Why does Tiburon V-6 get so low gas mileage?

I think the V-6 is rated at like 17/26 city/highway MPG, and the Tiburon has
~170 horsepower. A Corvette Z06 is rated at 19/29 (or something similar),
and has ~400 hp. Anyone know why the heck the Tiburon V-6 gets such low gas
mileage?

Is it underrated?

 

hyundaitech, a frequent poster in this newsfroup, says that this
particular engine is kept flooded with gas all the time to prevent
knocking. You can see his comments and some ancillary stuff by using
http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search to look up Message-ID
202.dyndns.org
and the thread it's part of. If the engine's flooded, that will
naturally make the mileage go down. FWIW, I've been measuring the
mileage on my 2003 V6 Tib, and I'm getting about 25 MPG with about 60/40
highway/city driving. I drive at or near 80 when the speed limit's 70,
at 65 when the speed limit's 55. YMMV, naturally.

Also, consider the cost differential between a Tiburon and a Vette.
Typically, you get what you pay for when it comes to automobiles. If
you want good mileage, get yourself an econobox or a Prius. If you want
cheap fun, get yourself a Tiburon. If you've got cash and you want high
performance, get a Vette/BMW/Ferrari. HTH,

 

The Corvette's mileage is most likely related to transmission gearing and
technology.

The posts regarding flooding the engine with fuel are incorrectly
attributed to me. In fact, they were made by another poster and I
disputed them based on the fact that current emissions regulations require
a stoichiometric ratio between air and fuel, pretty much making it
impossible to flood the engine with fuel and have the car run properly.