bgs4859

Shorter warm-up ICE period was part of the FE update, I believe. If that's true that would be a big part of the improvement I would think.

That's good to hear. My 16 mi trip to work (combo of 55 expressway & city) took a little hit the last few days w/ the mid 40 deg. morning temps. Down from the 48-52 range to 42-45 mpg. I have a shorter trip and haven't had time to average out the ICE warmup hit. That's probably a factor. (I noticed we both ripped the same cmax stock photo! haha)

For me, when I leave home I start out on a flat, 25mph street for a bit. There's plenty of ICE HP to handle it + charge the batt. ... so the reason is the computer is programmed not to charge the batt. when cold because the charging process won't work properly at low temp?

Yes, that's exactly what I was referring to. Strange that it does this sporadically, could it be that sometimes the transmission is still engaged when the computer tells ICE to shut down and it turns for a few revs?

My car is less than 2 months old, so the 13B07 was done at the dealer before I bought it. Curious if these things are new with the upgrade? ...or always been there? 1) car stays in negative split mode through first half of its warm-up cycle. (it would be nice to charge the battery during this time the ICE is running, rather than producing unneeded extra HP , but there must be reason it does this? Makes for faster warm up cycle?) 2) When looking at the "Empower" display mode, and the car switches from ICE to EV, the display stays white for 5 sec. or so even though it seems the ICE has stopped and it's switched to EV mode. Can be confusing when trying to feather the right foot for minimum ICE. Seems to happen more in the first few miles of a trip.

Too early to be much of a data point, but just for fun mine is 46.9MPG w/ 640 miles and 1/4 of the way through my second tank. Seems as if the FE update was done before I took delivery in early August.

A few companies are adopting C-max cabs here in Chicago, maybe they will catch up to the number Prius cabs (there are tons). I think it's a good fit for the car. The basic elements/shape of the C-Max always reminded me of a London Taxi: london-taxi-greatest-british-auto-design_426x281.jpg

Intentionally rigged MPG display?

CR rates Ford second to last, "much worse than average" in reliability. This mainly because of MyFordTouch. So distaste for software design and fixable bugs become what drags down the ratings. Also heard they were factoring in their dislike for Ecoboost and claiming the MPG was not as good as advertised. Maybe so, but their Cmax MPG testing makes me suspect. Ok fine. I don't deny that there are problems or that Ford deserves to be first but again not sure if "much worse than average" presents the clearest picture to consumers. I do sense an unintentional (hopefully) institutional bias towards Japanese brands such as Toyota. They LOVE them some Toyota. Always have, always will. That's fine, but I don't really like their cars at all, ugly, boring, unsubstantial in my opinion. I have had 6 new cars, a Honda, a Volvo, a VW, and 3 Fords including the Cmax. The Honda was by far the most problematic although I do like Honda's cars WAY more than Toyota.

You make a good point about winter driving, I should wait a few months before summing up my experience, probably. But I stick by the statement that the reviews should be more nuanced. For example, does it serve someone who lives in a warm winter location like southern California and does a lot of city driving to assume an average 37mpg? These reviews could explain how varied the results can be with regards to factors like climate, driving style, etc. Simply sputtering out "This car does not get 47 MPG" is not very helpful to anyone.

Seconded. If they insist on driving in a way which yields 37MPG (flooring it, etc. ?) at least they could also take a pass at driving it economically and state that "if you drive this car a little less aggressively and mindfully, it can get 50MPG in mixed city/highway driving". Seems like most readers could process this information and make a more informed decision about the car. With regards to the "expert reviewers" I question their objectivity (CR) and their thoroughness & common sense. I watched one youtube video from one of the major auto magazines who stated probably 10 times that the car was "built on the Fiesta platform", rather than the Focus, and proceeded to make comments about how small the car was and "it's no wonder, being built on a Fiesta platform, one of the smallest cars built in the USA". I wanted to ask, well we know you at least walked up to this car (looked at it?) and got in and no bells went off saying it wasn't the size of a Fiesta? Haha.

I have mixed feelings about this decision to compensate C-max owners. On one hand, of course we are all happy to receive an unexpected $550 payment....but on the other I am feeling bad that this is a PR nightmare for the car in general. Lots will conclude that the C-Max "sucks" and not even consider it, totally passing by it's many advantages over the competition. I know it's ultimately Ford's fault, but the outrage seems relatively selective to me. I am in the same boat as others who have said they're getting better than 47mpg and that this is the first time they've met the EPA rating on a car. What about all those other vehicles' MPG ratings? But I also feel bad that Ford's hybrid program takes a ding, here. They've obviously spend major money and research time to make this car, even taking a bath on each sale. So it's a significant investment for the company and a big risk. That doesn't happen very often when it comes to the big 3. I would have liked to see them rewarded for their commitment to invest in high fuel efficiency. If I'm a corporate officer at Ford right now, I bet building more F150s sounds a lot better! And the others are watching to see the results of this gamble. Bottom line, this is a blow to hybrid cars in general, this decision can only be a disappointment for those who want to see the technology move forward.

I've had my new c-max since Saturday, so less than a week. So far I'm very pleased with the mileage. I have driven it to work 3 times so far and get around 50-52 mpg. This is a route that is about half freeway and 1/4 surface street and 1/4 40mph road. Traffic is lousy on all parts of the trip, so there is little time that I can get up to 60+ mph. Lots of stop-n-go. I did not expect this good mileage also considering, 1) The car has only 120mi on it and hasn't been broken in 2) I'm new to it and have never driven a hybrid before. The MPG achieved so far exceeded my expectations for the car, mostly considering the horrible press and "expert" reviews showing fuel mileage at ~35mpg. I don't expect to get 50 mpg on straight up freeway, 70mph driving, nor do I expect low 35-36mpg overall either. After contemplating a bit, it seems the "Cmax EPA MPG" outrage is a little arbitrary. I think about driving my 2012 focus, with it's 38mpg highway rating and how seldom I achieve that. I would say on highway driving, probably only 25 percent of the time have I even achieved that fuel economy. I'm sure it's similar with other traditional ICE cars such as the Cruze. So why the trashing of the C-max? I think there is a lot of bias and hostility still built up among industry press and the public that still hasn't forgiven the American car industry for it's lousy (deserved) reputation it acquired in the 70s-80s. (Is it me or does CR automatically give any Japanese car perfect 'til proven otherwise status simply for rolling onto their testing grounds? ) Anyway, I hope this 50+ mpg trend continues (dare I say improves?) as I have the car longer. But so far, it's been a blast to drive and gives warm feeling all over knowing it will be a while for even my first gas fill-up!!

So you were in charge of making sure the service department located the parts and that your car was scheduled to be updated? No help from the person who sold you your car?

Called Ford, they were very helpful! They were able to confirm the parts should be there and made the service dept. locate them. What do you know they turned up. My guess they were probably sitting there since the weekend. Salesman said he had been checking "everyday" to see if they arrived. I doubt the truthfulness of that statement. Again, you think these people would be interested in selling a car?