1600 mile road trip observations

[Toddmoe]

I recently went on a little road trip, about 1600 miles, from Dallas to the coast of Alabama, up to Birmingham and back to Dallas. A few observations I made along the way.

Gas mileage was better than expected. On the highway was 29 mpg plus. On one tank of pure highway driving I actually got almost 31. Given Hyundai’s recent mileage estimate snafus I was not expecting to do better than EPA estimates. BTW this was 100% normal driving mode, not eco. I was getting about 525 miles per tank which is the best range I have had in any car ever.

The adaptive cruise was terrific. I mostly used the “2” setting, I found that if I left it on the default of 4 (longest gap), that cars changing lanes well ahead of me might cause me to unnecessarily and somewhat abruptly brake. In heavier traffic I took it down to 1 and that seemed to work best. Overall though, wow, loved it.

Lane keeping, also worked well, maybe a little more subtle than I expected, did a nice job of keeping me lined up and just sort of nudged the wheel for me. It gets kind of pissed off if you change lanes without signaling. I did have a couple incidents where it seemed a little confused when I had some lanes ending and merging and the lines were not as clear. Overall though, it seemed to make the trip a little less effort by doing some of the work for me.

Navigation was fast and accurate, was very pleasantly surprised there was well, a few times when I changed my plans route wise, it quickly recalculated. I have the premium nav.

Lastly, my in-laws live on a small mountain in the Birmingham area, lots of hilly twisty roads. Sport mode made me happy. If I had known the roads a little better I could have had a lot more fun, but I did get to do some pretty aggressive driving and I was really happy with the way the Gene handled.
I also got several compliments on the ride of the car and after sitting in it for 10 hours, it was pretty darn comfortable still.

Just thought I would share, if you have any specific questions, I am happy to do my best to answer.

 

[Al Jet]

I recently went on a road trip, just not as long. About 600 miles, round trip. I agree that the ride was very comfortable, the fuel economy was better than I expected (This is my first Hyundai, and I am comparing it to my 2009 Jag XF Supercharged). I always got a smile when it came to punching the accelerator to pass a slower vehicle. I have the 5.0 with the Ultimate package, and I have been extremely happy with it!

 

[Alwaysforward]

Just thought I would share, if you have any specific questions, I am happy to do my best to answer.

Does your car have the Heads Up Display? If so, how accurate did you find the Speed Limit sign that appears on the windshield? How do you like the sound system in the car? Was there any noticeable road noise at higher speeds?

 

[ckon]

Does your car have the Heads Up Display? If so, how accurate did you find the Speed Limit sign that appears on the windshield? How do you like the sound system in the car? Was there any noticeable round noise at higher speeds?

HUD speed limit sign displays seem pretty accurate unless the physical signs have been changed since the last time the database was updated. It doesn't happen too often but it does happen. We just came back from NC a coupla weeks ago and one of the states (don't remember which) had just raised their speed limits in one area and the HUD display was wrong - I think it was displaying 55 in a 70 area.

 

[Ernie3647]

Thanks for those observations Toddmoe. Mine has been sidelined till the clear bra treatment was done so the longest trip it has seen is 100 miles to and from the treatment installer. (Has 1000 miles now) The treatment is done. The car looks great and I’m ready for the ride to Florida and back coming soon.

 

[Pahaska]

A stretch of local highway was recently reduced from 65 to 60 and the HUD still says 65; however, another similar stretch that was increased from 65 to 70 at about the same time now indicates 70. It pays to check the signs

 

[GenesisCaptain]

Gas mileage was better than expected. On the highway was 29 mpg plus. On one tank of pure highway driving I actually got almost 31.

How close was your actual calculated MPG versus what the OBC calculated?

 

[Toddmoe]

Does your car have the Heads Up Display? If so, how accurate did you find the Speed Limit sign that appears on the windshield? How do you like the sound system in the car? Was there any noticeable round noise at higher speeds?

