2012 Sorento GDI 4 cyl
 

This is the wifes vehicle. I took it to the dealership today for the first check over (free) with 1200 miles (in 2 months and 1 week). Driving in a heavy rain this morning the fuel consumption gauge was reading 30 MPG on the highway.

After some stops and on the return trip I reset the gauge on entering the Interstate. Cruising along at 65-72 MPH I saw the reading peak at 36 MPG, after exiting the 12 miles stretch of road the guage was reading 35 MPG average for that leg of the trip. She has been consistently averaging 25-26 MPG overall for the last 3 tanks of fuel, including the original tank filled at the dealer.

The power is not that high, 191 HP and a 3800 pound vehicle, but the mileage I saw today after only 1200 miles on the odometer shows the potential for great highway mileage in a large heavy SUV type of vehicle.
While many here frown on ownership of this type of vehicle, I find the potential mileage of this one to be exceptional, considering what it is.

The 6 speed automated manual transmission also works well for economy shifting early enough so that you can stay at higher loads on the engine and the tach reads right at 2k RPM at 62 MPH.

One of the few vehicles that shows that the Korean manufacturers are really focusing on mileage. I think they did an excellent job on this one, especially considering its weight, which with me driving was close to two tons.

I would love to try one of their smaller sedans to see what it's potential would be, either a manual or the 6 speed automated manual. I know they are coming out with start-stop technology soon.

regards
Mech

I've been following Kia/Hyundai for the last few years and think they really do have a good thing going.

An extra special fact, built in the USA!
By Americans.

regards
Mech

FWD or AWD?

FWD.

regards
Badger

Whats the point of a fwd suv? Just get a wagon.

Does the automated manual allow going to and from neutral in any gear at speed?

Pretty good, these are made in my state, Georgia.

I expect the mpgs will increase with a few more thousand miles to get everything broken in good.

i have an '09 sonata, 5 speed. The wife drives it primarily. We are quite happy with it. Haven't really followed mileage that closely, but, I suspect it is around high 20s/low 30s overall.

One of these days I will get around to monitoring it more closely, with some hypermiling technique thrown in.

If there is one thing I could change, it would be a higher 5th gear. I believe that would squeeze an extra mile or two per gallon.

One other thing that is annoying is it's tendency to stall during launch if you do not feed it some throttle. I've been driving stick for over 30 years and am pretty good at it. Other vehicles I've had were much less fussy about this. The odd thing is, it does not lack low end torque. I can put along at very low revs happily, so long as I am feeding it a bit of throttle.

This condition is enough of an annoyance that I would probably have gone with the slushbox, were I to buy it again. Also, if I am not mistaken, the auto mpg numbers are actually a tad higher, which is sort of weird. Don't know if these numbers are reflected in real world driving.

The point is styling and space. Nobody makes a large fuel efficient wagon anymore. If you need a large spacious vehicle, you get an SUV or a minivan. Who wants to drive a minivan forever. My Rondo is (was in the US) Kia's fwd wagon. It is similar in interior space, 400lb lighter, and gets way worse fuel economy. The fact is, SUV's are popular with the public and so that is where the car makers put their new technology. The new GDI engines are very impressive. It's too bad that there isn't a wagon on the market that has one, only sedans and SUV's.

Today I drove it to my parents house, 21 miles, then to the cemetery for the wife to pay her respects to her parents. Then to meet two of my 3 brothers and their families for dinner and a drink, then back home. Left with the fuel economy display reading 30 MPG exactly, when I got back it was reading 29.9 MPG. That's about 54 miles total with the stops mentioned and time to cool off in between , from a dead cold start, with 1300 miles on the odometer.

That's impressive for 3800 pounds of SUV. I did drive it the best I could to maximise mileage, not really hypermiling but more stealth hypermiling and I bet it would have beat my 99 Maxima for MPG. Considering it is 900 pounds heavier with a much larger frontal area and probably lower CD, you get the idea of how good the 4cyl GDI 6 speed dual clutch transmission combination works.

On the Interstate it tachs right at 2k or a little above going 65 MPH and is rated at 32 highway on the new EPA. The drive home was at night with the radio and heater running with headlights, etc. Bet I could have beat 30 Average without dealing with night.
I would love to try this combo in KIA's mid size sedan. In the small sedan with the .1.6 GDI manual or auto it should be possible to do much better, maybe low to mid 40s.

regards
Mech

what ^^^^ said.

all of the car makers jumped on the suv bandwagon and abandoned wagons for some odd reason.

i guess it has something to do with american lemmings buying into the minivans and wagons aren't cool nonsense which is pedaled by auto maker marketers. If I am not mistaken, subaru and vw are the only ones that haven't dropped traditional wagons.

You would think that with high fuel prices here to stay apparently, they would get back into the business, but they haven't yet. well, toyota sort of did with the veranza, but, they still couldn't help themselves and unneccesarily jacked it up a few inches in fear people might think it was a camry wagon.

i think in the next few years you will see more true wagons reappear. or atleast i hope so.

as for the obvious superiority of DI, why are auto companies not going to it exclusively. i don't believe the manufacturing costs are much above PI.

Guess that's all about marketing as well.

Station Wagon, SUV,CUV, whatever you want to call it, Shooting Brake, Airport Hack.
Tell her it's a Station Wagon and she wouldn't buy it. Tell her it's a Minivan and you get the same reaction, I think it's based on the Optima so it IS a Station Wagon version of a Sedan.

Make any sense, NO, but hey she likes it and she can afford it.

Why not 4 WD? We bought a Murano with 4WD in 2004, figuring we might need it with the driveway having a 10 foot elevation change in less than 100 feet length. Never used it in 35k miles. On the Nissan it was a $1600 option and you didn't have to buy anything else to get 4WD. I guess she doesn't need to go off roading in the Wal Mart parking lot ;).

regards
Mech

AWD (No low range) and 4WD (Low range option) were put on vehicles with normal rear wheel drive, so it put power to the front wheels in low traction situations to get you through...cause lord knows, rear wheel drive on a pickup in the snow is awful due to the lousy weight distribution.

Since a lot of the newer SUV, CUVs are base models with Front Wheel Drive....I think AWD would be a waste, particularly since modern snow tires can make a FWD vehicle almost unstoppable in all but the worst conditions for those in snowy regions.

my ¢2

The 4MPG highway mileage penalty by itself eliminated 4 WD from consideration. Why pay more for worse mileage. Never had any real problem around here with FWD. RWD is touchy especially on sheet ice. Driving a pickup with no weight in the bed on ice is a REAL adventure. Drove my 84 CRX in a 10 inch snowstorm until the ice in the front wheel wells would not allow my to turn the front wheels.

regards
Mech