[rambokid]

Trying to decide on the top trim Santa Fe and the top trim Forester. Obviously the Santa Fe has more features but 3.5k more OTR based on MSRP (CAN). But I'm confident Hyundai dealers will be more flexible on price than Subaru.

My only concern is the poor fuel economy rating of the 2.0T AWD. A few YouTube reviewers achieved better number, which I like.

What is your typical fuel economy number for the 2.0T AWD, including percentage of city highway driving?

I currently own 2007 Sonata V6 and 2012 Elantra, very happy with them.

 

[josephrappe]

I filled up yesterday and I got 22.7mpg, half highway and half city approximately, I have gotten over 30mpg on highway taking it easy and mid teens from a start around town, once warmed up you should see low 20's around town.

 

[ac530]

I’ve had my car for about two weeks. I tend to drive 60% city and 40% highway and on the current tank of gas I’ve been averaging about 12.4L/100km.

 

[kinglerch]

Trying to decide on the top trim Santa Fe and the top trim Forester. Obviously the Santa Fe has more features but 3.5k more OTR based on MSRP (CAN). But I'm confident Hyundai dealers will be more flexible on price than Subaru.

My only concern is the poor fuel economy rating of the 2.0T AWD. A few YouTube reviewers achieved better number, which I like.

Some people may put too much stock in MPG ratings. The reality is that SUV MPGs stink and although a Subaru Outback is rated around 5 MPG better, even that is not great. 5 MPG over a 100,000 mile life of a car at $3 per gallon translates to a $2000 savings. The Hybrid Rav 4 gets an impressive 14 more MPG but only translates to around $5000.

I say "only" because gas prices are actually less than $3 in many areas, the Kia/Hyundai's seem to do better than advertised MPG, the competition may end up less than advertised MPG and cost far more than the gas they ever save.

If you want to save gas for environmental reasons then that is another story. But in the grand scheme of the total cost of car ownership, the price of gas is not the largest piece of the pie.

 

[Drewd]

'13 2.0T Santa Fe sport, typically 21 mpg average with blend of city/highway driving. On long road trips, 26 seems to be average. Have gotten as high at 28 mph in heavier traffic where highway speeds were slower than posted speed limit of 75mph. Besides poorer fuel economy, my 2.0T only gets fed 89 octane or higher.

 

[virtus]

Trying to decide on the top trim Santa Fe and the top trim Forester. Obviously the Santa Fe has more features but 3.5k more OTR based on MSRP (CAN). But I'm confident Hyundai dealers will be more flexible on price than Subaru.

My only concern is the poor fuel economy rating of the 2.0T AWD. A few YouTube reviewers achieved better number, which I like.

What is your typical fuel economy number for the 2.0T AWD, including percentage of city highway driving?

I currently own 2007 Sonata V6 and 2012 Elantra, very happy with them.

I was almost certain I was buying the top of line Forester before it was released based on leaks and early reviews. Do yourself a favor, drive them back to back to see which one you would be happier with. After the test drive we ruled out the Forester and bought the Santa Fe Ultimate.

Fuel economy is worse, but you will never whine about the CVT and gutless powertrain in the Subaru ... pun intended

The price difference was less than expected too.

 

[Tantor67]

I was almost certain I was buying the top of line Forester before it was released based on leaks and early reviews. Do yourself a favor, drive them back to back to see which one you would be happier with. After the test drive we ruled out the Forester and bought the Santa Fe Ultimate.

Fuel economy is worse, but you will never whine about the CVT and gutless powertrain in the Subaru ... pun intended

The price difference was less than expected too.

There is no comparison between the Forester and the Santa Fe Ultimate 2.0. The Santa Fe feels like a luxury car and has features not even offered on luxury cars. The forester is slow, ugly and has that stupid CVT (BTW I am a Subaru fan) Even the 2020 Outback has less features (no HUD, Pano Sunroof, 360 Camera, Wireless Charging, and it has that stupid CVT). I was going to wait for the 2020 Outback but I am glad I got the Santa Fe. I love this car!

 

[Dominick]

I live in New York and it's about 20-23mpg in stop and go traffic and in normal every day driving. When going away on vacations with no traffic it averages about 27-29mpg. I have the Ultimate 2.0 AWD. It actually performs about the same as my previous car did which was the 2011 Sonata base model GLS. Overall, I'm happy with the mileage I get. As the previous person said, granted it's a Hyundai, the Santa Fe feels more luxurious as compared to similar models in the class and the best bang for your buck with features a lot of other suvs don't offer.

 

[Pawper]

Like the mileage on the 2.0T

We just passed 10,000 kms and just removed the winter XICE-II's. The mileage varied from a low of 28 mpg Imp to 36+ mpg Imp with the average being around 32-33 mpg Imp. The OBC ranged from a high of 13.7 km/l to 11.3 km/l and except for the last fill up the OBC was more optimistic by anywhere from 0.5 to about 2 mpg Imp.
I was hoping for better mileage with the summer tires but it seems to be about the same--right now OBC is reading 12.8 km/l.
Our trips are always at least 20kms 1 way and most of our mileage has been highway. We always calculate our mileage and then use the OBC as a rough guide.
To sum up--we are very pleased that the 2.0T is giving us at least as good as the 2.4 which we had in the 2013 Santa Fe and love the extra kick the turbo gives.

