I am not sure how you can say that the difference in power cannot be measured on a dyno, since Hyundai specs say there is a 7 HP difference between using regular and premium on the Tau. I am not saying whether 7 HP is noticeable, or whether it is worth the price difference in the gas, only that someone must have measured the difference to be 7 HP.The point being that the tau engine works perfectly fine on 87 even though everything you said might be true. Difference in power cannot be recognized by a dyno, let alone a person.
The only thing I would point out is that Hyundai has to specify the octane used during EPA tests for mileage. It would be to their competitive advantage to be able to advertise that the engine runs on regular gas at a given EPA city/highway/combo rating, and they would be stupid to specify premium during the EPA tests if the mileage results were identical with regular.Saying that higher octane means higher mpg for this car is not technically accurate.
Most of what you wrote are not "maintenance" issues.
I live in Phoenix too but took delivery of my '12 R-spec in December 2012. I have had no problems - none.
Who was your dealer and why did you keep going back after they were so apparently inept? What was the cause of the indicator lamp?
You didn't make the shop fix your Nav/Entertainment fuse but instead accepted their lame workaround?
The combination of poor tire mileage and poor gas mileage indicate to me you are heavy on the throttle and perhaps a bit hasty on the corners. I just passed the 8,000 mile mark in mine and the tires are showing no wear whatsoever. I have them rotated every 5,000 miles (you didn't say whether you did that or not).
I have run regular in my R-spec since new (along with full synthetic oil) and my mileage in town runs in the low 20's. I recently did a round trip to L.A. and got close to 30 MPG and that was running 75-80 most of the way. There is no reason to run premium gas in the Genny unless you like spending money.
I wouldn't call your car a lemon without knowing more details about the failures but it seems like you bought a performance car and are driving it like one.
By the way, I thought the difference was 9 hp, not 7 hp between premium and regular gas.
It could be. I was going off what I remembered off the top of my head.![]()
There is no octane sensor that determines what map to run.
This is what results in that "7 horsepower" reduction.
There is no perfect dyno. Even the most expensive ones have quite large error margin. The dyno error margin is higher than that hp difference percent-wise. Therefore, that difference cannot be proven on a dyno. There might be a different way hyundai is testing power directly at the engine which could be a lot more accurate.
I have driven the car normally...I haven't tried to make the car do more than it is capable of. I spent five hours at dealership today for electrical issues. The most likely culprit was the battery and it was replaced (the original was still in there). Get home and...nope - same electrical issues: door locks, sound system, navi all don't work and clock and gauges reset to factory. I've had it with this car. Going to get this latest problem fixed and then going to trade it for an Acura TL. $50K cars shouldn't be like this - 10+ trips to dealership this year.
My last car that the Genesis replaced was an Acura. My Acura was in the shop for numerous problems, so any car manufacturer can build a bad car. I do agree that Honda in the past has had a very reliable record but Hyundai is nearly equal now and my Genesis has been the most trouble free car I have ever owned. I have owned Acura, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, Ford, Mercury, and Chevy.