Jmonty

My wife has the Explorer with the ECO boost 2L 4cylinder and have managed to close to 30mpg with on FWY. :)

 

Paul

That's great for such a large vehicle.

I'll miss the easy 45+MPG city though.

Why didn't insurance cover it? Sorry to see you go, but 4WD is nice in snow country. :)

 

Paul

Apparently I didn't have the correct coverage selected. ><

I had uninsured motorists and couldn't select collision so I assumed (mother of all F ups, right?) so I assumed, comprehensive covered that..

Well, we happen to have some good precipitation today and the escape handles wonderfully in the snow. Great power from a little 2.0L engine :D

I've decided to upgrade to a 2014 Escape, for the 4WD, space, and power of the 2.0 ecoboost.

Thank you all for the input along the way!

After about 18k miles I'm still mostly happy with my purchase. It was a good decision at the time, but in my opinion this hybrid is mostly suited for a warm, dry climate.

After a very bad experience on a snowy trip to Michigan from Colorado and back I just had to move on. I have to feel 100% safe in my vehicle, especially if I'm driving my baby girl around. (And wife I suppose).

It's little too fragile and sensitive for my tastes also. My wife smacked a curb at low speed and caused about $2k damage to the steering column, and if my insurance company had covered that I'd probably be fine with keeping my Maxine.

Hypermiling never interested me, but I did very much enjoy demonstrating the Cmax's superior power to many, many Prius owners!

For those interested I got only $17k trade in for my vehicle, originally offered $16k. SE with just white platinum paint and the panoramic roof for upgrades. Only issue was the stability control was inop due to the steering wheel being knocked out of alligment.

Did you try covering your grills yet?

On the way out. Was record cold in Nebraska/Iowa though.

I can't believe how bad the MPG went down for winter. Recently I got ~32 in the interstate on a long drive (1,400 miles)

In warm weather on the same trip with more people and gear it was ~36-38.

Thanks, man. I'll consider that.

I got some black tape on, not very neatly but it should hold.

After this trip I'll have roughly 18k miles total, with just ~6k on the interstate going cross country. So, it turns out that this car will have served me well because most of my driving is city where better MPGs are easier to obtain, stock.

Oh ya, air bag. Totally forgot about that.

The dealer checked the alignment and said it was fine.

With the insurance I had comprehensive but not "collision" apparently, which is BS IMO. so I had to fix that..

I am looking forward to a picture to see the aero mods they made and the mpg numbers.

 

Sounds like it should be any day now.

i keep googling "2014 ford cmax mpg" hoping to see the numbers pop up, but nothing yet.  

so, on icy roads a few weeks back, my wife smacked into a curb at low speed with the front-right wheel and now my steering wheel is cocked to the right to go straight.  the wheels are still lined up correct, but my traction control is disabled due to the sensor on the column (according to the dealer).

the dealer says it is a $2k repair and my insurance won't cover it   :rant2:

the traction control thing doesn't bother me at all but the steering wheel being off center is very annoying.  does anyone have an idea of how to adjust that?  i would assume the center cover would pop off and there'd be a large nut to pull off but i don't want to go messing that up.  

I tried something different for closing the grill openings.

The cure all Duct Tape!

Half width fits between the grill members and black is hardly noticeable.

 

I have been driving this way for several days and am amazed that the duct tape strips are staying put!

I have seen my mpg go up, but since it has also warmed some here I cannot say exactly how much.

I left the top slot open but covered the rest including the lower all black grill.

Checking the water temperature it still is below 1/2 on the gauge often, so maybe I can do more, but am being cautious.

 

IMG_7007s.jpgIMG_7008s.jpg

very interesting..  i was wondering about duct tape but i was concerned about the residue when it comes off.  you know how sometimes it leaves like a tan colored adhesive gunk?

i'm about to head out on another trip to MI from CO and was thinking that'd save me a few MPGs, but i go 3-5 MPH over the speed limit so i only expect ~38 mpg at best.

What are the EPA MPG ratings for the '14?

haha

On my first cross country trip in my max a Prius kept trying to stay ahead of me on the intestate. He only succeeded because he was willing to go way over the posted speed limit.

I think word is spreading about our sweet car! I was surprised to see two other maxes yesterday within an hour, and then another today.

One guy I waved at like a goon and he looked confused, lol

Aww poor Prius drivers. Mid 30 mpgs in the cold and still slow and small :D

Darn, I went through most of a tank in city driving and was only at 37.8 MPG. :'( first time I wouldn't have hit 500 miles in city.

That was a lot of driving early in the cold, short trips with no time to warm up the engine.

And, I got in a lot of driving in the snow where I was practicing slides and accelerating fast. In an hour of driving we got ~ 4 inches, lol, and I happened to have to be out in it.

Ooh, I'm glad I went with the CMAX :D

Now, if they only offered an AWD or 4WD CMAX I'd be very happy

Good thing it's going to warm up here this week. I was on my way to a 37 mpg tank

:eek:

Yeah, is that a "green" thing or a security thing? A local ordinance?

Local thing, they said a lot of cars get stolen. I'm not concerned because I live at the end of a neighborhood with no thru traffic. Mainly I was pissed at getting bothered on my own property while in uniform.

Ahh. Oh well.

I'm only getting about 37 mpg on this tank. Lots of short trips, so I'm not too concerned. Maybe I'll try to put the heat on 80ish instead of high.

I actually just got a talking to by the police because my car was heating up outside (my SUV was in the garage for the wife) and I had stepped in to grab my coffee.

Basterds..

I'm looking forward to the interstate speed test.

Do you have gas pods too?

Probably been mentioned, but I'd like the traction control to stay off after a restart.

I thought the Ford Fusion Hybrid had the exact power train as the cmax?

But we're not racing...

 

Speak for yourself!

lol

Do you do 0W-20 oil too?

It's kind of strange - i want to put more miles on the C-Max, but that means more highway miles, and that means my lifetime average will go down

Well, it's a machine meant to serve a purpose for you. 39/40+ highway is still pretty good.