75-80mph gas mileage

[GasSavers_GasUser]

Originally Posted by Kuripot

Hi,

I'm in the market for a used car. I'll be keeping my Accent and paying someone cash. I'd like to spend under 10K. The one thing I don't like about the Accent and never have is the gearing. I'm running about 4,000 RPM on the interstate @ 75-80mph. I want the used car I buy to be more of a highway cruiser but I still want decent gas mileage. I put 100 miles per day on my work cars and it's almost all @ highway speeds. Any suggestions?

My GF has an 07 Impala with the 3.5vvt engine. She just drove it to Florida and is down there now. She called me and told me that she averaged 31.2 on I-95 at an average speed of 75. (100% highway driving) When she left here she had the trunk and back seat packed solid with stuff also. It just had an oil change and I aired up the tires to 33psi before she left. I think she did good.

Maybe would have been a little bit better without all that stuff in the car?.

If you look for one, make sure it has the 3.5vvt engine as there are several engine options and I think that is the better one for fuel economy.

[spotaneagle]

stock:33 now:38

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by GasUser

I aired up the tires to 33psi

How low were they before? I would expect the Impala to specify 35 as its minimum.

[ben98gs]

That is about what I was like when I checked the tires on my Civic... They were only at ~25psi. I was expecting 30-32psi. No worries, they are at 42psi now... lol

[GasSavers_GasUser]

Originally Posted by theholycow

How low were they before? I would expect the Impala to specify 35 as its minimum.

29psi on the door sticker of the Impala. They are car tires and not truck tires.

When I checked them cold before the trip 3 of them were at 31 and one was 32 per the DIC so I put a gauge on them and evened them all out to 33psi figuring they would be running at around 35-36psi hot on the highway. She is a girl driving 1,200 miles by herself and I didn't want her to have any problems on the road. She has On-Star in case of a problem, but still. I forgot to ask her what the DIC was reading after she heated the tires up good on the highway.

[theholycow]

The specified pressure requirements and maximum pressure limits are cold pressure; they leave plenty of margin for heat. However, you also want her to be comfortable and not have unexpectedly changed handling characteristics.

My Pontiac Grand Am and my Cadillac Deville both specified 35psi, I figured it was pretty common among GM cars.

[Kuripot]

Originally Posted by *************

OP, you say you need a highway cruiser, how long are your highway drives? Why exactly do you need a "highway cruiser" anyhow? Also it can't hurt to learn how to work on your car and $2K to change out the final drive on the transmission seems a bit much. Most of the cost is in labor, so if you could remove it yourself, the only cost could be just the replacement final drive if you're able to take apart the transmission to replace just that one part. I dunno, but I do know that the accent blue gets better mileage because it has a taller transmission, though I don't know by how much.

Could you please tell me where you got that info in red? A link would be nice. I've been searching and have not been able to find any evidence to back up your claim.


After a little more searching I was able to find a website that claimed Hyundai was going to change the gearing but no evidence that they actually did. I think they just put low res. tires on it and took the A/C out and maybe synth. lubes for the mileage test.

[imzjustplayin]

Originally Posted by Kuripot

Could you please tell me where you got that info in red? A link would be nice. I've been searching and have not been able to find any evidence to back up your claim.


After a little more searching I was able to find a website that claimed Hyundai was going to change the gearing but no evidence that they actually did. I think they just put low res. tires on it and took the A/C out and maybe synth. lubes for the mileage test.

http://www.hyundaiholyoke.com/

Says it right there on the front page, "The Accent Blue receives the same treatment plus revised transmission gear ratios and lowered ride height to achieve even greater fuel efficiency."

[Kuripot]

Originally Posted by *************

http://www.hyundaiholyoke.com/

Says it right there on the front page, "The Accent Blue receives the same treatment plus revised transmission gear ratios and lowered ride height to achieve even greater fuel efficiency."

I found that page also. If you read carefully you will see that the automatics mileage went up the same amount as the manual but they don't claim any gear change in the auto.

They don't give the specs for the 2010. Just the 2009 which haven't changed since the model was introduced.

I think it's smoke and mirrors like the Chevy Cobalt.

I hope I'm wrong, but I want SPECS. for the 2010.

[Kuripot]

I gave the salesman a call that sold me my Accent. I told him if he has evidence that the gearing changed significantly from 2008, 2009, or 2010, I'd trade mine in on a new one. I'll find out for sure now. LOL