Ok I have been ready around this forum and have been seeing people getting gas mileage on average about 30mpg with the 2006 Accent. But I am in the same boat as this guy over in this thread... http://www.hyundai-forums.com/index.php?sh...bad+gas+mileage

In my opinion I think there is something wrong with a few of the 2006 models out there. I am sick of seeing people saying you need to change your driving habits...especially when the person that is having the problem with their gas mileage states that they drive very conservatively.

Here is the deal...I just bought a 2006 Hyundai Accent GLS auto w/ 48k miles on it and I am getting 18-19 MPG in city. The car drives very nice and does not have a rough idol. Just recently I replaced the spark plugs, oil, oil filter, air filter, used fuel/injector cleaner, and cleaned the throttle body. After all this, this car is still getting 19 miles to the gallon. If you say this is normal for this car then you go do some more research. At low times and according to hyundai mechanics that I have talked to (over 4 people) they say that the gas mileage for this car and with very conservative driving at minimum it should be around 25 not 19 or 18mpg.

I was told that there was a firmware upgrade available for the processor that might be able to help this out. Has anyone else ever had this done? Any other suggestions on what to do would be greatly appreciated. The only thing I can even think of is that the CPU is messed up some how and Hyundai needs to do a recall on it so the consumer does not need to pay for this firmware upgrade.

I am just so frustrated because of the amount of gas this car is sucking is similar to a freaken SUV that is 2 tons heavier and has a v6 or v8 engine. I just don't get it. Also the amount of money I am spending on gas each month could have been used to get a more expensive car.

I'd buy a scangauge to get a better idea of what is happening. Also, when you say "in the city" exactly what does that mean? Some city driving situations can be far worse than others. If you have to sit and idle all the time, your mileage will be horrible. Sorry to hear about your problems.

Kevin

:00000732: integ!

As always, you need to ensure that you are using a scientific standard to take your fuel mileage measurements. If you are really getting 19 mpg, you must have a fuel leak somewhere. This is doggone near impossible to get this mileage with an Accent. I recommend that you:

a) Start with a full tank to the first click off. Note your start odometer reading.
B) Drive as you normally would for 1/2 tank.
c) Fill up to the first click off. Record your fuel gallons purchased, and your odometer reading.
d) Repeat B) and c).
e) Compare your miles per gallon from the first sample to the second sample.

If you really are getting 18-19 mpg, do take your Accent to the dealer for warranty service. Something is desperately wrong and hand this problem to the dealer.

Also, sign up for hmaservice.com. You can check yourself if there are any firmware upgrades for your Accent.

Byron

maybe your fuel filter is clogged, or there's something jammed in your intake. clean out your trunk. do the unhook your battery for ten mins thing and run some injector cleaner or seafoam.

Just some simple things that might help, might not.

i sure hope they do, cause you could be driving an F-150 for that mpg.

Bryon,

These are great suggestions. I just ordered the scanguage II and hopefully this will give me more accurate readings. I also have been doing what you have suggested and have gone through 2 full tanks of gas. BTW thanks for the website, I will check it out and see if there is any upgrades. Any idea of the average cost a dealership would charge to upgrade the firmware?

Yap just tried all these things you suggested and still no luck. But I have yet to confirm if there is a leak.

As far as bugs go, the 2006 is pretty solid in that department - odd for a first model year to have the second model year have all the bugs. :grin: Starting in 2007 is when they started having computer flakiness, mainly with rough idling on cold starts and such. I frequently check for TSB's and I don't recall seeing anything for updated firmware on our 2006's, but they *do* have different firmware for the 2007. (to address the afformentioned rough idle issues.) If a firmware update applies to your car, I would think they would flash the PCM under warranty. But if the only firmware they have is for a 2007+ you may be out of luck.

Your car had 48K miles when you bought it. Do you think it may have been run hard or more than regular driving? Further maintenance may be necessary.

My old Ford Festiva gave exceptional MPG, even topping 50MPG in its early years. After 40,000 miles tho, I had to replace the sparkplug wires. You may wish to do similarly. Since then, I have had to replace sparkplug wires A SECOND TIME. Two months ago, I replaced a timing belt. Also, I have increased tire pressure.

