StoBro2

The Jetta Sportwagen TDI I used to have would take about 14 miles for the coolant temperature to reach normal when the air temperature was in the single digits. My commute was 15 minutes long. Without that 1000W supplemental electric cabin heater I'd never have heat in the morning on the way to work.

I usually have MyView in the left screen, and I have it configured to show engine RPM (tachometer) and coolant temperature along with battery function (charging/discharging/state of charge/regenerative braking). As far as I know, the oil pressure is only displayed as a warning light if it's too low. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last car I had that had an oil pressure gauge. The last car I had was a BMW wagon that didn't even have a coolant temperature gauge. In its place it had an almost-useless instant fuel economy gauge. (It also did not have an engine oil dipstick or usable cupholders!)

I finally have some pictures:

My first full tank calculates to 40.6 mpg. Many of my trips are around 6-10 miles. With the below normal temperatures we've had around here for the past couple of weeks, the gas engine stays on longer to provide cabin heat. I've also been trying to run the engine through a range of revs and loads to help it break in. The miles per gallon I'm getting is nearly double what I would be getting with my previous car, and about 5-7 mpg better than what I got with my Jetta TDI Sportwagen under the same conditions. So far, the only thing I have to complain about is the clock needing to be reset 3 times so far.

I've been reading in Car & Driver about Ford's plan to start selling the C-Max in the states for a couple of years. Initial guesses were both the C-Max and the Grand C-Max would be sold with a choice of powertrains. Ford eventually decided to make it their hybrid "brand" like Toyota has done with the Prius. That made it less attractive to me at first because I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to cars. But when looking at the Focus ST, I took a C-Max for a test drive, not expecting much. I became a convert during that test drive and a week later I bought mine.

I've only had my C-Max for a couple of days, but I've seen EV mode when traveling up to 60 mph. The slightest uphill incline and the gas engine kicks in, but once you get over that hill it goes right back into EV mode.

Well, to answer my own question, apparently they do in fact "all do that". I stopped by the dealer this evening and listened to another similarly equipped C-Max they had on the showroom floor. It sounds exactly like mine. So at least now I know mine isn't defective. But I will be in the market for a speaker upgrade in the not-to-distant future.

I drove my new SE home last night listening only to the car doing its thing. Today I decided to mess around with the audio controls and I discovered that the sound coming from the rear speakers is AWFUL. I'm hoping there's a malfunction somewhere and it's not the way it's supposed to sound. What is your opinion of the sound quality from the rear speakers? My C-Max has the 202A equipment group, which is the MyFord Touch and Sirius package. When I set the fader to the rear, the sound is extremely muffled and quiet. The front speakers aren't particularly hi-fi, but they are full range and have a reasonable volume. With the balance and fader centered, I have a hard time hearing any output from the rear while I'm in the drivers seat. What's the verdict? "They all do that"?

Other than the sound of what I assume are relays clicking upon shutdown and the lack of any noise upon startup, I haven't heard anything out of the ordinary. I went the the SE trim level because I have decided I don't like leather. I've had it, or leatherette, for the past 7 years and the benefits don't outweigh the costs for me. Freezing cold in the winter, so seat heaters are a must. Burning hot in the summer with no breathability, so I have to peel my back out of the seat. Any leather color other than black is subject to dye transfer stains from your clothes, which are a pain to get out.

I just drove home in my Tuxedo Black SE. My first hybrid. Also my first car without a clutch pedal, and I've been driving for over 35 years. I decided to make a drastic change after realizing my monthly gasoline expenses were about the same as my monthly food bill and about the same as all of my household utilities. And I don't drive all that much. I'll be checking this forum to see if the various strange (to me) noises this car makes are normal or cause for panic. And judging by all of the publicity surrounding it, I'll be complaining about the My Ford Touch system sooner or later. My recent automobile history includes an Audi A3 2.0T, a VW Jetta SportWagen TDI (a car better suited for long commutes than my multiple daily short trips) and most recently a BMW 328i x-drive wagon. The Bimmer was nice, probably too nice, with all of the luxury appointments and automatic memory this-and-that. I never drove it to its full potential, and I felt all of the luxo features were wasted on me as well. The C-Max appears to have everything I need and nothing I don't want. I would have preferred having a real spare tire, but I got used to not having one in the Bimmer. And I would have preferred a manual transmission, but I know they aren't really compatible with a hybrid powertrain. I love the slightly elevated driving position while keeping a fairly low center of gravity. I've avoided all SUVs and crossovers in the past due to their up-on-tiptoes feel in corners. And at the risk of sounding like a xenophobe, I'm glad to be back in a car assembled in the USA by an American manufacturer. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.