Hyundai to instruct on FE driving

[Kodak]

Hyundai Hits 2016 CAFE Target Early, Defends Elantra EPA Numbers - WOT on Motor Trend


Cool article. Looks like Hyundai is trying to combat FE criticism by teaching better driving habits.

Just more consumers wondering the same thing: "Why do the EPA estimates seem like such a pipe dream?" Maybe more drivers will come our way.

[Ladogaboy]

I still cringe whenever I ride with my friend. His car is rated for 26 mpg combined/31 mpg highway, and he and I are getting nearly the same mileage right now. I'd like to say something, but I know him too well for that.

[Sven7]

Great! It's kind of like those race prepped street cars that people have to take a performance driving course to qualify to own.

I'm sure some of my friends hate driving me around because now and then I can't help but say, "coast...coast..."

[jsatter]

The way the masses drive, it really doesn't surprise me that people aren't getting the EPA mileage.

[Fat Charlie]

Matbe the EPA should hire random people to do their FE testing. And introduce remote starters and drive-throughs to the test.

That'd get real-world numbers.

[jakobnev]

How about publishing the numbers together with a disclaimer that says your actual mileage may vary?

[theycallmeebryan]

My girlfriend has a 2010 focus... nice little cars. Her's is an automatic. It has a MPG display on the dash which is really cool.

Mind you, my girlfriend knows nothing about cars nor how to improve fuel economy.

One day we had a little competition. Going to the movies, i bet her an icecream sundae that i could drive there and get better mpg on the way there than she would on the back. I reset the meter right before i took off from the house and using my techniques (except EOC, she doesn't like when i do that) i was able to achieve 44mpg displayed. Along the way i explained to her how to drive more efficiently. Try not to brake, accelerate easy and try to get just over 40mph (where the torque converter locks up), don't go over 55mph, avoid stopping, avoid braking.

When she got behind the wheel, it was absolutely amazing how her driving changed once she saw how the MPG meter changed in different situations. She first realized that the mpg reading would drastically decrease if she had to stop. She would say "no no no turn green turn green". Then if there was a stop sign or red light ahead she would let off the throttle way early (and i mean, the car would have come to a stop before the sign if we continued coasting) and try to coast to it because the MPG reading would increase while coasting. Then she started driving very slowly and i encouraged her to speed up to just over 40mph. She did and noticed that the mpg's were slowly increasing.

She was able to achieve 38mpg on the way home. Her previous average was 35mpg.

So she was able to achieve a 10% improvement just by watching the gauge and learning how different driving styles influence it!

[larrybuck]

I like my old CRX, but in view of all the ciVILLIANS out there that pay the big bucks
for a new ride; why not have ALL the new vehicles made w a mpg. gauge right in the drivers face.

They are already paying extra for the weight of all those airbags in their vehicle; how about something on offence, instead of always: defence???

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by theycallmeebryan

So she was able to achieve a 10% improvement just by watching the gauge and learning how different driving styles influence it!

That's not just a 10% improvement, that's 10% on her first try! On her second try she'll already know how to better avoid stopping, etc. That's awesome.

[renault_megane_dci]

On the newer Renault there is an indicator to tell you when to shift up or down for best economy.
It is called a quickshift.

Althought I am not using one because I buy used cars (30% of the CO2 created by a car comes from its manufacturing => doing what I can to reduce the tab)