Driving by my local dealer last week and I see a sign on a new Elantra that states "38 MPG" in big letters. I emailed the dealer and they said it's the "national average," and that most drivers can expect to get 27 city/39 highway MPG. I'm not sure where this data comes from.

I'd say it would be hard to achieve 12% over the EPA 34 highway MPG for any extended period of time.

So, in the interest of science (and possibly false advertising), is anyone seeing 38 MPG on a regular basis? How about 27 city?

If this is indeed true I may consider trading in my 06 Sonata...


Thanks,

Scott

27 city is really easy if you know how to drive for fuel economy. 38 highway is what you'll get when broken in doing 60 mph on a flat highway.

As I've calculated 38 mpg = 6.19 L/100 km so this could be hard to achieve for let's say 2.0L engine...?


Maybe possible for a few moments while driving on flat freeway with no front wind and driver only and a/c off. Could really be done with few ''upgrades'' of mine... :)


Cheers

I have 1000 miles on my new elantra and I'm at about 35 mpg. Thats "mostly" highway. I do drive around town for errands and such. My MPG has been rising each time I fill, now that the engine is breaking in.

I agree that this is realistic provided the caveat of "Up to 38 mpg".
Our new elantra w/ 5500 mi is averaging around 34 on interstate at 70mph. If others would post their real world numbers it would be helpful as the edmunds forum is full of people who are still in the break in period.

I've found this article: link . They say it has 24/33 mpg (2.0L). So what is over this margin is a bonus. We still have to admit that it is a 2 litre engine and not some 1.5L...

I've looked in European market and I couldn't find 08' model Elantra link . But on American market here she is link
I was puzzled at the beginning though :whistling: .

btw nice car, lots of stuff inside (as always).


cheers

My son is driving 140 miles daily on the interstate (65-70 mph) this summer with his 2007 Elantra GLS automatic. Averaging 35-36 mpg with mostly highway and about 40 miles of city driving per tank. He says it's easy to get this mileage.

100% city driving he gets 24-25. Combination about 28 mpg.

Maybe with a manual and keeping the speed to 60mph one might reach 38 mpg but I wouldn't call this a simple expectation

Dealers are notoriously full of crap. They'll say ANYTHING to get you in a new car.....regardless of truth. Yeah 38 IS probably possible.....going 60 on a flat hwy. I don't drive under 75 on the hwy ever. So maybe a full tank driven at 60 on the hwy will get you close to 38.....otherwise NO you won't see it most likely.

Dealers talk out of their **** and assume customers are morons. I looked at a Prius once and the salesman said I'll get 60mpg in it. Checked Prius forums and basically no one gets that. Most average in the 40s. 60mpg maybe on the hwy doing 50. I told the salesman to stop shouting fiction at me.

I just got my 07 Elantra used with only 7600 miles on it, so I haven't even gotten through a full tank of gas yet, which is awesome because my old 99 Ford Explorer would have been down to a 1/4 tank with this many miles on it and I'm around a 1/2 tank, driven about 240 miles. Just to say this tho, my brother has an 06 Elantra automatic and took a trip that exhausted the whole tank and he got 38 MPG, but that was probably 90% highway and he drives about 70-75 mph with cruise control. I've done a similar trip with my mom's 06 Limited and got 36.5, I'm hoping to average about 33 with mine, I'll be doing about 60 miles per day with a 75/25 split of highway/city driving.. does this sound reasonable?

The EPA gas mileage estimate says 33MPG highway. That's a typical average. If you look underneath the big 33, it also says you can get up to 39MPG highway. That's under ideal driving conditions.

Very ideal. I can get 33 MPG in my v6 Sonata if I'm on a straight flat piece of highway with my cruise set on 50 with the AC off.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I pretty much figured that 38 was under "ideal" and highly unlikely under 95% of driving conditions.