Suddenly, Festiva started giving the best MPG it ever had while climbing thru the mountains! Three tanks of mountain driving averaged 51.8MPG! The last tanks was 50.8MPG while going up & down 11,000 feet of mountain passes!

So change sparkplug WIRES, change timing belt & experiment with increased tire pressures. Careful on this last option that you don't prematurely wear out tires. You have to monitor air pressures very closely too if you add pressures over the manufacturers recommendation. If you cold inflate on a cool morning & run into high air temperatures in the afternoon, your pressures can go too high.

Hope these fixes can raise your Accent's MPG.

This post has been edited by litesong: Aug 18 2008, 09:46 PM

if you are mathmatically challanged like myself, you can sign up (for free) at fuelclinic.com and they do all the math for you and save your results, chart and graph it for easy reference.. since ive gotten my car in january of '08 ive watched (literally) my miles per gallon go up! you can even put multiple cars on a single user name.. very easy site to navigate! the other guys offered great suggestions, i personally would go back to the dealer and have them work on it.. who knows, maybe its something simple like an injector getting a bit gunky... best of luck!

keep a fuel log. I get 30mpg with 60% city driving alone. if I was getting 19mpg i would be flipping out.

In my fuel log i keep track of date, mileage, gallons filled, trip mileage, and notes for long road trips or oil changes. Then divide the gallons used to fill up the tank by the trip mileage. That gets your average mpg per tank. No scan gauge needed.

I really don't understand how that's possible unless your city 1) has no traffic lights or 2) what you consider a "city" is nothing like Philadelphia.
If I only do city driving, I usually get 27 mpg, 60% City, 40% Highway. 90% Highway 30 tops, unless you draft every vehicle in front of you within 20 feet, and the troopers will get you for that here :(

I broke 30 for the first time ever today with a whopping 30.25 MPG, mostly highway.

This post has been edited by bloodninja: Aug 20 2008, 02:36 AM

I live in Sacramento, and the street i drive through to get to work is one of the busier streets (I work in a mall), and some of the other back roads i take are going through road construction so i do have a lot of stop and go. I still get 30-32 so it is possible.

I'm experiencing similar issues with my '07. I don't think I've ever gotten over 26MPG, even when I'm driving all highway.

I can typically expect to get between 240 and 260 miles from a tank, regardless of how or where I drive.
Not to mention, I'll catch a whiff of fuel in the cabin every now and again... It happens too often and in random places for it to be coincidence. Need to find time to make an appointment....

yeah i get 270-315 miles before my fuel light comes on.. my fuel light comes on at 9.5 gallons. If i drive all city, i get 28mpg... My 100% hwy I get 34-36mpg. I used to get horrible mileage until i hit 30,000 miles, then it improved. I also installed my muffler and had new, lighter wheels put on.

I also want to find a nicer air filter to put onto my sri. My current one was cleaned two months ago and on this oil change last week, the notes on my filter was it needed to be cleaned again. I'm thinking once i do that i will see another tiny improvement in mileage.

38 MPGs for me - consitently. Fuel light comes on at around 370 miles. Best ever on single gas tank - 402 miles before fuel up.

Here's some hints:

Try driving slower on the highway - I found best speed to be aroun 60 MPH.
Also, coast in Neutral.
Don't idle - just start and go.
Don't use AC - mine doesn't have it to begin with, but I heard it can really impact the fuel economy.
Make sure your tires are inflated to 34 PSI. Trust me it helps a great deal.
Check your air filter.
Don't dog it. Grandma-driving is the key to good economy.

-Nice, but that doesn't exactly work when the speed limit is 65. anything above 55 and the RPMs skyrocket, til about 80, where they plateau for a while :(
-A/C only really impacts your economy if you use it for city driving, because you tend to gun it more since you feel such a power loss.
-Tire pressure - check :)
-Using a performance air filter has actually increased my throttle response, torque, AND MPG (if I don't gun it) over the stock intake.
-Hard to do when assholes in the city (philly) tail you and hold down the horn (even the police do it, except they don't use the horn. They put on their lights and roll up next to you, call you an ***, then drive away. Very professional, huh?) :(

This post has been edited by bloodninja: Aug 21 2008, 09:41 PM

Yea Kat, I'm lookin forward to installing my catback (once it comes in). I'm mostly looking forward to the expected increase in horsepower, but also curious to see if it impacts my MPGs at all.