 

[ZachE1]

Are you evaluating that the Santa Fe is wider and longer than the the Forester? If you frequently transport three people in the back seat, they will be much more comfortable in the Santa Fe. But if you frequently parallel park in tight spaces or prefer a narrower vehicle, then the Forester has the advantage. The Forester is 182.1" overall and the Santa Fe is 187.8". I don't have the widths readily available, but there is several inches difference between the two vehicles. I own a 2009 Forester (which is smaller than the 2019's) and a 2019 Santa Fe, and the difference is size is noticeable when driving and parking.

 

[M in Toronto]

Fuel Cost

I just reached 12 years and 297,000km on my 2007 Sant Fe Ltd AWD.

Here are my costs for the 12 years:

02 27 19-12 years 30,029km 297,029km
Fuel @ $1.26/L $4,729 $.157/km $38,565
Maintenance $1,727 $.058/km $18,636
Insurance $1,191 $.036/km $14,951
TOTAL $7,647 $.255/km $72,052

+$38,000 cost $110,052 $.371/km

I love this car. It starts quickly summer and winter and feels tight like a new vehicle. And, it is not showing any rust.

However, I live in the salt and rust belt so I don't know how much longer I have.

I'm thinking of the 2019 - 20 - 21? Toyota RAV4 Hybrid as the replacement.

Sorry for the jumble, the tabs show on the working copy, but the jumble shows on the post.

 

[LLigetfa]

No city within hundreds of kilometers so cannot provide city MPG. 2014 SFS with 2.0T.

On longer highway driving I see 8.x to 9.x L/100km. Mixed in-town it averages 10.x to 11.x L/100km. Winter with more idling is slightly worse.

 

[kinglerch]

I'm thinking of the 2019 - 20 - 21? Toyota RAV4 Hybrid as the replacement.

I test drove the Rav4 and while I like the design idea, it was poorly executed...

- First, there are 12 (yes 12) different models. Add to that AWD/FWD and all the options for radio, seats, and sunroof and the combinations are endless. While this isn't necessarily a problem itself, it makes getting what you want very difficult. For example, only the top of the line had ventilated seats and panoramic sunroof as an option, and they had to be purchased as extras. No telling if they could even find such a combination without even more added on.

- It is very expensive. Every option added to the cost, even the color red costed an additional $400. A Rav4 similarly equipped to a Santa Fe Ultimate cost over $40K

- It is a brave and rugged looking interior, but not for $40K...it is simply overpriced for what comes with. They also have the buggy Entune system that mates with your phone with an app...without the phone and app working, the Entune system does very little. There were also no interesting colors, just red, blue, white, black, and silver I think...some of these colors cost extra.

- The drive is very weak and loud. You will never think you are in a performance vehicle, even in Sport mode....well, at times I guess it sounds growly and sporty, but it doesn't accelerate that way. And you feel every bump in the road. Again, fine for a rugged car, but not at this price point.

In summary, I actually liked the Rav4 and it gets great MPG but is about 30% too expensive IMO.

 

[Zerosleeps]

Hi Rambokid,

My SF 2.0 Ultimate has about 400km on it now. It's still early in the break-in period but I'm averaging about 13.5 l/100 km with about 80% city driving, summer tires and mostly short-hops (2 - 10 km.) I'm in Newfoundland, so fairly hilly city driving. Highway has been around 10.5 l/100. I'm not overly aggressive, but I'm not babying it trying to eek out every bit of mileage either.

I looked at the Forrester as well, but it was significantly smaller and I thought the interior was just too conservative and didn't really feel as upscale as the Ultimate. I came from a CVT in a Nissan Murano and I don't miss the engine whine at all, although the 4 cylinder turbo feel does take some getting used to.

So far I'm very pleased with my decision. I did sit in the new Rav4 yesterday which was also very nice. Even though it specs out as smaller, it didn't seem much smaller than the SF. But the interior didn't feel as nicely packaged as the SF (hence the Wards Best Interior award yesterday for the SF.) I do think that the Rav4 hybrid motor that is coming shortly is going to be a huge advantage for Toyota - the price premium is minimal (in Canada) and if it delivers anywhere close to the rated MPG, it will save drivers well over a hundred/month in gas (assuming you don't finance it - cuz if you do, you'll be putting all that money to paying the interest on the 5% financing rate!)

 

[rilles]

7700KM. I'm getting 9.1 - 9.5 l/100 on highway driving.
around town its around 13 l/100

 

[rambokid]

This is my best fuel economy number, 8.2L/100km (28.7mpg). Conditions were: from carputer, full tank, no additive, 87 octane, 70% highway, no speeding, truck driving style. Happy with the number, but no fun.lol.

 

[BikeMen]

Why is your check engine light on?

 

[kekretariat]

22.7 MPG last tank on 87 Costco gas, 60% city / 40% highway.