I just think it's dishonest to be advertising the fuel mileage that way. 33 MPG is a respectable number. If I was an "average" consumer (that doesn't do much research before buying a car) I would be under the impression that the car would get 38 MPG on the highway on the a regular basis. I would be very disappointed only getting 30 to 33 on the highway. When it came time to replace the Elantra I'd likely consider other manufacturers because of the dishonesty when purchasing the Elantra. I know all the dealers are independent, but this reflects badly on Hyundai.

Scott

If the mileage claim is achievable, why would you call it dishonest?
Some of you have unrealistic expaectations. If you never drive under 75mph,why would you expect to get good mileage?
Highway mileage is speed dependent. Aerodynamic requirements do not merely double with a doulbling of speed; they quadruple! ( That's four (4) times!)
If you drive at 75mph, I can only assume that your time is more valuable than your money--or that the price of gas has not gotten high enough. That's OK, it is your money, and your decision, but don't blame Hyundai for your inability to get 38 mpg.

+1

yes, certainly not dishonest. If they say "up to" 38mpg, thats not a lie. It's selling. 99% of the time if you drive normal, your gonna get about 30mpg. Which is very good gas mileage.

I hope the dealer explains how to get 38MPG to all prospective buyers that come into the dealer because of the 38 MPG sign... I'm sure some buyers will rethink their decision when they find they have to drive 50MPH on a flat, straight highway, with nothing else in the car accept the 150lb driver, tires at 45 PSI, with the AC off and the windows rolled up.

Yes, I know how to achieve those numbers. If I can get over 30MPG in my V6 Sonata I must know that I have to drive very careful and conscientious. What I'm trying to get at is most people probably don't know how to achieve this mileage. These are the crowd that drives their big SUV on the highway at 80MPH, accelerating to red lights, etc then complain every time they have to fill 'er up. If you drive like 75% of Americans do you're not going to get 38MPG, you'd have a [h.e. double hockey sticks for those with virgin ears] of a time getting 30.

I suppose the dealer is correct in advertising 38MPG, because the window sticker says up to 39MPG (although I haven't seen the actual window sticker). It just seems to me, for the reasons I stated above, they're doing themselves and Hyundai a disservice by leading people to believe (via the sign with 8 inch high letters) it's regularly achievable. It's not. The sign does not say "up to" it just says "38 MPG."

In the end it doesn't matter. Car dealers are in the business to sell cars. Apparently I wouldn't make a good car salesman. Unfortunately, its up to the consumer to research what they're buying and not to rely on what the salesfolk are telling you. No wonder most people dread stepping foot on to a car dealer's lot. All of us here are Hyundai-Forums are probably better informed than 75% of the car buyers, it's those 75% that are susceptible to these type of borderline dishonest tactics. Just the way it is, I reckon.

Scott

I think this dealer is misleading at best, a complete liar and dishonest business at worst.

He has exposed himself to false advertising.

No way does the 2008 Elantra get 38 miles per gallon in any kind of normal highway use.

Go to:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

The new EPA fuel mileage test cycle is supposed to more accurately reflect real world mileage by real drivers.

We are not professional drivers in shorts and T-shirt on a closed course in a wind less valley with 50 psi tires at 55 degrees and 30% relative humidity and three seats removed along with the spare tire and jack.

Byron

My first tank with my 07 elantra was 33.2 mpg at about 50/50 highway/city not so conservative driving. This tank I tried that hypermiling stuff you read about expecting to get at least 35 since i was able to get 33 normally I should be able to get at least 35, however we had some really hot days and i had to use the A/C for a couple days, windows just couldn't cut it. This seems to have significantly reduced my mpg. I'm getting gas monday but right now the light is on and i only have 390 miles on the tank, thats about 32-33 mpg if I calculated right... so much for hypermiling, maybe if i didn't have to use the A/C or have the windows open, that might help too. What are people getting on trips, cruise control set primarily on ~68mph? I'm gonna be making some 8 hr trips which should take the entire tank or more and I was wondering what to expect, I would say at least 37 if not more... my brother's 06 automatic got 38 on a similar trip averaging 70mph.

My dad's 07 has almost 17,000 miles and he is averging 27MPG. Most of his driving is city.