The wife has bought a Hyundai i10. She loves the car and as a little cheap run-around I can't fault it.

The manufacturers figures stated miles per gallon of:

Urban 44.8

Combined 56.5

Extra Urban 65.7

However I found it was doing 39mpg but put that down to it not being run in. It's now done over 2000 miles and after calculating the consumption several times by brimming the tank on each occasion we have had figures ranging between 39 and 42 mpg. The wife drives very steadily and it's always used on long runs (18 miles minimum usually) on A roads and occasionally decent B roads. I would describe the driving conditions as being somewhere between the combined and extra urban so we expected to get around 60mpg.

Anyone got any advice on what we should do? Is 2000 miles enough for it to be fully run in?

Cheers.

2k miles is nowhere near run in, for a start. Personally, I think anything over 35mpg from a petrol car is pretty OK, but then my usage is probably more urban than yours by the sound of it. What size engine does it have?

Well my Octys MPG has improved dramatically over time, it could take upto 10K or more miles before the manufactures figs are obtained. Even then, these figures are obtained in special test circumstances which you will never achieve on the road, so you may never see the manufactures MPG figures.

My petrol Octy mpg has never increased over time. Pretty much the same now as it was the first week.

A reasonable rule of thumb that has worked for me is that the manufacturers overstate the mpg by 10%. But that would still have you achieving high 40s.

Are there a lot of hills or traffic lights on your route?

Hard to say without knowing how you drive, but I used to get 40 to 45 from a 1.4l petrol ZX (more on longer runs) and am usually, ah, enthusiastic.

It's a 1.2 litre 78bhp. Wife is a very steady driver and she uses it from and to work with only her and our 2 year old ever travelling in it so it never carries heavy loads. Trip to work is approx 15 miles on 60 limit smooth roads with a few roundabouts but no traffic lights. The last 2 or 3 miles is a bit more stop start but nothing like a gridlocked city centre. The home leg is that reversed.

If 2000 miles is classed as not run in then that could explain it. I was going on Renault's advice of 1000 miles when I bought my Clio.

I know never to expect the manufacturers figures but when it's used for extra urban use 90% of the time I would have expected to be getting high 40s or into the 50s at least. And a 5th Gear test recently showed 3 new small cars getting within 2 mpg of the combined cycle figures. I had a Smart Roadster that I flogged about all over the place and couldn't get it down below 42mpg no matter how hard I tried and that was automatic with a combined of about 50mpg I think. The Hyundai is very happy to drop into the high 30s when I drive it.

Bit frustrating but I think I'll ring them to see when they would consider it as being 'run in'.

That's not very good is it.

Have you found any similar experiences from other owners? checked everything you can? Tyre pressures etc.

Without wanting to completely denegrate the dog-eaters, sorry, Koreans, I ddn't see them at the forefront of automotive technology and I really don't believe those figures will be anywhere near real world, whatever they managed to get a nobbled lab test.

And, only half-jokingly, I've driven a variety of Hyundais (no i-models yet) as hire cars on hols and I always leave the handbrake on a little, several times during my stay. It justs needs to be released far lower than I'm used to. Has this "feature" been changed in the design of them yet? You should notice the handbrake light though

That's not very good is it.

Have you found any similar experiences from other owners? checked everything you can? Tyre pressures etc.

Without wanting to completely denegrate the dog-eaters, sorry, Koreans, I ddn't see them at the forefront of automotive technology and I really don't believe those figures will be anywhere near real world, whatever they managed to get a nobbled lab test.

And, only half-jokingly, I've driven a variety of Hyundais (no i-models yet) as hire cars on hols and I always leave the handbrake on a little, several times during my stay. It justs needs to be released far lower than I'm used to. Has this "feature" been changed in the design of them yet? You should notice the handbrake light though

We'd heard plenty of reviews about the new i generation Hyundais all of which are positive. The test drive went well and while it's not my cup of tea it's up there with the best superminis i've ever driven and I've driven loads of modern ones from Charade's to Ka's to Roomsters. Plus it was cheaper than all of those.

Other than the miles per gallon everything else is spot on so far.

As for other owners the network is rubbish and there is nothing like this forum on the internet. All the Hyundai owners forums i've found are very slow paced. And it's not as if there's a lack of owners either. There's loads of the new i10s 20s and 30s about considering there relatively new.

I can't give a reason for doing it, or a better description, but I normally try to push the handbrake lever down, rather than relying on the return spring alone to pull it down.

its just going to be the way you drive, small differences in driving styles can yield quite large improvements in mpg and simply keeping it revving as low as possible (not sayin you do by the way) and keeping it in as high a gear as possible won't get you the best mpg, simple things like not braking and carrying as much speed as possible can make a huge difference.

i read an advert for a peugeot 308 yesterday where the official figures were something like 70mpg extra urban but a couple went out and tried their best and did a long economy drive to see what they could do and got 126mpg out of it.

?Fuel fugitives? achieve 126mpg? in a Peugeot 308 HDi!

Hyundai have increased their sales with some good deals with the scrappage allowance recently, so there are quite a few around now. Have you spoken to the dealer? I would ask them to check the car, diagnostics should show if there are any problems and as already stated check the tyre pressures. Sticking or binding brakes could be a possibility.

Auto express test review has: AE economy 43.4 mpg.

Hyundai i10 | Car Group Tests | Car Reviews | Auto Express

however short the town stop/start traffic is , the engine is still running and using fuel , i know the simple answer to that would be to turn it off , but that can/will be a bit inconvenient

as Bengie said , just driving slightly differently can make a huge difference to consumption figures , thinking ahead , backing off early so as not to have to brake sharply, accelerate gently etc

is the aircon on all time , as this will make a massive difference on a small engine

Are the tyre pressures correct? Had a few cars where on delivery the tyre pressures have been way over or under