[rohitrk]

It's been two months and 2500+ on the odometer. Finished my first free service. Though Hyundai did not suggest did oil/oil filter change on my own. Paid 2000/- for the additional service.
After 2500 kms the notchy gear box is now getting better. Still nowhere near the best I have seen so far , i.e. on my Getz.
Slowly taking car up the rev/top speed range. Last few trips on expressways were done at steady speed of 140kph. With one or two bursts to 160+. Car really held well till 160+, rock solid.
This car is really designed for highways, in other words sucks in city. Manageable but not fun. My recent trip to Pune-Nasik-Mumbai-Pune I was easily keeping the car in 6th most of the time and hand good torque to pull from 60+.
Fuel Consumption :
I keep a log of all the fillings which are 35+ ltrs thankful.
The worst numbers were obviously in city at 10.3 (100% AC)
The best so far during my Pune-Nasik-Mumbai-Pune trip 15.3 ( 90%AC, Speed 90-110, no babying)
On Expressway at constant 140kph with few 160+ bursts at 14 with again 100% ac.
I guess this should be my last post on initial review thread. I am planning to start long term experience thread to keep posting the long term experience.

[Gangsta]

Originally Posted by rohitrk

It's been two months and 2500+ on the odometer. Finished my first free service. Though Hyundai did not suggest did oil/oil filter change on my own. Paid 2000/- for the additional service.
After 2500 kms the notchy gear box is now getting better. Still nowhere near the best I have seen so far , i.e. on my Getz.
Slowly taking car up the rev/top speed range. Last few trips on expressways were done at steady speed of 140kph. With one or two bursts to 160+. Car really held well till 160+, rock solid.
This car is really designed for highways, in other words sucks in city. Manageable but not fun. My recent trip to Pune-Nasik-Mumbai-Pune I was easily keeping the car in 6th most of the time and hand good torque to pull from 60+.
Fuel Consumption :
I keep a log of all the fillings which are 35+ ltrs thankful.
The worst numbers were obviously in city at 10.3 (100% AC)
The best so far during my Pune-Nasik-Mumbai-Pune trip 15.3 ( 90%AC, Speed 90-110, no babying)
On Expressway at constant 140kph with few 160+ bursts at 14 with again 100% ac.
I guess this should be my last post on initial review thread. I am planning to start long term experience thread to keep posting the long term experience.

Aha! one of my fav thread as i always wanted to have embera crdi. 10.3 kmpl is city? dingo mingo thats too low. i was expecting around 13-14 kmpl in cities with this machine and around 18 kmpl at cruising speed of 90-110 kmph on highways.

Can you please tell how much was the rpm at 100 kmph in 5th and 6th gear?

Today at traffic light an Embera CRDi stopped next to me, lol i asked him if he wanna sell it, in case he is not satisfied with the car. haha

lol it was just 6 months old car he said he is fully satisfied with the car especially it is a "ROCKET" on highways and wont sell it for another 4-5 years.

[rohitrk]

Expecting anything more than 11kmpl in city is only wishful in city driving. There are few factors completly against getting better fuel consumption
1. Engine that's carried over Elantra but with larger turbo and aggressive tuning. Large displacement engine with less aggressive tuning could give much better city average.
2. Similar engine in samller size car like Magnum can do much better job as Embera is much heavy, solid build that's made to last but at the cost of fuel consumption.
3. Baige interiors makes sure that you don't let the dust in, so 100% AC usage.
4. Usual city traffic where you need lot of start stops takes toll on heavier car as it needs to put lot more energy to move it's heavy mass.

With kind of performance you have on tap, it's impossible to drive on the roads like E-Way in the range of 90-110. I have not been able to keep the speeds below 120. Non E-way is a different beast. I don't exceed 90-110 range on non E-way and it can give lot better average only if I can curb my impulse to downshift to third, stomp that gas padel and see the slow moving truck disappear in my rear view mirror. Than again I don't believe it will cross 17. Some day I should pickup yoga and pranayam to control my urges !!!

At 100 the car is crossing 2k rpm in 5th while shifting it to 6th drops the RPM to around 1900 range.

