Noah Harbinger

When I drive up the state I'll usually fill up the tank at the Flying J before dropping down into the central valley. Can't wait to see the trip MPG when I get to the bottom of that hill :)

And just to be clear (since not everyone is at the same level), that's the typical gas engine that run most cars.

My sticker has "Blend" in the top line - I've heard that term has something to do with the production process, does anyone happen to know what it means?

As much as I hate to say it, the most environmentally beneficial action is to keep an old car running as long as possible.

I've always kept a spare pair just so I don't have to drive without 'em.

Yeah, context is always necessary. Was the number changing quickly, and did it drop down quickly the next time the ICE kiced in? Perhaps you reset the rolling-recent fuel economy by accident, or the computer forgot it, right at the start of a stretch of EV driving.

So it really is a defect. But will Ford pony up the $2000 or so for the part on the basis of an NVH complaint, or must it stop functioning to be covered?

Just throwing out a hypothetical reason that comes to mind: Since we usually go ~9 months without rain, we probably have a lot worse oil build-up than other parts of the country. As far as the steering, I will agree that it's a bit more work when you're going in a straight line. And the turning radius is pretty crappy. But as I'm getting used to the car, I'm loving pushing around corners, and that more than makes up for it for me.

Has anyone with battery troubles turned off EV+, and had the problem go away? I thought it was interesting that both EV+ and EcoCruise were off by default when I got mine, but that may just be someone who was messing around during testing / test driving.

Back when I had my cruddy 12-year old car, I'd generally take that as a challenge, and try to back in as close as possible. Backing in you can get far closer far more precisely than going in head first.

I'm going to second that. A long time ago I got a DVI to Composite adaptor - this may finally be an excuse to use that little dongle that's been sitting in a bag all these years...

I've mentioned my opinion before but I'll say it again here. I wonder if we're only noticing this because it isn't being masked by the sound of a running engine. I've found some mentions of the compressor used on the C-Max, which describe it as "quieter" than previous models. But I can't find a spec sheet saying what exactly that means - how many dB should it be putting out? (Has anyone measured it on their car? I've got a little app on my iPod but that's not particularly scientific).

I wish there were an Optima that fit the C-Max, I'd pop that in in a second.

The circle thing that comes up is just the last brake - if you let up enough so that it stops regenerating, and then brake again, it will only measure the second brake (it won't show the score if you don't come to a near-full stop). The info screen with the bar chart I think is some sort of "recent driving" average. Too lazy/tired to look up the exact details.

Did you have the AC on?

You're talking about the High-voltage battery, right? Are you sure you're not just draining it lower than you realize in EV+ mode when you arrived the previous night?

My old car, the brakes were not very good, so I got used to braking long and slow a long ways in advance of the light, leaving car lengths in front of me, etc. It definitely helped me get lots of 95%+ brake scores right off the bat. I think now I'm working towards making sure I don't brake too softly early on, thus getting stuck having to clamp down at the limit line.

I'm trying to imagine the race scene from Grease as if they were racing for Pinks, except with the one with the best MPG winning.

Laurel reported in another thread that the message comes up while driving. Oops, I got confused, that was someone else.

I've usually measured after leaving the car sat overnight: Get in, close the doors, measure the voltage right away, and then watch (without starting the car) as it settles back towards a higher level (30 seconds or so). It will generally start 11.8-12.1v, and settle to 12.0-12.3v.

It's online, so you could pull it off the interwebs on your smartphone.

Also, the battery level displayed to you is not the complete limit of possible charge - it is the limit of the charge that your car will allow the batteries to be given. I don't know if there is anything analogous with Lithium Ion batteries, but with Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries there is an optimal charge range, between 25% and 75% of the battery's capacity. If you never leave that range, the batteries would last practically indefinitely.

By far the worst would be to have both: Airbag deploys unexpectedly, then when the paramedics try to take you to the hospital they get zapped by the battery… Just a wee bit morbid at the moment.

I wonder if it uses the same chip underneath, so that the same code would work with it? it's cheap enough that it's worth trying to see…

There's also a tape-measure add-on for Google Maps: At the bottom of the left information section of the page, you'll see a link that says "Maps Labs". It's got a couple neat tools. I think it's a leftover from back in the days when Google actually allowed innovations to see the light of day… before they had shareholders. And I'll confirm, it is as-the-crow flies - it turns on at a point that is 0.25 miles away, but with 0.4 miles of driving remaining, before I reach home.