RaPieR

Definitely love the C-Max.

The difference from the EPA ratings really disappointed me though since that's what drew me to the C-Max.  With every other car I've driven I've beat the EPA ratings just by doing basic things like using cruise control and coasting/timing lights.  So I was really let down when I didn't come close at all on pure highway setting during the past week on a road trip to Texas driving the speed limit.  In more mixed driving with increase city the car really shines with anything I've driven before.

The mileage was a disappointment but the overall package of the car keeps it a great buy for me.

I've got 5000 miles on mine.  I haven't experienced any mechanical problems but I do have a minor MFT glitch where the "channel" icons disappear from the favorite sets so they display as blank rectangles.

I know the Energi is capable of speeds up to 85 mph in EV, not certain why Ford chose 62 mph except to ace the EPA test.

I'd guess that lower speed limit is probably because of the smaller battery capacity of the hybrid compared to the energi.  That would be great if a simple ECU update could change that but it's probably a limit set because of the smaller battery capacity.

I just mounted my 16" winter tires and wheels on the C-max.  I didn't want to spend the extra money for the TPMS sensors and figured that we would deal with the warning light staying on for a few months.  Oddly enough, the light is not on!  I am not complaining!  When you start the car it does a system check and the light goes out just like it always did...

It will come on.  The light will stay off for probably 20 minutes or so driving.  That's what would happen on my Speed3 when I would switch to my winter tires that had no TPMS sensors. 

On my C-Max when I switch between winter tires and stock tires that both have the TPMS sensors, the light will come on for a few minutes then will reset and turn off.  I've switched the tires twice without having to buy one of those TPMS sensor reset gadgets.

I along with many others have had some frustration with the lack of meeting the EPA MPG for the C-Max. I've been trying all sorts of different techniques for achieving better mileage. I had a breakthrough this afternoon.

 

The 2 techniques I've decided are required to get the EPA mileage.

 

Pulse and Glide

 

The trick to increasing mileage as much as possible is to be in EV mode. I was attempting to stay in EV mode as I was accelerating from stops or slow traffic by babying the gas pedal. What I've discovered is if you accelerate to your desired speed quickly (hopefully the speed limit :)) and then totally let up on the gas EV will kick in. Immediately after EV kicks in resume pushing on the gas peddle being careful not to engage the gas engine again. I then glide as long as I can in EV mode. I repeat this process whenever necessary.

 

Brake Early and Long

 

The brake system does a good job of recharging the battery. The trick here is to use it as often as possible. I have been breaking much earlier, steadier, and for as long of a time as I could.

 

Results

 

Before I was at best getting just about 40 MPG.

 

Using the new technique I drove to the dealership from my house this afternoon in mixed traffic (hills, freeway and stop lights). I was easily keeping up with the traffic. I actually was accelerating to the speed limit faster than those behind me. I think the CVT allows for some pretty quick takeoffs. I averaged over 50 MPG for the 26 mile trip.

 

I then had two small trips to pick up some pies for a church social tonight, stopped at church to drop them off, and then came back home. For the small trips (about 10 miles total) I was 47 - 50 MPG.

 

I am going to track now for the next week and will report back. The great thing is Ford has produced an interface that allows me to see what is happening under the hood and that trains me to drive more efficiently. The capability is there in the car I just need to learn how to take advantage of it.

 

There are other challenges I see coming. For one living in Minnesota means the gas engine will need to kick in just to keep the car warm. This will undoubtedly impact mileage. Also snow packed slippery roads won't help. I am glad we've had a few warm days and I was able to easily make the EPA estimates with proper driving techniques. I am feeling much better about the car and driving in the right lane.

 

Nick

What speeds are you using this technique? Below 60MPH or higher?

I'm assuming below 62MPH to remain in EV mode, then maintain that speed in gas mode to recharge the battery and repeat once the battery is fully charged?

Next you want to get into EV mode as much as you can, the higher the percentage EV to engine mode the better your MPG."

Next you want to get into EV mode as much as you can, the higher the percentage EV to engine mode the better your MPG.

Is this done on the highway? So far my observations have been to maximize EV mode in slower speed driving and where there is plenty of stop and go to charge the battery to maximize mileage but using this technique has been horrible for the highway/interstate. I drove a hundred miles or so in Houston with plenty of elevation changes and I was easily able to meet/exceed the 47mpg rating my keeping the battery charge up and using constant throttle so I was slowing or increasing speed depending on the hill but always within 50 to 65MPH.

I drove 385 miles further south on straight flat roads with cross winds and a speed limit of 75 and I was only able to record 38.9 on the trip. The C-Max would no longer slowly charge or hold the charge on the battery at 75MPH speed limit. It was constantly using the electric motor to help maintain speed and the mileage would drop once the charge dropped and it would start charging again.

I jacked up the car using these points a few days ago to change the tires. I didn't notice the triangular depressions that were molded into the plastic rockers.

20121119_001 by Raepix, on Flickr

I've been using the ECO cruise control on every highway trip so far and haven't been able to get much better than 40MPG. This is on varying roads with mixed flat and hill (overpass) sections.

Just today I decided to change that completely. The conditions are a little different because it's been warmer but still driving on Texas highways. I stopped using cruise control and instead applied a steady pressure on the gas pedal to hold a constant load to run at 55-65MPH depending on the highway elevation.

