Cruising Mileage 5.0 (and 3.8)

[DRS]

See pic..

Legit number. Rural limited access highway, not interstate. Flat and level. Slight crossing tailwind (10mph according to readings off phone), running adaptive cruise at 67 max, a bit slower in traffic.

5.0, 2012, non R-Spec, Premium Shell gas, factory Michelin Energy 18" at 41f/38R lbs., about 72 degrees, climate set auto with AC button pushed on then off.

113 miles from reset. Stopped the test as I was coming into town.

Not bad.. Now that it is getting broken in, range is from 28.0 (über fast cruising), to 32. Town is another story. Hard to get much more than 22 so far. I measure filling the tank precisely. My "average" display seems very accurate. Since the average is not cumulative, and is a time snap shot, it normally read low in town, and right on if the cruising is steady for the tank.

What are others experiencing?

 

[cspartan]

No pic...

 

[Mark_888]

Tire pressure of 41F/38R seems a bit high (but certainly good for MPG). I thought that Hyundai specifies 33 PSI all the way around, but admit that I am not sure about the 5.0.

 

[DRS]

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[DRS]

Yea, tire pressure is higher than spec. Turn in is much better and mileage too. And no tire wear on edges when the semi performance tires sidewall tend to roll under during harder cornering. The tires are able to take mire than 44 cold (I forget, they might even be 51lbs max). We will see if they start to wear in the middle.

On a side note. In the rain, with tires at recommend pressure, when looking at their road trail, there is a outside lip dry spots but water in middle. With tires at this pressure, looks like a vacuum sucked up all the water across the entire tire track. Which I also translate to a better performance in heavy rain and highway with water buildup.

 

[GenesisCaptain]

That is outstanding. I have done a few road trips from Atlanta, GA to Statesville, NC in my 3.8, and I have not seen anything close to that. My trips are 100% highway with 65 - 70 MPH posted speed limits the whole way. I usually run active cruise 5 to 8 MPH over to hang with traffic. My average speed on the trip is about 70.

The highest I have seen on the car's OBC is around 31 MPG. However, mine registers about 10% to 15% high. So, I suspect that my true mileage is in the high 20s. (I manually calculated the MPH on one of the trips, but I forgot the calculation. I just remember that it was much lower than the car's optimistic calculation.)

I am doing the return leg today. I may try to hyper mile her to see what I can get. I will need to stop for some bio breaks, and that disrupts awesome mileage a bit. Maybe I can dehydrate myself and plow through.

 

[DRS]

That is outstanding. I have done a few road trips from Atlanta, GA to Statesville, NC in my 3.8, and I have not seen anything close to that. My trips are 100% highway with 65 - 70 MPH posted speed limits the whole way. I usually run active cruise 5 to 8 MPH over to hang with traffic. My average speed on the trip is about 70.

The highest I have seen on the car's OBC is around 31 MPG. However, mine registers about 10% to 15% high. So, I suspect that my true mileage is in the high 20s. (I manually calculated the MPH on one of the trips, but I forgot the calculation. I just remember that it was much lower than the car's optimistic calculation.)

I am doing the return leg today. I may try to hyper mile her to see what I can get. I will need to stop for some bio breaks, and that disrupts awesome mileage a bit. Maybe I can dehydrate myself and plow through.

You are running through hills a bunch, right? That hurts.

Also, I had a Hertz 2012 Genny base model for a few months before getting this. I got similar results as you until I did the following: used a intake cleaner system when in for Hertz schedule service. I used Gumout complete every 1000 miles or so. Filled up the tires (which were the crappy Dunglaps) and cross rotated. (Helped lower the noise for a time), fed at least mid grade or premium gas (although HMC does not suggest it like it does for the 5.0), let the cruise do the work as much as possible, went OVER 70 on interstate to get revs to sweet spot, especially when running up and down hills (but 80 or under). I would hit over 30mpg routinely. And in rural highways where it is flat and 60mph limit, got indicated 38mpg (which on the V6 means 35-36, which I did measure).

And of course any stop lights, idle, in town cratered that. I experience that they do not have the DI figured out for stop and go, along with idle or deceleration, or acceleration to save fuel. Steady state where the valves and timing adjust, Nd the mix curve seems to work better at certain speeds than others. Other cars with similar FI or set up (Ford 4.6/5.0 V8 as example which this is copied from) has better mapping for consistent mileage in town and highway as I experience it.

 

[DRS]

Oh, and Shell, BP, and Marathon gas seem to make a difference. At Least 1mpg better, in any grade.

 

[DRS]

Do not forget to blow out the V6 nice a week... Or more. Take it to red line through at least 3-4 gears (which you can figure out how fast you will be going). Or do some business where you have two lane roads and have to pass 4-5 cars at a time. The V6 is amazing at that. Yes, my 5.0 is much faster, but you get the point.

 

[Fast55]

Just bought a loaded 2013 3.8 and mileage is nothing like this. I've been pretty easy on it since it's not broken in, but unless these things are very tight out of the box, I don't expect it to improve much. First trip loaded with family was 25-26 hwy at 75+ and around 20-21 in town.

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[Philth]

Sh*t, I'll be lucky to average 18mpg in my 3.8L. I do drive about 2 miles to work each way though.