Yes, I have the heads up and it reflects the same speed limit as on the Nav. For the most part very accurate, I often watched as I went by the signs and typically it was within a few feet of the sign that it reflected a new speed limit. I did run across a few spots where it was not accurate, but overall, I would say probably about a 95% accuracy when I was watching, and I watched that a lot.

And very quiet, even at highway speeds, a few times I ran across some crappy roadway that added extra noise, but very quiet ride overall. The sound system in the ultimate is killer. I am a musician, this is a big deal for me. The speakers are very accurate, you hear a lot of detail that you do not typically hear in car sound systems. Little things like a shaker versus a hi-hat are distinguishable where in many cars you could not tell the difference. I have about 1000 mp3s loaded in the jukebox, it works like a champ. The Sirius is actually a noticeable downgrade in sound quality when you switch from mp3, but that is a limitation of the service, not the stereo.

 

[Toddmoe]

How close was your actual calculated MPG versus what the OBC calculated?

I actually relied on the cars electronics for that, I didn't manually calculate it.

 

[Alwaysforward]

Thank You Toddmoe for all your feedback. Much appreciated.

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[waveman]

@Toddmoe: Thank you for the detailed write-up. I'm hoping to upgrade to a 2nd generation Genny in the next couple of years.

Glad you enjoyed some of the roads around here in the Birmingham area. There are a fair number of twisty and/or hilly challenges, not to mention sudden swerves or panic stops to avoid armadillos, wild boar, deer, and other critters.

 

[dach2k3]

I had a 420 mile trip this Sunday and I agree with pretty much everything in your review.

I calculated my overall gas mileage at 28.1 MPG which was not bad. About 97% of the trip was pure highway and most of it in ECO mode. There was a period of about 15 minutes idling in a rest stop.

The ride was super smooth and quiet, much quieter than my previous 2008 V6 Accord EXL.

The adaptive cruise control was great. I also set it to 2 bars. I was trying to follow my wife in the car ahead of me. She was going roughly 68 to 71 mph and i set my cruise control to 74 and just sat behind her. It was a good following distance and it matched changes in velocity fairly smoothly.

Overall I was very pleased.

 

[ckon]

I had a 420 mile trip this Sunday and I agree with pretty much everything in your review.

I calculated my overall gas mileage at 28.1 MPG which was not bad. About 97% of the trip was pure highway and most of it in ECO mode. There was a period of about 15 minutes idling in a rest stop.

The ride was super smooth and quiet, much quieter than my previous 2008 V6 Accord EXL.

The adaptive cruise control was great. I also set it to 2 bars. I was trying to follow my wife in the car ahead of me. She was going roughly 68 to 71 mph and i set my cruise control to 74 and just sat behind her. It was a good following distance and it matched changes in velocity fairly smoothly.

Overall I was very pleased.

I must have missed it but what were you driving? The mileage looks pretty good.

 

[Pahaska]

i just rolled past the 2000 mile mark. Since about 1500 miles, the indicated mileage has gone up from about 23.5 mpg to 25.5 mpg under the same driving conditions. Same fuel station and grade of fuel. Looks like it is starting to break in.

 

[Alwaysforward]

I think this car learns your driving habits. Can someone confirm this?

 

[Gunkk]

Since 2009 the TCU adapts shift-points to your driving style. So it's highly likely that this feature continues in 2015.

Here's a link to the original post re: TSB for the reset procedure:

http://www.genesisowners.com/hyundai-genesis-forum/showthread.php?t=6578

 

[Alwaysforward]

Thank You Gunkk for the feedback. Much appreciated.

 

[italiabrain]

Since 2009 the TCU adapts shift-points to your driving style. So it's highly likely that this feature continues in 2015.

Here's a link to the original post re: TSB for the reset procedure:

http://www.genesisowners.com/hyundai-genesis-forum/showthread.php?t=6578

I'm not claiming to know this isn't true, but it wouldn't make much sense to me on the Gen 2. Why have an adaptive learning logic override the actual button you have for 4 different shift logics (when you count snow)?