StoBro2

I had similar concerns in this thread from last december: http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/792-passenger-door-rubbing-against-fender/ While I never had any battery, engine or transmission issues, I did have issues with what I consider sloppy final assembly work.

I was filling up before heading out of town for a quick weekend trip, so I didn't really have time to follow up. I know the pump had state inspection stickers on it. I'll have to drive by that station tomorrow to see if they bagged the pump. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a catastrophe but it certainly will make me pay closer attention every time I get gas from now on.

Suspicious behavior at the gas station today. I filled up at a Shell station that I've used before, although it's not my usual station. I filled up, keeping my hand on the pump handle trigger instead of setting the locking pawl thingy. I always keep my hand on the trigger since my early days of riding motorcycles. Anyway, the pump shuts off so I release the trigger and then slowly squeeze in a little bit more until it shuts off again. I routinely do this to try to make my fill ups more consistent in case the first shut off was due to an overly sensitive pump. So far, so good. With the pump shut off and my hand off of the trigger, I glance at the numbers on the pump and I see the number of gallons and the dollar total continue to count up slowly. I figure something is caught in the handle so I double check the mechanism to make sure the trigger is fully released. The numbers continue to increase on the pump. I pull the nozzle out of the filler a little bit to see if there is in fact some gas leaking out of the nozzle. Nothing. I pull the nozzle completely out of the filler and stand there for a moment with the nozzle in my hand, watching the numbers continue to slowly increase on the pump. WTF? I stuck the nozzle back into the receptacle on the pump and this action finally caused the pump to stop padding my bill and ruining my MPG calculation. My receipt spits out and I take it inside to complain about the pump. I have no idea what the gallons and dollars read when the pump actually stopped delivering fuel, so the cashier at the station said she could only make a note to give to the owner when he returns on Monday. If I ever go back to that station, I'll be sure not to use pump #5.

I got my check yesterday. I wasn't sure I was going to get one, since I traded in my C-Max a month ago. Not because there was anything wrong with the car. More like there's something wrong with me. I tried to convince myself that I could be perfectly content driving a car with a *gasp* automatic transmission, but as time went on I was having manual transmission withdrawal symptoms. I took the only course of action I could. I'm still in the Ford family with my new 2013 Focus Titanium 5-door. It's even assembled in the same factory as the C-Max.

It's the outer diameter of the tire, and not the size of the wheel, that affects speedo and odo readings. You have to calculate using the section width and the aspect ratio of the tire in addition to the diameter of the wheel. The C-Max's standard 225/50-17 tire diameter is virtually the same as a 205/60-16 or a 225/55-16 (-1 sizing) tire. It's also virtually the same as a 225/45-18 tire going the other way (+1 sizing). I bought Michelin Xi3's for my C-Max last winter in the 205/60-16 size. They worked fine for me.

My lifetime reading is 42.8 MPG with a little over 12,200 miles on the odometer. The first 5 months of operation were in winter (YES! November through March is winter for me.) so I started out with a very low score that's been going up since April. I just might level off at 43 MPG for the first year of operation before my mileage drops along with the outside temperature.

I don't know how much of the C-Max suspension is carried over from the Focus, but it would be interesting to see if something like the Focus Handling Pack and a set of Focus ST wheels and tires would boost the cornering ability. http://fordracingparts123.com/chassis-parts/handling-packs/2012-focus-handling-pack-m-fr3-fs/ Not slowing down in turns is a good way to keep up your average speed and it would be a lot more efficient than alternating between stomping on the brake and stomping on the accelerator.

The C-Max is also pretty good at beating 8-year-old Malibus off the line when necessary. In my neck of the woods traffic engineers like to throw in a disappearing right lane after a traffic light. The right lane is supposed to merge left. Most sane drivers stay in the left lane to avoid having to attempt the merge into traffic. Others use the right lane to floor it when the light turns green and jump ahead of everyone else. I will sometimes accelerate a little faster from the light so the impatient driver in the right lane has to at least work a little harder to get ahead. I was pleasantly surprised when the C-Max actually jumped ahead and stayed there. It felt empowering to be able to "win" a stoplight race for a change. In a hybrid, no less.

Around here, all of the gas can have ethanol in it. Our choices are 87, 89 or 93 octane. I'm pretty sure it's true just about everywhere that the mid-grade is just a combination of the contents of the 87 octane underground storage tank and the 93 octane underground storage tank, blended at the pump. Locally, that's a blend of 33% premium and 67% regular. I've tried them all. When the price dips, I splurge on 89 or 93. When it spikes, I revert to 87. I don't see any difference in MPG- there are too many other variables to pin any change in fuel economy on the octane rating.

I guess no one at the EPA has ever considered what effect differences in aerodynamic drag might have on vehicles in the same "weight class"? Like maybe how a low slung, slippery sedan might perform better than a boxy people mover?

Since the photos are of the Euro-Spec C-Max, which isn't even offered as a hybrid, and the quoted horsepower figure for the hybrid is actually the "charge depletion mode" rating for the Energi, I wouldn't believe anything written in that article.

I've had my car to the dealer 4 times for service. Whenever it was estimated to take more than 2 hours, I got a free Enterprise rental.

I got my upgrade yesterday. The first thing I noticed was that my EV+ for home is gone. The second was when I took it out on the highway I was able to achieve electric only operation for brief periods at speeds above 65mph. I guess that means the upgrade was successful. I may be imagining, but there are other things I've noticed: The display that shows the EV capacity blue outline with the kW display (Empower) seems to be indicating more EV capacity than before. Maybe the software now allows the HV battery to discharge a little more rapidly than before? For some reason, my braking scores are a few percent better than before. It's as if the regeneration has been dialed up a bit. Maybe the software is allowing the HV battery to charge a little more rapidly than before? I did a trip out into the country to pick up some fresh sweet corn (Yes!) and where I would expect to see MPGs in the mid-40s because of the 60-65mph speed and the use of the AC, I got over 50MPG for both legs of the trip. I ain't complainin'.

So, in essence, the car does all of the pulsing and gliding so you don't have to.

This is what I'm using: