I bought a brand new 07 Accent GS about two weeks ago and I really like it. My last vehicle was a Jeep. It got 19.5 MPG and I wanted to start saving on fuel costs since the price of gas keeps going up. The Accent is still running on it's first full tank of gas from the dealership. I'm a little bit below 1/4 full and I have around 300 miles on the odometer. The owners manual says to keep the speed under 55 MPH for the first 1200 miles and that's what I have been doing. I'm a fairly conservative driver so at 1201 miles I will probably crank it up to a whopping 65 MPH on the highways.

I'm hoping that as the miles pile on that my fuel economy will increase. Parts will wear in and friction should decrease, yes? At some point I will need to change the oil and that's what I would like to ask about.

I've noticed that a lot of people use Hyundai oil filters because they seem to be superior to the FRAMs and other brands. Is this true? What makes the Hyundai filter so much better? If I can gain 1-2 MPG by using a particular oil filter then I will.

What the oil itself? I know there is always a lot of opinions about synthetic vs. mineral oils. Has anyone tried both in their Accent and noticed a difference in their fuel economy?

-- Boris

 

I am an engineer, but not a fuel or petroleum specialist, so the following are just my thoughts and opinions and what I've heard from others.

First fuel change: I'm kind of "old school". When a car is brand-new, I like to do the first oil change early. I did the first oil change on my Elantra at 2000 miles, then got to the point where I do an oil change every 3000 miles. I worked it out so it's always on a multiple of 3.

Hyundais, from what I've heard as well as my own personal experience, do get increasingly better mileage. I keep track of every tank of gas. When I first bought the car, my mileage was about 25 mpg; it's now almost 29 mpg.

As far as parts wearing in, friction decreasing, etc., I think using natural petroleum oil in the beginning helps that process, helping to seat seals and things like that. After a few oil changes, you may want to change over to synthetic. I haven't switched over to that myself, but a lot of people swear by synthetic.

Hyundai filters are not necessarily better than other filters, but they are tailored to the cars. The issue is that Hyundais and Hondas have filters that have the same attachment features, so a filter for one brand will fit on the the other. There are features inside the filter that differ, though. They have a bypass valve that allows the oil to bypass the filter element in times of high demand to prevent oil starvation. On filters for Hondas, this valve does not open until 14-18 psi. On filters for Hyundais, the valve opens earlier at only 12-15 psi. So if a Honda filter is used on a Hyundai, oil starvation can occur. Because they have the same filter base, and because Honda and Hyundai have similar names, and because Fram especially does not make a filter for Hyundai in all but one of their product lines, you have to be very careful that an oil change place doesn't put a Honda filter on your Hyundai. Fram is the brand I've heard that has had problems in this regard. At one time, they delisted Hyundai from their applications. They now have a Hyundai filter again, and it is not the same as the Honda filter number, but I don't know for sure they have the right bypass pressure. You can check Purolator's website and see the difference. I personally have always used Hyundai OEM filters, mostly because I go to my dealer and get them for only $6, or pay only $15.95 for a whole oil change.