[rohitrk]

The car is now at 4k plus and things are settling down. Engine is opening up and does not feel as heavy before. Gear shift is getting better and no more over notchy as before. Last weekend we did 700km trip Pune-GanpatiPule and back. Overall the car was driven at much slower speed range than usual E-way speeds. One tankful at Pune was more than enough for GanpatiPule and back(740km). When I refilled the tank o return the speedometer showed that the car can go further 360kms (1100 + range ). Overall she consumed a liter of HP regular sticky diet for 16.5km run. Speeds were in the range 90-120, AC used 70%, 4 Adults and 2 kids with trunk full of luggage. So it's about 2.8 Rs/km.
I have been tracking all my fills and the odometer readings in a spreadsheet. Average so far including all the highway and city runs is at 13.2km/l. This is based odometer readings that are 99% accurate , verified using GPS.

On the performance side it's bit of a split personality car. In a peaceful driving mode you shift around 2k+ RPM and the car keeps very sedated pace throughout. The moment you change your shift pattern to 3k+ RPM everything changes, suddenly you have a runway white elephant on your hand. Had bit fun with very aggressive Captiva driver on NH4. On very unassuming moment when he was caught in his turbo lag, when he slowed down in traffic, I just zoomed ahead and to his frustration kept ahead for couple of kms, letting him pass with smiling face . Wonder if he knows that I have twin-brother engine under my hood.

[Elito11]

Originally Posted by rohitrk

Had bit fun with very aggressive Captiva driver on NH4. On very unassuming moment when he was caught in his turbo lag, when he slowed down in traffic, I just zoomed ahead and to his frustration kept ahead for couple of kms, letting him pass with smiling face . Wonder if he knows that I have twin-brother engine under my hood.

Your doing a gr8 job of updating your experiences Rohit! Informative and interesting!

Sonata Embrera is really a nice car, Have fun!

Elito

[harjeev]

Great rohit
and the FE is amazing for a car in this category. 2.80 per km Great

Keep us updated on the progress and also on the repair and maintenance too

[ceejay123]

excellent write up and great pics.your car looks classycheers: in white.kudos to you for giving a service to service update of you car .this thread is a great help for sonata buyers.

[rohitrk]

Alright, Here comes the update at 7K+KM or Second service. Car was sounding bit rough during idle towards the end of 7K and also it was near the 6 month mark. Sanjay Hyundai Pune again did a good job at the service and other complaints.
TO Do List
1. Car pulling left slightly at high speeds
2. Slight play in Gear lever
3. 2nd Service.
4. Slight foul smell when you switch on AC first time. This smell is reducing and almost negligible now.

The first problem was solved with just tyre rotation and the wheel alignment was not done. Should I anyway get it done outside?
Nothing was done regarding point 2 as it was said "Expected behavior"

For the 4th problem adviser offered me to do complete AC overhaul by opening up (Off course it will be free as it's free second service" ) for which I declined. The smell is decreasing and almost negligible now, I don't want to risk rattles or any other issue due to the dashboard work.

Oil change was done good as I could see the car has really become silent during the idle and much smoother. Total damage

1. Servo Premium CRDI oil 5x183 - 918 Rs
2. Fuel Filter, Made in Austria - 881 Rs
3. Oil Filter, old one not returned - 467 Rs

Total - 2266 Rs

Labor was free as it was free service, parts was to be paid.

Regarding Fuel :

My over all average for the last 7K kms now stand at 13.32 km/l.

I switched to Shell regular diesel recently(Last 2000kms) after rave reviews at Team-BHP but looks like I was already using good fuel. I have been using regular diesel at Sai HP fuel pump near the start of Expressway Pune->Mumbai. Actually my average is slightly lower with Shell than with HP. I may shift back to to HP in future. Though Sai is privet pump, I have heard extremely good reviews from all the Innova-Taxi folks what we use in our company frequently.

Recently I have done long trips
Pune - Goa via great NH4A and back via Amboli ghat
Pune-AhemandNagar-Shirdi-Sangamner-Pune.

