check

 

Yeah mostly to check. It actually isn't a big deal and only really comes up when I accelerate too fast when cold (and late to work) but can't hurt to check and ask.

 

I've been reading a few sites that have the story of Wayne Gerdes driving an '11 HSH from coast to coast on two tanks of gas. I haven't finished it yet but a few things that I noted -

Gerdes recently finished the drive, which totaled 2,269.3 miles and squeezed out 59.58 mpg. Along the way, Gerdes learned that the car can hold at least 20.6 gallons, because that's how much he managed to put in at the first fill up. The Hybrid's official stated capacity is 17.2 gallons (the standard Soanta holds 18.5 gallons), but official numbers are not something that concerns Gerdes too much. The EPA rates the Sonata Hybrid at 40 mpg on the highway, and he would need much more than that to make the drive without filling up three times.

I'll test this on my next fill up from empty. I was down to one bar and wasn't flashing when I filled up last night. Took 14.2 gallons. Didn't fill it to the rim but did let it click a few times before I stopped (was pressed for time). Has anyone else noticed how much fuel we can squeeze in?

Wayne averaged 59.59 MPG on during the cross country trip. I know he's good at it and there are others that can pull off things like this too. How can they do it while the rest of us can't. There are times when I'm really feathering the throttle on the highway. Just barely keeping momentum to maintain speed and I can't get close to this. There are techniques that we can learn here.

Links to those stories -

Wayne Gerdes: After 2,269 miles and 59 mpg, Hyundai Sonata Hybrid "kicks ass"

Hypermiling Hyundai Sonata Hybrid crosses America in under two tanks [w/video] *UPDATE

 

I would urge caution about over-filling the tank. That practice can lead to liquid gasoline getting into the Evap system, and ruining it. At least that is what I've been led to believe.

 

Wayne also set a World Record 14 day drive touching all 48 states in a 2012 Optima Hybrid getting 64 mpg. These cars are almost twins and can hold 22 gallons of gas in those 17 gal tanks. You have to fill them extremely slow after the first click while holding the nozzle away from the car until you see the gas at the top. Wayne filled my car and it took 4 gal and about 20 minutes to get it full after the first click. He dosen't recommend doing this unless you are immediately going to drive some distance.

Wayne is an extreme hypermiler who also coined that word. He has many little tips that all add up to extreme MPG's. Join his site and make friends on Facebook and some day he might be in your neighborhood and get a driving clinic with him. Watch him give instructions on Youtube.

http://www.hyundai-forums.com/229-sonata-yf-hybrid/144119-one-one-wayne-gerdes.html

That 40 MPH was actually 45 mph for a very short time climbing a hill

 

I'm absorbing all of this info like a sponge! It's fun to see progress from something that doesn't cost you money and it also saves you money! Win/win situation!

 

This is the best way to get great gas mileage out of your Sonata. Hope you have strong legs!

 

I'm going to have to read up on this. Never really thought about what causes the pump to click off. I know if I pull the nozzle out and don't let it seal, then tanks can be filled to the rim.

 

Never really thought about what causes the pump to click off. I know if I pull the nozzle out and don't let it seal, then tanks can be filled to the rim.

Yes, manufacturers do this so the EPA tests their vehicles with the least amount of weight....... maybe they'll get an extra tenth of a mpg & the EPA may round their mpg numbers up to the next whole number.

 

Tom, Something that you mentioned in a thread last year -

Also something to watch out for is some backseat passenger accidentally leaving the heated seats turned on.

So having things like the heated seats on can reduce MPG?

 

^Yup - everything affects mpg if it uses battery. It also mentions in the user manual to only use Fog lights when you need them since they use a lot of energy. Keep AC on econ or off if you don't need it. I usually keep my thermostat around 76 and lower it if it's really cold outside to around 72-74

 

Where do the seat warmers get their power from? Anything that costs energy, will cost your MPG in the long run. Even running your radio, in theory, decreases your MPG.

 

But hey, if you gotta keep your butt comfty, you gotta do what you gotta do. I personally never understood the concept of a seat warmer - if anything, in SOCAL we need a seat cooler for the summer.

 

The Kia Optima Hybrid has a seat cooler and many other options than the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid (HSH).

 

I know I'm searching for and learning ways to improve MPGs but I also like to be able to use the features that the car has too. So I guess it will be a balance. The tools are there to provide me with really great mileage if I want to use them. And if I want to use the heated seats, fog lights (I like the look of them on), radio ect... then I'll still get good mileage but not the best.

 

Wayne turns everything off when he drives for best mpg and will gain about 2-3 mpg this way. Since we bought such a nice car with lots of options why not use them and still be satisfied with good mileage.

 

40psi was mentioned for the tire pressure. What's the max pressure that our tires are rated for and are they low rolling resistance tires?

 

Dealer puts in 32 psi, Door Jam recommends 34 psi, Greater Rolling Distance 40-44 psi (44 psi max sidewall). Wayne told me he puts in 55 psi on newer tires and the tread still wears pretty even with better handling but a very hard ride.