2001 Hyundai Accent

When I first started driving from one place (my mother's) to another (my
place)(65 miles) the gas literally ate me alive. After driving a couple of
days from my mother's to my place I was getting VERY good gas mileage. Now
that I've been driving to and from school from my place (aprox. 1.5 miles)
and then occasionally go to my mom's the gas mileage eats me up again. What
would my problem be? I want good gas mileage when I travel the highway to my
mother's but then I want good gas mileage while going to and from school.
Also, whenever I start my car gas dissappears. So, when I drive to and from
school do I keep my O/D off and then turn it on when I go to my mother's????

 

short trips chew heaps of fuel...

When the engine heats up (longer trips) you get better fuel consumption.
Also depends on how much stopping and starting during your trips. ie.
traffic lights etc. Heavy acceleration uses more fuel.

 

Hi,

I have a problem. In fact I dont know if this is a problem or not. I need
your advise. I have purchased from Herb Chambers, Auburn, a Hyundai Accent
GL, 2001, four door sadan with 36,500 miles at $6500. The book says I am
supposed to get around 25 miles/gallon in city and 30 in highway. What I
am geting is 15 miles/galoon in city and 20 in highway. Is this ok? Should
it be more? I have four cylinders. How this compares to American cars?
This is my first vehicle in my life and I am a foreign student. I have a
huge loan on my head for this and I want to know if anything is wrong.

btw, I checked with a autoshop before buying and they said everythigw as
fine (on 3rd Dec,2003).

Sudip

Sudip Bhattacharjee
Ph.D. Student
Pavement Research Group
Civil Engineering
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA-01609, USA
Tell: 508-831-5011 (off)
508-831-6034 (asphalt lab)
508=831-6134 (graduate computer lab)

 

A 4 cylinder vehicle should not be getting gas mileage that poor.
That's V8 range.

The first thing to ask is how are you driving the vehicle? Do you
smoothly accelerate and decelerate or do you drive like you're in the
Indy 500 races? If it's the latter then lighten up on the accelerator
and break.

Next, check the air filter and tire pressure. The air filter should
appear to be clean and the tires should be set to 32 PSI (unless the
small plate attached to the driver's front door says otherwise). The
combination of a dirty air filter and tires at or below 26 PSI can
cause you to lose 4-5 MPG (not to mention that the latter will cause
premature wear on your tires).

I'd recommend that you take the car back to the dealer you bought it
from to have them check it out. A discrepancy that large would lead
me to believe that the car was either poorly maintained (and needs a
new air filter, fuel filter, oil change, etc.) or that there is
something seriously wrong mechanically.

 

Hi Jason,

Thanks for the reply. I think I drive cautiously since its my first car!
It looks like my tyres are slightly deflated. I would certainly check
that. And since I checked the vehicle throughly before buying, I think
the maintenance was good (they said I dont need to come to them before 3
months or 3000 miles). Then from your email, I suspect something is
terribly wrong, probably with transmission. I sometimes get some kicks
while accelerating when engine is cool. It does not happen normally when
its warm. I am so disappointed because its almost a new car and its my
first vehicle.

Sudip