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I don't think Ford designs cooling systems any differently for hybrid vs. conventional drivetrains. The shutters would help any car, but I question the effectiveness of blocking the internal end of the airway, compared with the effectiveness of blocking the entrance (grill block). That said, styling requirements overrule performance requirements, so I doubt any effective changes would ever reach production. I check coolant temp in MyView, and with full grill blocks, have yet to see it above the middle (presumed thermostat setting). but then I don't drive up mountains in the desert in summertime. Have fun, Frank

I doubt Ford would, because: - the first time, they were following E.P.A. rules, and - the second time, they volunteered the information, in the absence of an E.P.A. investigation. The key is in the wording: Hyundai was penalized "after an E.P.A. investigation into consumer complaints...", just as GM was fined "for failing to report defective ignition switches..." Have fun, Frank

Glad to hear your outage was temporary, as mine have been. Sometimes it fixes itself, sometimes I have to remove/re-insert, sometimes it jus stays broke until it wants to work. Here's a pic I posted a while ago, if anyone's interested. (I like My Media!) Have fun, Frank

I took an even easier route... sync with GPS. Single button, too, but diagonally opposite the hour +/-, but it also corrects any drift. There was no drift... Frank

+1 Last year, I gave up and took the highway. This year, I'm going to give the back roads another go... and wait until I'm out of warranty in 2015 to install a circulation heater. I just hate sitting at a red light, and having the engine come on while the car's sitting still. Something I'll have to get used to. Have fun, Frank

I've had this red X on GPS may times, but it always reset, by itself, or when I removed and reinserted the GPS card. BTW, avoid the "trick or treat" response, as it's an "infolink" that sends you to a VW sales page - a trick in the least enjoyable sense! Have fun, Frank

Have you considered expanding it's cargo capacity? Several of us have installed trailer hitches, and use a hitch platform when we need to carry more than fits. http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/190-trailer-hitch-supplier/?p=25635 I was able to carry two dressers, one inside, one on the platform. If search worked well, I'd give you a link to those pics instead of fotomoto's. Have fun, Frank

Yes, and there's a TSB addressing it... TSB 13-12-13, if it'll misbehave for the technician when they try to fix it. Frank

There are alternatives... I used three different approaches - Lexan behind the top grill; easy to slide it in after removing the plastic rivets across the top (pull center plunger and the rivet releases) - a bicycle inner tube in the middle grill (needs wire T's to keep air pressure from pushing it through the shutter baffle; it's fairly hard to see and you can deflate if overheating) - foam pipe insulation in the lower grill, for ease of removal mostly... ran out of Lexan big enough, and had the pipe insulation I did mine progressively, so it's hard to say what level of improvement resulted, but I am running far higher (15%) than my baseline mileage (pre-PCM update) in my rural route commute. And lest Paul remind me... I'll do an immersion heater next year, when the warranty's up and I've got a winter running with improved mileage, regardless the source. My summer mileage has consistently amazed me, so I want to see what happens this winter, without external heating. Have fun, Frank

That's the only drawback I've noticed... Frank

Wow, great discussion! Let me throw some fuel on the fire, using current data from this very nice site. A lot has changed. Image Quality This is what matters to me, and plasma wins on all fronts, save maximum image brightness. If IQ matters, get a plasma while you can. That's why I posted... Kelleytoons, I can only assume you have a very bright room... Power consumption Plasma display power consumption varies with brightness, with the maximum at 100% white. You can't go by power requirements, as that's always a maximum value. LCD power consumption does not normally vary, as the backlight is always on. The big change is the recent move to LED backlighting, which offers significant energy savings over CCFL, especially zoned LED which vary LED intensity, at a premium price. LED LCDs win, but how much do you save? Mine's rated at $4/year less than a top rated sony UHD LED LCD. Without LED zoning, that difference is gone. Ultra HD Several folks mention this as a positive thing. I look at Ultra UD like 3D - a neat marketing feature that few want and no one actually needs. Here's why, for rreasons other than the lack of UHD source material anywhere on the horizon. The human eye can resolve 1 arc minute, 1/60th of a degree. For HD displays, that's a viewing distance of about 1.5x screen diagonal. For UHD (8K kilopixels, by the way, 4x HD, but called 4K for it's horizontal pixel count), one can halve these values, so you'd only start to see pixels closer than 0.75 screen diagonals. However, you're losing image content viewing that close, because the edge of the screen is washed out. Per the link above, you have to sit ~1.33x screen diagonal away, and centered on the screen, to see the whole image with no more than 50% loss of contrast at the corners. That's why the new, large UHD displays are curved, so there is a seat - one seat - where you can see a reasonable faithful HD image. There are no seats where you would see increased image detail from a native UHD source, as you'd lose contrast at the edges before you could resolve all the details. UHD and curved LCD displays are marketing snake oil, pure and simple. Like I said, CR got this one right.... HAve fun, Frank

