StoBro2

According to CR, driving a Honda Accord at a steady 65 yields 42MPG, but with 2 bikes and a wind deflector on a roof rack it drops to 27MPG!

I've lived with non-linear gas gauges before, but I've never been able to directly compare two different measurements coming from the vehicle at the same time. If the tank truly holds 13.5 gallons, I'll be sure to make another comparison when I get to 6.75 gallons consumed to see how far from 1/2 tank the gas gauge shows.

I believe the clock spring is the name for the coiled wiring harness that resides inside the steering wheel. It allows the wheel to go thru its lock-to-lock range and it resembles a flat coil. I learned that from Pat Goss on Motorweek!

In the August issue of Consumer Reports they have a small article where they compare the steady-state fuel economy of a small assortment of vehicles at different speeds. Driving at 75MPH reduced the fuel economy anywhere from 27 to 32% compared to driving at 55MPH. The cars tested were a Honda Accord, a Toyota RAV4 and three different versions of the Ford Fusion. The Fusion Hybrid was one of the cars that was least affected by the higher speed. They also tested the effect of having bikes on a roof rack. Just having an empty rack reduced the economy 12%. Two bikes plus a wind deflector dropped the economy about 36%. These tests were run at 65MPH.

I spent a few hours in my C-Max today doing a bunch of suburb-to-suburb driving. I had a lot of time sitting at traffic lights, so I punched up various screens in the left side display. I saw that my Trip 1 screen, which I reset at every fill-up, stated I had consumed 4 gallons. Meanwhile, my gas gauge was showing the tank exactly 3/4 full. Unless someone snuck into my garage and swapped my gas tank for one that holds 16 gallons, one or the other or maybe both of those displays is wrong. So my question is for those who pay closer attention to these things than I have: Which is more trustworthy? I want to believe that the gallons consumed figure is more accurate, mainly because the same Trip 1 screen is showing that I am running at 53MPG so far on this tank. On the other hand, if I really only consumed about 3 gallons like the gas gauge suggests, my MPG would be around 75!! I guess I don't know what I want to believe.....

After 3 or 4 years of only owning motorcycles, I got my first car when I was in college. I bought an early '70s marina blue Volkswagen Super Beetle off of my future brother-in-law for $750. I traded it in a few years later for $1750. It was the only time I ever made money on a vehicle transaction!

Like: Slightly elevated seating position. Dislike: Instrument panel displays mostly unreadable when driving in bright sun with sunglasses on due to excessive glare from bright trim.

The Grand C-Max is a larger, 7-passenger vehicle. There is a separate listing for the Grand C-Max in Fuelly. This one is in the wrong place. The other one is a diesel, which is sold in Europe. Using the Engine Type filter to show only Hybrid L4 "should" weed out all of the other types of C-Maxes.

I had run flats on my previous car. I never had to use the run flat feature, but I did some research about the subject when I had the car. One thing to keep in mind is that once you've driven on a run flat tire that has gone flat, repairing it is not an option- it must be replaced. I learned that one of the first "mods" people driving on run flats often look for is ditching the run flats and going with regular tires with either a spare in the trunk or an inflator kit like the one that comes standard with every C-Max. Overall, run flats tend to be heavier and more expensive than standard tires with similar ratings. I'm not certain if the wheel itself has to be of a special design to allow run flats to be used. There might be an issue with the shape of the rim at the tire bead and whether the bead will remain seated when the tire is deflated. Since the suspension of the C-Max wasn't designed around the stiffer sidewall of a run flat tire, you may find the ride to be pretty rough. If you live in an area with smooth, well maintained roads, that may not be an issue for you.

My guess is it got in there when the bulb was out for some reason, possibly during final assembly. You could try pulling all the bulbs in the housing and vacuuming it out. If it's in the hatch, instead of a vacuum maybe all you need to do is open the hatch and it will fall out of the bulb hole.

Over the past two months and about 2200 miles, my mileage has been...47.25MPG. If I had bought my car in April instead of November, I would think that the EPA estimates are spot-on and all is right with the world. Just think of how much scorn and ridicule Ford could have avoided if they had introduced the C-Max in the spring.

The other day I spotted an Illinois vanity plate on some non-C-Max that read: MERDE How did that ever get approved? Does no one at the Secretary of State's office speak French?

