Here's my post on one of the Hyundai YF forums; it'll give you some perspective (sorry it's so long):
Quote:
We just got our 2012 HSH. We live at 4000' elevation and work 45 miles away at 1000' elevation. After we leave our home we descend 800' over 1.5 miles and then we get on the interstate on a steep uphill on ramp, then while continuing to accelerate to match the flow of traffic, we climb 1000' over 3 miles to a mountain pass, then start heading downhill. There are a few more uphill sections as we head to work, but not especially steep. Finally we descend a ten mile 6% grade into the valley where we work, and then a relatively flat journey across the valley and finishing with another moderate climb to our off ramp.
The return journey is the reverse except for the 10 mile 6% grade, which takes a different route going uphill, reaching 8% in places. There is another long 6% grade as we get back to the top of the mountain pass.
We are still on our first tank of gas and right now we are averaging 35 MPG with one more uphill trip than downhill trips. Our four cylinder Camry has averaged just under 25 MPG for many years over the same route, with some seasonal variation.
We first tested a non hybrid, non 2.0T 2012 Sonata up the long, steep grade out of the valley, and like our old Camry, it quickly needed to downshift and drone up the grade at about 3500 rpm to maintain 65 MPH. On the way back down into the valley, we decided to get the Hybrid, without even driving it up the grade. We decided that if we were going to have to continue to endure droning, we might as well get potentially better fuel economy. (The non hybrid Sonata would not maintain speed going up this grade on cruise control.)
When we ascended the grade for the first time in our newly purchased HSH we were quite surprised when as it hit the grade it downshifted once (into 5th), and then in near silence, ascended the grade to the top with the engine and motor working together the entire way. It maintained a perfect 65 mph on cruise control. On that first trip up the mountain we had averaged 31.7 MPG by the time we reached our home.
A more relaxed, comfortable cruiser would be hard to imagine. Even our 5.2L V8 Jeep has to noticeably work to get up that hill.
I own an auto repair shop and have carefully inspected this HSH from underneath and above, and I am very impressed with the quality of materials and workmanship.
Being a Michelin dealer, on the second day, with 78 miles on the car, I installed 205/65R16 95H Michelin Primacy MXV4s on it and the ride is much smoother and road noise is greatly reduced. I sold the Hankooks the HSH came with to my tire tech's brother.
So far, my wife and I are amazed at how much we like this car. I get the feeling that the 2012 version is much-improved over the 2011 model. We experience no drivetrain oddness, only smooth, fluid behavior.