I understand the popularity of Consumer Reports around here, but i also find that "even a blind squirrel finds a nut, once in a while." In that vein, I think CR got this one right... Plasma TV is dead, so go buy one The article talks about Samsung leaving the Plasma market shortly after Panasonic's exit. LG has since announced they're pulling the plug as well (see last 4 paragraphs; includes shipment volumes). In CR's latest flat panel comparison, the top models are plasmas, and I can't find a dissenting opinion among those who own both. Why should you care? It all depends on the value you place on video system quality, assuming you even watch TV. I'm the polar opposite of an early adopter; I upgraded to HD just as the best quality displays (monster CRTs) were being phased out (and discounted accordingly) and I've done it again now that plasma displays are disappearing, Granted the LG 60PB6900 isn't "top dog" but it's close enough at ~1/3 the price... well it used to be 1/3 the price. I'm not seeing deals on it, or any other plasma displays anymore, so I'm wondering if my timing wasn't better than I'd hoped. If you're in the market for a new TV, and quality matters, you've been warned... HAve fun, Frank

I did some quick calculations, and unless you drive in circles, the integration sampling error's negligible. Were you to drive around a 100 foot circle at 22 mph all the time, the error approaches -2%. And it's a bias toward shorter distances, but only in tight, fast turns. Conversely, 60 mph is 88 ft/sec, so a 16-33 foot accuracy isn't too good... until you integrate over a lot of seconds. This should be zero-valued, on average, and get smaller as you driver farther. It's an academic issue, but academics are fun for some of us... makes me think funny! Frank

If it weren't for that electric motor, I might agree. ICE: 141 HP, 129 lb. ft torque EV/Gen: 118HP, 177 lb.-ft. torque 188 HP sustain (mode) (you don't get all of both at the same time) It's not obvious that vehicle wieght has no affect on fuel economy in vehicles with regenerative braking. If we were talking acceleration and power requriements, mass matters relative to power, but it's not a factor in energy consumption when a vehicle can recover kinetic energy. That's an instantaneous, ICE-only readout you're quoting; some of that energy is stored in the battery. Find High ICE mode and you'll see readings in the 60's, because the battery's helping the engine under low load conditions. I'd also like to see any fixed gear transmission slow the engine down at high speed, like a hybrid does in high ICE. Then there's the inherent efficiency of a tranny with only gear mesh and bearing losses, common to manual and automatics alike. The only time tall, fixed gearing gives better efficiency than a CVT is when you can reduce fuel delivered regardless of engine speed, as in a diesel. That's why the VW TDI Sportwagen can get better highway mileage than a gas hybrid of similar aerodynamic load. Have fun, Frank

In my youth... in the 80's I thought I'd never lose interest, but the 90's proved that my avocations have a half-life. Thankfully, my employment has proven otherwise; 35 years at the same company, or I might not have had the luxury of seeing the pattern in my personal interests. Are you in SCCA or do you do marque club events? Northern VA isn't far from Harrisburgh, where our Divisional Solo II Championships were held in my day. HAve fun, Frank

Paul, I agree GPS should be very accurate in straight lines, it's the twisties I'm questioning... a route dependent error is harder to correct than a bias or calibration error. (Not that I do any correction... this ain't rocket science, or mirror making!) And to get back on topic, I'm seeing an average 5% bias to one side, but not for all fill-ups. Sometimes, the odo consumption is equal or higher than gallons pumped, at all fill levels. Fuel Fill Comparison pump v odo 141016.pdf My last fill-up was only off 0.05 gal., but it was also a partial tank; BJ's offering $0.05 discount if combined with purchases, so I filled up a week early. I find it curiouis that these top-offs seem to agree better, albeit with a very small sample size. Have fun, Frank