Another factor that may come into play is the self discharge rate of lithium-ion batteries at various states of charge. From what I've read, a fully charged battery will lose about 5% of its charge in the first 24 hours of storage, then the self discharge rate tapers off after that. If the battery is stored with a partial charge (40% - 60%) the initial self discharge rate is much lower. Energy lost from the battery due to self discharge is energy wasted. http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/elevating_self_discharge/

Seeing the cab in that picture makes me think Ford should add the Tangerine Scream color from the Focus ST to the list of available colors for the C-Max. Slightly more off topic: I just drove past the local body shop that does work for the local Ford dealer. Parked in front they had a Fusion with a tri-color grey/white/orange livery. I'm sure it was done using the vinyl wrap technique. I have no idea if it was for a customer or just to promote the body shop, but it actually looked kinda cool.

When the engine is cold after sitting all day or overnight it will run after start up just to get it to the proper temperature for the catalytic converter and all of the various emission controls. Since the engine has to run anyway, it might as well do some good and charge up the HV battery as it warms up. Having EV+ squeeze every last bit of juice out of the battery before shutting the car down means that it can better take advantage of the "free" recharge later on.

Another 600 mile tank for me. I can't get a decent picture out of my not-at-all-smart phone, but the numbers are in my most recent Fuelly fill up. I came thisclose to getting 50MPG for the tank! Here's my "evidence"- it really does say 600.9 miles, 50.8 mpg, 11.80 gallons and ??? EV miles: I was able to put 12.2 gallons in so either I didn't fill it completely full the last time I filled up or the car and/or pump are off...

I'm curious as to why you would want to cover a leather wrapped steering wheel with another leather cover. Aesthetics? Feel? Preservation of the original leather?

My SE has heated mirrors, MyFord Touch and a rear center armrest. The mirrors are part of the winter package, the MFT is part of the 202A equipment group and the armrest is standard equipment. About the only things I would want from the SEL would be the fog lights and the security system. Everything else I could either live without or rather not have. I do miss the old days of more a la carte options instead of these pre-packaged bundles.

I was surprised to find that my Ray-Ban Baloramas fit in the holder. They are a wraparound style and they wouldn't fit in the sunglass holders of the last couple of cars I owned.

I imagine the level of success of the current C-Max will determine whether Ford will decide to invest in a ground-up hybrid design or continue the borrow-and-adapt strategy. I've been working as a design engineer for the last 30 years and I know all too well that ALL design is a compromise! :)

One thing to keep in mind about the design of the C-Max- It has existed since 2010 ( I think) in Europe and was designed as a multi-purpose vehicle. It was originally configured for a range of conventional internal combustion engines. Ford later decided to "borrow" the design for North America and sell it here strictly as a hybrid to compete with the Prius. The design is, at best, a compromise. For all we know, Ford may already be working on a next generation C-Max design strictly for North America that will be a from-the-ground-up hybrid with better integrated battery packaging and improved aerodynamics. I wonder how many years away that will be?

I got 3.5.1 loaded a little over two weeks ago. I'm currently about 350 miles into the first full tank after the upgrade. My mileage for this tank so far is 49.9 MPG, which is a personal best. I don't believe the upgrade has hurt the fuel economy at all. I should mention that driving conditions have been nearly ideal, meaning very little use of the AC, no use for heat, very little headlight use (love these long summer days), not a lot of rain, etc. Most of my driving is between suburbs on roads with speed limits between 25 and 50 MPH. I may actually be close to duplicating the EPA test conditions with this most recent tank!

My first suggestion would be one of those custom fit reflective windshield sun blockers. Texas sun + huge laid back windshield = hot hot hot!

Diesel locomotives, which are actually diesel-electric serial hybrids, use regeneration to recharge their batteries on downhill runs. When the batteries are fully charged, the electricity generated by the motors gets shunted to massive resistance grids where the energy is dissipated as heat. As you can imagine, the momentum of a mile long freight train can generate a lot of heat.

I actually bought my C-Max despite the fact that it's a hybrid. If it had the running gear of the Focus ST and got close to 30MPG it would be my idea of a perfect car! :shift: The nearly 40 MPG lifetime average I'm getting is nice, but it's not the reason I bought it.