Will post some trip photos later.

[Eddy]

A fuel filter change at 7k ? Isn't that too early ?

And have you thought about using a better grade engine oil ?

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by rohitrk

I switched to Shell regular diesel recently(Last 2000kms) after rave reviews at Team-BHP but looks like I was already using good fuel. I have been using regular diesel at Sai HP fuel pump near the start of Expressway Pune->Mumbai. Actually my average is slightly lower with Shell than with HP. I may shift back to to HP in future. Though Sai is privet pump, I have heard extremely good reviews from all the Innova-Taxi folks what we use in our company frequently.

Recently I have done long trips
Pune - Goa via great NH4A and back via Amboli ghat
Pune-AhemandNagar-Shirdi-Sangamner-Pune.

Will post some trip photos later.

Nice review Rohit. I have always loved the Embera. Regarding Shell diesel, 3 of my friends have experienced the same thing and moved ack to their BP/HP/IOC's , though for normal unleaded petrol they stick to shell (so do I). Cant figure out why the avg falls with Shell diesel though.
Do post pics soon.
Have fun.

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by rohitrk

1. Servo Premium CRDI oil 5x183 - 918 Rs
2. Fuel Filter, Made in Austria - 881 Rs
3. Oil Filter, old one not returned - 467 Rs

Total - 2266 Rs

Wow!! Thats cheaper than Getz/Verna CRDi.

I'm wondering why a 2.0L CRDi requires only 5litres of engine oil whereas the 1.5 CRDi needs 5.3 litres of engine oil.?
Fuel filter of Getz/Verna - Rs 1306 (400rs costlier and even cheaper than Swift DDIs)

[rohitrk]

Originally Posted by Eddy

A fuel filter change at 7k ? Isn't that too early ?

And have you thought about using a better grade engine oil ?

Eddy, Fuel filter is changed at 10K or 6 month whichever comes first. Hyundai service center will stick to the schedule as to honour the 4 years of warranty.

I asked the service advisor regarding better oil but he insisted on using hyundai approved oil. On the second thought I have decided to stick to hyundai oil but shorten the the service interval from hyundai suggeted 10K to 7K , for which hyundai will not have any objection. Also it will cost just 1500+labour for the oil change.

One more uppdate regarding the Air filter. I have been dusting off the filter every 2/3K. My serice advisor did not replace the filter, as per him it's in good condition. I would have insisted on replacement but My KN stock replacement has arrived in US and will be with me by May.

[Eddy]

Hmmmm. I was coming from the fact that the Swift D needs a diesel filter change every 20k kms. But its quite inexpensive at 881 bucks.

Also, I am no expert but from what I have gathered from reading on the forum, even 7k is too long an interval for mineral oils. There are people here who swear by the 5k oil change mark.

[rohitrk]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Hmmmm. I was coming from the fact that the Swift D needs a diesel filter change every 20k kms. But its quite inexpensive at 881 bucks.

Also, I am no expert but from what I have gathered from reading on the forum, even 7k is too long an interval for mineral oils. There are people here who swear by the 5k oil change mark.

Humm.. May be I will switch to 5K interval with mineral oil. One query to all the gurus. Can I just change the Default hyundai CRDI oil to Say Castrol CRB+ without oil filter change in outside gaurage? Serivce center is 14Kms from my home and I waste 1/2 day in all these arrangements as I never send the car with drivers.

I have no issue spending additional 500Rs for the filter , but think it's bit of a issue to get original oil filter outside. I am reluctant to use non OEM as hyundai can void my warranty on that issue.

Any pointers? Suggestions?

[rohitrk]

First two are the snaps from recent Pune-Goa trip via Belgaum-Londa-Ponda-Madgaon trip. Very senic route except 10Kms of badly broken patch. Third snaps is just the begining of this worst patch. This road is badly broken than the whole Leh-Ladakh roads. I was driving on this road with extreme caution. Luckly did not hit anything underneath. Looks like Embera's 175mm GC is doing good. It was possible with just two folks in the car, I won't date to try that patch 5 adults in the car.