Exactly why I use spec sheets... I once had Pirelli P7 175/50-13s, and they were as wide as 205/60's... but not as tall. Great gearing for autocross. I doubt Tire Rack computes anything, as if they did, all tires would have a rev/mile spec. It makes sense they'd post manufacturer's specs, so Michelins have a rev/mile spec, while Pirelli's don't. Fuzion does but not Kumho, in a quick survey of C-Max tires. Neat calculator... And DenisMcG, too bad you have snows... Laurel's offering a heck of a deal! HAve fun, Frank

Or look in engineering mode... hold the left OK button on the wheel when starting. Scroll down for error codes. Frank

I'm curious, Paul, why do you put your faith in GPS mileage? The odo is an analog device, based on tire revolutions, so there are no interpolation errors. I'm no GPS expert, but what little I've done leads me to expect a far lower sampling rate from GPS, with attendant discrepancies to the actual distance, to the extent that you aren't traveling in a straight line. And while I've got you, please tell me how 1% of 50 isn't 0.5? This jumped out at me, so I looked at your numbers. It's not a1.021% difference, that's the ratio of the mileages. The difference is (ratio -1) = 2.1%, or 1MPG at 50 MPG. HAve fun, Frank

Marc, You can't trust side wall dimensions as they're just nominal values, and even if accurate, you're still comparing unladen diameters. To get an accurate result, compare rev/mile. Full spec sheets are one reason I patronize Tire Rack. However, the OP is confusing us; the thread title is 215/65 while his post talks about 215/60's. I replied based on the title, as that's the one with a difference... of 2.8 mph at 65 mph based on rev/mile. Have fun, Frank.

I've never bought through Carmax, so no commnet on that score. The only actual recommendation I can make is to get an SEL. The one, on-going reliability issue is 12v battery going dead, and owners of SEL's rarely report a 12v battery issue. The thought is that the root cause is in the info-tainment system, which is upgraded in SELs. I'd want a look at the car's service history... And when you get close to buying, check out it's etis report. Enter the VIN on the vehicle tab. HAve fun, Frank

I've got 215/60-16's, which are almost a dead-on replacement, speedo-wise (>1%), for a -1 size. You'll have more like -4% error; the added ~1/2 inch tire radius is fine. You will need new rims, unless Ford and Subaru use the same bolt pattern, offset and center hole diameter. Here are the one's I got (select "basic steel sheels"), stamped FORD. Have fun, Frank

If you read any of the car magazines, when they do skid pad testing, they pull the fuse, as does anyone with traction control who plows snow. For my part, I only hit RSC once, despite a lot of spirited cornering, but I also settled on a route that doesn't include the corner where I activated RSC. In thinking aobut it, I've realized that corner is slilghtly banked, due to road crown, and I'd hit the turn perfectly... Still very happy with the car's balance and stability when cornering, despite the high roofline. HAve fun, Frank

Better mileage. The internal shutters do block air intake to the engine compartment, but they're internal, and they will open when asked. External grill covers smooth air flow across the front of the car, as well as blocking air intake all the time. Testing has shown that there are no engine temperature issues outside of stress conditions (long uphill in hot weather) as climbing a mountain in Arizona in the summer. A block warmer is a great, if impractical, option is you aren't already equipped with an "immersion heater" or value your warranty. Oil pan heaters are an option, but that's not going to heat the engine block like an immersion heater, and are typically far lower power. Ptjones had done the most research... Have fun, Frank

Is this US dollars or Canadian? Even if US, this is a great deal! I spent $1000 on Michelin snows and steel wheels, and my measured wear rates support a ~40K life on the snows(!!) so even if the Nokian's wear faster, you have lots of miles left. Nokian snows are highly recommended by this snow-belter; I've killed several sets over the years! HAve fun, Frank PS Sad to see you go, Laurel! I wish you all the best.