 

[DRS]

Ok, here is one for you. Just for fun. My 2008 Ford F350 "block 3" (60k miles ago) King Ranch, 20' forged wheels (heavy to turn), 4X4 off road, 6.7 diesel, running about 75 mph.. Loaded to the gills with gadgets. And this average is for the tank not a snap shot of time. And this measurement reads accurate. I think I had 3-400 miles by then on the tanks. This weighs 7200lbs empty, let alone with 560 lbs of diesel.

This was shot up in ND after dropping off a 40'+ camping/warm blood horse trailer.

If this can get this kind if mileage, I think your Genny can beat this.

Caveat: cool weather in high 50s (which it likes for MPG), A definite tail wind of 15mph... In a strong headwind it would drop to 20 or so.

Oh, if you can stand it, leave your HVAC in auto, then hit the AC button twice (once lights the button, the second shuts it off) to turn compressor off.. When going through hills, seems to help the V6 keep the load down and staying with the torque converter locked when climbing hills. Keep windows closed.

 

[DRS]

Just bought a loaded 2013 3.8 and mileage is nothing like this. I've been pretty easy on it since it's not broken in, but unless these things are very tight out of the box, I don't expect it to improve much. First trip loaded with family was 25-26 hwy at 75+ and around 20-21 in town.

Yea, it is tight. The whole drive train will get better after 12k or so with the V6 that I experienced. And take up all my suggestions in posts above.

However, in town, they do not have the DI as mapping set as good as it can be in town as I see it. Maybe they will come out with a new firmware load.

 

[GenesisCaptain]

You are running through hills a bunch, right? That hurts.

I-40 and I-85 are very flat between Statesville and Atlanta. So, it ought to be a pretty good run. I am always in a hurry to get home, but this has me very curious. I may run a little slower on the home trip to increase mileage. I typically run the low octane gas from a Top Tier gas station, but I will fill up with premium for this test. (I am not sure if that makes any difference in the V6.)

The car only has 12K miles, and I do the occasional WOT blow out, so most of those factors should be a non-issue. I will also reset my tire pressure. And I have the Michelin (theoretically) low rolling resistance tire, so that should help optimize too.

 

[Fast55]

Yea, it is tight. The whole drive train will get better after 12k or so with the V6 that I experienced. And take up all my suggestions in posts above.

However, in town, they do not have the DI as mapping set as good as it can be in town as I see it. Maybe they will come out with a new firmware load.

That's good to hear. I bought this as a work car/commuter instead of a R-spec because I thought the stiffer ride felt a little out of place in a car like this, there were no more 2012 5.0's to be found at dealers I would give the time of day to, and I already have something even faster. Mileage (so far) aside, I'm impressed.

 

[StangKiller]

I get about 12 miles per gallon in the city. Lead foot I guess....

 

[thebells]

I got 31.5 mpg on the way home from picking up my car in St. Louis about 10 days ago. 575 miles at about 70-75 using SCC much of the way. I was very pleased with that, especially considering there might be some minor improvement once she gets broken in. 35 mpg in a 5.0 blows my mind....

 

[nb_mike]

I have a 2013/ 3.8 . I drive from Evansville IN to south of Nashville and to Indy and when I put it in ECO I get 28 on the low and 31.7 on the upper end per the gauges. Manually when I figure it is about 1 mpg lower. I use regular.
Equal or better than the 28 EPA est.

On a side note, even in ECO mode I recently passed a loooong semi on a two lane hwy and I passed it in a serious fashion and the growl sounded pretty good too.

I have owned a 1966 chevy 396 and a 303 chevy recently and it is faster than either when passing. The 396 might have been quicker from the line.

 

[GenesisCaptain]

I did my 255 mile trip today, and I definitely cannot hang in that league with my 3.8. I drove relatively conservatively-- I set the adaptive cruise at 5 MPH over the posted speed limit, and only deviated from that when traffic dictated. I avoided any hard acceleration and generally went with the flow. Traffic was light and steady, so conditions were excellent. The trip began with a fill-up of Marathon Premium gas and a tire pressure set at 35 PSI measured with an AccuTire gauge. The outside temperature was mid- to high-80s.

Less than 2 miles of this trip were non-interstate. The posted speed limits were 65 MPH to 70 MPH most of the way. Statesville is about 750 feet above sea level, and home is about 1,000 feet, so the net climb was about 250 feet. The drive was relatively flat by typical interstate standards (it was not Kansas or Florida, but there were no significant changes through hills or mountains).

The car is a 3.8 2012 with about 13,000 miles. The tires are the Michelin Energy Saver factory tires. It was warm out, so I drove with A/C the whole way.

The screen showed 255.4 miles for the trip with 68 MPH average speed and 33.7 MPG. The total trip time was 3:44. The hilarious estimate was total tank range: if I add the trip distance to the distance to empty, I get 625 miles. What a fantasy.

My actual calculated mileage was 29.1 MPG, based on 8.764 gallons at the end fill-up. So, the error was 15.8%, which is consistent with my previous measurements. I am very pleased with 29.1 MPG; I just wish the instrument cluster was accurate.

Here are the screen shots from my dash...

 

[ockevin]

Great mileage and a thorough write up.