Noah Harbinger

I absolutely hate that you cannot activate defrost without turning on the AC - I just want to blow warm air on the windows. It takes longer to defrost, but it seems to then stay defrosted longer after you turn off defrost. Really, I'm disliking automatic climate control altogether. I would much rather control the temperature of the air coming out the vents directly.

There's no reason to cheerlead. Find alternative measurements and perspectives (satisfaction surveys, for example). But turning a blind eye to problems only justifies not fixing them.

Reliability surveys are a better measurement of a vehicle. Unfortunately the C-Max doesn't do well in that regard. (Of course the actual survey places so much weight on qualitative disapprovals that it's hard to get a sense of how much of it is due to "mechanical defects vs. personal preferences".) I certainly hope the second-year numbers recover significantly.

The $550 is based on the gap between the previous window sticker and the EPA rating after the powertrain update. It's not a coincidence or uncoordinated move that the rebate was announced at the same time as the powertrain update and new EPA certification.

It saves a log of the raw transcript from communicating with the device, which you can access from iTunes > Device > Apps > File Sharing > EngineLink Documents >obddata.log. So I suppose if I want to do anything useful, I would have to parse that out. It does not include GPS data or time data, but one of the PIDs it follows is "time since startup" which at least would let you create a timeline of the values. I've seen some open-source tools that parse ELM communications, perhaps I can feed this to one of those. It has a rather long list of working built-in PIDs. I'll have to play with it more to see how many of them are useful. That is also where you can place a CSV of custom PIDs - it includes a couple, which can be used for examples. I'll try yours out tomorrow.

Also, what is your general process for figuring out PIDs - is there something to start with? Edit: I'm guessing you're using these ScanTool inputs: http://fordcmaxenergiforum.com/topic/1293-scangauge-x-gauges-programming-c-max-ffh/ With this conversion procedure: http://www.tundratalk.net/forums/off-topic-discussion/116111-guide-converting-scangauge-codes-torque-pro-pids.html ?

I don't suppose you ever tried it? I don't see any indication that it supports logging and exporting data, which is I believe the most important feature for such an app.

Me either - I tried searching the manual and couldn't find anything that seemed related.

Definitely, I'm glad it's fixed! It sucks that they wouldn't do it without you pulling in the government to strong-arm them.

I don't suppose you want to upload the spreadsheet? It would be interesting to play with the numbers, and I haven't yet bought a device to capture my own :)

Don't worry, you're safe - the number of the beast is actually 616: http://www.wnd.com/2005/05/30211/

I wonder how much it would cost to trade in a '13 for a '14…

Well! I think none of us will ever have any doubt about who you are if we see you out driving, will we :-D

I think sometimes I drive more aggressively than I would have in my old car, because I don't want "them" to have an opportunity to be smug.

I have a very, very difficult time imagining that either of the components of your proposed theory could be true, particularly on the C-Max and Fusion that use Ford's Gen-II hybrid system (which uses an in-house built transmission, larger motors, and is powered by a higher-current capable lithium-ion battery). Secondly, I find it ridiculous for someone to delude themselves into believing BOTH that this firmware is apparently so hard to change that Ford hasn't touched it IN TEN YEARS, and that independent tuner could poke in the dark and tweak it to magically discover huge fuel economy gains. I'll be the first to eat my words if someone actually gets out there and does it. Heck, it could be a fun bit of work… But color me skeptical.

I'm going to try this tomorrow. I have a hard time believing it would maintain separate adaptive learning curves when it doesn't even remember different seat positions :)

The last station I went to was the closest I've seen (1.5% off) - I'm going to try going there consistently and see what happens.

I've had that happen probably 3 times.

I hate to speak for someone else but forgetting the car is on could only be an issue if you also a) forgot to put it in park and b) forgot the parking brake. And I'd have a hard time believing the fake torque-converter creep could cause $9000 in damages.

Well since everyone else is posting theirs: Short but sweet. I usually get about 44MPG.

mtb, just offhand, do you know what kind of fuel economy your previous car got?

Well, I would say if you want to feel the difference first hand, find a long steady downhill, and turn on Grade Assist (that little lever on the shifter). If I understand correctly, it should rev up right away if the battery is full. When I did it, it revved up to 4500 RPM. A normal car cruising at a steady speed on flat land would probably run 1500-2500RPM, depending on the speed and how the car is designed. Going uphill is a different story. Because of the CVT, the RPMs and loudness of the engine could wind up anywhere, based on what the computer thinks it should do. But even still I don't think I've seen the RPMs above 3500RPM even under the heaviest of loads. Also, I wonder if the unusual engine type makes it sound "wheezy", which makes it sound like it's working harder than it is.

I think it's partly a matter of calibrating expectations. First, I'll say I have not yet gotten the powertrain update. On my daily commute, I spend most of my time on a 45MPH-limited road, but which includes a dip into a 400-foot deep valley (with one direction including an uphill freeway onramp), and I usually get lower-middle 40s (42-46MPG). Most of my driving around town happens at 35-45MPH as well, and that's where I get considerably better - 50MPG. On the freeway I have found that the rolling hills around here make it hard to stay in negative-split mode so I gave up on that and get 40MPG. My best fuel economy comes if I leave work early and get stuck in traffic - creeping along at a steady, slow pace, I've gotten some 60MPG trips, but that's incredibly rare. Between all that, my lifetime average is 42.7 (a little lower than my Fuelly average because it includes an extra tank). Those who are getting spectacular milage have gone to great lengths to change how they drive - but that doesn't mean just "accelerate slow, drive slow". It means driving different routes where you know the road conditions allow you to adapt your driving technique to the vehicle's strengths. It means figuring out when to accelerate slower to stay in EV mode, and other times when you want to hit the gas to save battery. If you want to hypermile, some of the people here have pointed out some fantastic techniques to do so. You might consider describing in detail your driving techniques and get some feedback. But that involves a lot of effort. Frankly, I don't think it's worth it most of the time. Getting in the 40s is pretty darn good already. On my previous car (a small sedan), I was averaging 25MPG, so I'm already using 42% less fuel. Speaking of calibrating improvements: I think part of the problem of people being disappointed with their fuel economy is that most people did not track their mileage in a detailed way on their previous car. So they are often comparing the CMax's real economy with the highway number from their previous car (forgetting that regular cars do much worse in city driving than on the highway). It's also important to remember that in terms of fuel cost savings, 55MPG vs 45MPG is an 18% savings, but it's a 18% savings over an already much smaller fuel bill. It works out to a difference of 2 cents per mile. Compared to the other costs of driving (depreciation, maintenance, insurance), that's negligible.

I highlighted the button that brings up the status display on a picture which shows that display running. If you don't have that button, that means your car never got upgraded to MyFordTouch version 3.5.1:

And just in case you're curious: An Internal Combustion Engine is one where the fuel (gasoline) is burned in a closed space so that the burning fuel itself creates the pressure to drive the engine. The phrase is in contrast to an "external combustion engine", where the fuel is burned outside of some closed space - think of an old steam engine train, where you would burn coal in regular pressures underneath the boiler to boil steam and make it expand.