After the battery charged up near full, I was able to "cruise" consistently with the instant MPG meter reading high 40s. I ran 3 trips today that consisted mostly highway miles all around 15-20 miles and I average 51, 63, and 49mpg. This has changed my outlook for the C-Max on the highway very positively but I think it shows that the C-Max is very dependent on driving style.

I just travelled 1400+ miles from Michigan to Texas, almost all interstate travelled at the posted 65MPH or 70MPH using the ECO cruise the entire time. In hilly and 30s temperature the C-Max managed 35MPG. It fared better on flatter terrain with the temperate at the 50s it fared better at 37MPG.

Unless the battery was near full charge, it would not cruise above 35-38mpg on the freeway.

Well I jacked up my C-Max yesterday. I did not see the notches that are mentioned in the European C-Max manual but there are 4 distinct "square" openings on the underbody shield. I used those areas to jack up the car to change all 4 tires. I haven't found anything definite in terms of official information but that worked for me. I used a floor jack.

I'd be more interested in higher capacity battery upgrades later on down the road.

Or both lighter and higher capacity batteries that you can drop in to upgrade your old battery.

I was curious about the EPA test and just quickly browsed their test methods and it looks obvious now how the C-Max was rated for 47MPG on highway. Their highway fuel economy test is done at an average speed of 48MPH and a max speed of 60MPH.

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-AIR/2006/December/Day-27/a9749.pdf

Just finished a 255 mile drive to Toronto from Detroit. Car hovered at close to 40MPG and the trip display says 38.9MPG. I did notice though that the instant MPG seemed to improve when the battery charge was almost completely full, enough to hit the 47MPG rating but would drop as soon as the battery depleted to maybe 3/4th of full charge and restart battery charging.

Forgot to add this trip was competed with Hankook iPike winter tires: 21560R16.

The Prius guys who are fanatical about mileage are very careful to no use gas with alcohol content. They claim, correctly, that it will reduce gas mileage by several mpg. This is due to alcohol having less energy per gallon than gasoline. Sometimes the 89 stuff will not have alcohol when the 87 does. Other times you need to know what companies carry real gasoline.

Can you still find gas stations that do have 10% ethanol content? Every gas station I've filled up at now always have the disclaimer for the ethanol mix.

Completed my first fill up today. Averaged 42.8MPG It is a lot easier to meet/exceed the EPA ratings in slower speed city driving (25 - 45MPH). This included driving with my girlfriend who's still learning how to drive and often averaged 36MPG with stabby throttle and braking inputs in short distance city driving.

I figured I'd at least be able to find jacking points from the regular C-Max but I haven't found anything yet on google.

I want to be able to change my tires without taking the car to the dealership everytime.

Is there any diagrams for the jacking points on the C-Max?

I don't think I've seen it in the manual and I haven't been able to find it online.

The electric motor is rated to run up to 62 mph. After that I think it is just gas motor running. Maybe experiment with cruise set to 62 or less and see what you get.

I read some tips from people with Prius or hypermilers and one of the consensus on those forums was to minimize EV mode as much as possible for the most mileage, but that seems to be opposite for the C-Max. I've had the best results MPG wise by trying to run on electric as much as possible without draining the battery past 25%.

Also, I don't know if my speedometer is off but I've been able to cruise in EV mode at 64MPH on a fairly straight part of highway. It might have had the slightest incline.

Yeah the dealer where I bought my Speed3 wasn't very good. Luckily I haven't had to visit the dealer once and the Speed is at 85,000 miles or so right now.

Hi RaPieR, I bought my C-Max Hybrid SE after my 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 was totaled by a driver who ran a stop sign and broad-sided my car. I liked the Speed 3 but had bad customer service from Mazda and the service department at the dealer. I also own a 1988 RX-7 convertible which I bought new in January, 1988. I will probably end up with 215/60R16 snow tires or similar for the C-Max, just waiting for TireRack or Discount Tires Direct to have the info on C-Max wheels. By the way, I have 4 16" x 7" wheels with 4 Dunlop sport snow tires left over from my Speed 3. Time for Craigslist to sell them.

I have an 18 mile commute to work one way. It usually has a moderate amount of traffic so I usually set the C-Max to cruise at 65 and often have to cancel to 60 because of the traffic. I usually get 42MPG based on the end of trip computer.

I just finished a 27 mile trip this evening almost all highway at 65, dash reported 43.5MPG

I have ECO cruise and EV+ enabled.

I was curious about this as well, but after glancing at the Focus ST forums they are able to clear 16" wheels on their cars. I assume that the C-Max and ST probably have similar sized front calipers so I bought a used set of 16" 5x108 wheels that I'm going to use for winter.

You can use any of the widely available tire size calculators to make sure your new set of tires match the size of the OEM spec:

http://www.kouki.co.uk/utilities/visual-tyre-size-calculator

I'm going with 215/60R16 which are pretty close at 1.2% faster than stock.

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself to this community. I just purchased a candy blue C-Max SEL on October 29th and I've already racked up 300 miles with the C-Max.

Absolutely love the tech features on the car, although I am still a little disappointed with the initial highway mileage of the vehicle.