2010 Sportage quirks - MPG and oil

[EastCoastKia]

Hi all,

We've had our Sportage nearly 3 years and we love the car. We have the 4 cyl non-4wd version. Not a heck of a lot of power but is good in snow and pretty versatile.

One thing I have noticed since owning it is that the mpg actually appeared to get worse as the engine broke in. I got as high as 27 mpg hwy on one of its first trips, but now it gets pretty much the same no matter how we drive it - typically around 21 mpg. I would like to hear other's experiences with mpg.

This leads me to my next observation - mpg seems to respond very favourably to oil changes. I mean I change the oil at the recommended intervals (Castrol 5w20) but mpg seems to rebound quickly following an oil change. I have never noticed this with any other vehicle I have had.

Finally, I have been using regular castrol 5w20 but i am thinking of changing to another brand as I notice a fair amount of white gel underneath the oil fill cap. We do mostly short trips up to about 12 km one way but I would think that this would be plenty of time for any moisture to evaporate through the pcv valve. I do not think that this is caused by a blown head gasket as I do not notice any white clouds of smoke or depletion of the coolant. I change the oil myself and I have not noticed any changes in the oil's appearance. Does anybody else experience this?

Thanks!

Glenn

[mcrews]

Glen,

welcome!
I have a recent thread on improving mpg on a 2006 Kia Sportage.....
did you search?
here is the link:
http://www.kia-forums.com/2g-2005-20...-sportage.html

this thread is secific toward the tire size and effect on mpg:
http://www.kia-forums.com/2g-2005-20...-fwd-tire.html

The info is universal in application

[mcrews]

what you are probably experiencing is the placebo effect.
It improves because you are subconcously improving your driving.
WHat you need to do is get a gauge (like a scangauge).
find a flat 10-15 miles run and go uot and run 50, 60, 70 mph and record the rpm and mpg up and down.
THen next time you change oil, go do the same run at the same time of day and hoefully similar outside conditions.
THEN you can state there is a change.
Because, in reality, oil cant cause that much change.

[EastCoastKia]

Thanks mcrews. I am familiar with the placebo effect but I have noticed this phenomenon with this vehicle often enough now to be comfortable in saying that this is not the case. My wife usually drives the car and she is not light on the throttle - she has noticed this as well. In fact the car seems to run much better as well following an oil change. Perhaps I should make them more frequent. The point I was making is that this seems strange to me and I was wondering if anyone else has noted anything similar.

Has anyone noticed their mpg actually go down following engine break-in?

Also, has anyone noticed excessive foam/gel beneath their oil fill cap? This normally occurs making short trips in cold weather, but seems to be present in this car year-round.

Thanks

[Wry 'Cuda]

I've never heard of an oil-change making much difference to MPG. You could try changing to Castrol 5W-30 Synthetic which might stand up better.

21 MPG does seem a bit thirsty; tune-up required?

Our Cerato averaged about 32 MPG (US) on the highway during break-in, but now gets 35 MPG, despite a faster average speed.

[EastCoastKia]

Yeah makes no sense to me either.

I would have thought that mileage would have gotten better instead of worse after break in. With that being said I don't think that 21 mpg is too bad considering our old Mazda protege did no better. What are others getting with their 2.0 litre?

With regards to the oil the manual calls for 5 w20 so I think I will switch to a good synthetic of the same grade. Has anyone tried a 0w20?

[Wry 'Cuda]

5W-20 seems to be a popular recommendation for KIAs in the US, possibly for fuel economy reasons. Standard recommendation seems to be 10W-30 in Australia, and 5W-20 is a bit hard to come by. A quick check reveals that Caltex (for example) do not normally supply 20-Grade oils.

I use Caltex Havoline Premium Plus 10W-30 which has a viscosity index of 10.2 cSt @ 100°C, which is at the lower end of the 30-Grade range. If you do use 0W-20 or 5W-20, check that it does not have a very low viscosity index, since "20-Grade" covers the range of viscosities from 5.6 to 9.3 cSt. You will note that the 10W-30 oil that I use isn't much "thicker" than 20-Grade.

[EastCoastKia]

Thanks Wry 'Cuda. I just checked and the viscosity of the Castrol GTX 5w20 is 9.0 cs and Castrol Syntec 5w20 is 8.9 cs. Both of these oils are readily available here and are usually on sale at Wal Mart. I may do some more research and try something totally different. I've been using Castrol products in my vehicles for years - maybe its time for a change LOL. Given that it is winter in my neck of the woods, a change to a 0 weight oil or at least a good full synthetic (I don't believe that Syntec is a full synthetic) would be worth a try.