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Well done! And no surprise that the forum SW scrogged your table... CSV come through fine! How'd you find the level road? The one thing EVing has taught me is that roads aren't flat no matter how flat they appear, and nearly all roads look flat when you're driving on them! Best I've found is a nice hill, for a different kind of coast down test... HAve fun, Frank

There's no issue with customizing the screeen, look up a thread on "wallpaper." Lots of neat ideas out there! That said, it's only the wallpaper you customize, and only on the "Home" screen, while you'd like a different home screen... Frank

Consider the prevailing winds. In February, we did ~3000 miles, Rochester to Baton Rouge... - 33.7 mpg going SW, only one (of six) leg above 35 mpg - 37.7 mpg going NE, with a 5.5F lower ambient temperature, and all legs were above 37 mpg. I note the last bit because there's a strong temperature dependence for fuel consumption, but not on this trip. It was all direction of travel... What folks may not appreciate is how far East even NJ is compared with NC, much less Cape Cod! Rochester is due North of Greenville, NC, which is only 20 miles from the ocean (Pamlico River), but has far better barbeque. HAve fun, Frank

Me, too!

Like: Forward visibility in heavy snow; like no car I've ever had... traction/road condition is finally the speed-limiting factor in snow storms. Dislike: I wish my wife could get in easier, but I can't blame the car for her bad hip... Have fun, Frank

Correct!!

I'd wager a light cord attached to the lever would provide the functionality you wish... run the free end of the cord through the seat belt loop, with a turk's head knot on the pulling end. hopefuly it's got enough leverage when pulled in that direction! HAve fun, Frank

Two thoughts... I have a Coleman air mattress pump, doing a similar job, that runs on 4x D-cell batteries and is basically just a low-loss fan, what you want in a low pressure, high volume operation. No way that pulls 150W... Current/power ratings come in two kinds, sustained and transient. Given 4 D-cells can do the job, I suspect this pump is rated for transient power. Easy to test with a $20 device. Do a search for "electricity usage meter" and you'll find a bunch of small devices that plug into an outlet, and measure the power draw of whatever you plug into them. Measure the pump's actual power draw when inflating the kayak at home. - If it stays below 150W, you're golden for this application. - If it blips higher for a very short time, perhaps at start-up, you may well be fine - if the current draw rises as the kayak inflates and back-pressure builds, you're out of luck when it hits 150W... HAve fun, Frank

Indeed it would... a co-worker has one.

Welcome! You've come to the right place for a new C-Max owner. Lots of knowledgable people, with a link to Ford support - Ashley and Rebecca - if problems crop up with the car or dealership. Nice color choice, too - is your green or blue? HAve fun, Frank

Welcome, Mildred! I hope you find us helpful as you learn your new car. Just be aware that you really don't NEED to learn much to use the vehicle. We inherited ours from my Father-in-law, who was well past 80 when traded in his Ford and his wife's Prius for it. Two stories are apporpriate to your situation. Porter was not electronically inclined. His wife was the Facebook/internet/e-mail person in the family, not Porter, and she predeceased him by 18 months. When he wanted destinations programmed into the GPS, he took his address list to the dealer and had them enter the destinations so all he had to do was pick the one he wanted. The technician was surprised that an old guy in a walker would be traveling to that many destinations, but he did. The reason we know he drove alot is the walker. It was the rolling kind with a seat, I think having a seat was the real reason he pushed the thing around, but he used it everywhere he went. It traveled in the back seat, behind the driver. Getting it stowed was a chore, as he couldn't lift it very well, so he shoved it up the door frame and onto the seat. We know this because there were hundreds of chips in the paint below the edge of the back seat where it hit on its way in and out... That said, this car has a ton of technology - my wife calls it my "science project" - and if you want to learn about it all, you've come to the right place. Just remember that the important thing is to enjoy the car! HAve fun, Frank

Not in my car. Perhaps 2 mph but nothing like 5mph. And it's not as simple as grade. Yes, you have to go downhill to see just how fast it will let you go, but... - on a flat after a downhill, it stays at the higher setting quite a while - on a flat after an uphill, it stays at the lower setting for a while Still a dog to follow on the highway, as my wife discovered over Memorial Day... but also easy to control; blip cruise off and on, and you'll fall in EV mode if the grade and SOC warrant. Set+ and Set- both do what they claim, just not immediately. I guess you might call it "patient cruise" for those who don't need precise control or immediate response? HAve fun, Frank

Look closely and you'll see the camera bump above the license plate... unless they all have the bump but only some the camera. +1 on the couple... reminds me of a certain Bill Cowher ad... HAve fun, Frank

With the right tools, fixing a seatback frame isn't a big deal. I broke a seatback weld on one of my Volvos once. The only hard part required ring pliers, a special tool for the metal rings used to keep things in place, that I didn't buy. I'm in the recall group as well, just got the letter, and I am disappointed that they're not supplying parts, rather ordering them when they get a recalled vehicle. At the same time, if this is keeping cars in dealer inventory, one can understand why those cars might have priority. HAve fun, Frank

Well, energy is energy, and if you heat up your shocks on a bumpy road, that energy has to come from your fuel tank eventually... I find it hard to feather the throttle on bumpy roads. It'll frequently hit a bump and find the power draw spiked enough to turn on ICE. Given that fuel consumption improves when you stay in EV-mode longer, bumps hurt both ways... Have fun, Frank

I know there's enough room under the seats to store a long umbrella, but that space disappears when you put the seat backs down. It would also fit on the floor in front of the seats, when the back are down, but that only works if you do both seatbacks at once. I keep the smaller one down all the time, so none of these ideas work for me; I store it in the garage. Have fun, Frank

Be careful whose side you take... all sides of the energy debate have a downside It's not like coal plants only release CO2... Uranium, thorium, Arsenic, Selenium and Mercury are also present, and enriched by the process of burning. Studies show you'll get less radiation living next to a nuke plant than a coal plant... but it all pales compared with natural sources, or that X-ray of your bad knee. You won't find any "White Hats" unless you ignore the dirt, as everyone's dirty to some extent. Have fun, Frank

A few thoughts... This explains why Ford checks tire pressures whenever the car's in for service. Anything less than the door card values could get you into tire trouble. Conversely, Michelin rates the tires for 1433 @ 51psi, so one would think that max rated pressure was needed for the load rating, but... Michelin makes both P225/50-17 (OEM) and 225/50-17 (not a P-metric tire) sizes. The latter is a 94V rated tire with a 1477 @ 44 psi load rating, compared with the P-metric's 93V rating, with a $9 premium and a 0.7" reduction in tread width. Food for thought... Practically speaking, I expect maintaining tire pressures is a far more important thing than worrying about overloading, unless one uses the car for work that requires a load of tools or something similar, and long, hot drives. Teh slight overinflation many of us do only increases the margin of safety in this regard. Have fun, Frank

Eco-cruise is a separate cruise control mode you select in the "settings" screen on the left dashboard display, under Driver Assist. The idea is to allow speed to vary a few MPH around the set point, depending on terrain. You run slower uphill and faster downhill, reflecting the relative contribution of the terrain to vehicle motion. Drives my wife crazy trying to follow me with her conventional cruise control... Have fun, Frank

Our "haul" for Memorial Day... Wooster OH to Burlington VT. The cocoon is a lingerie cabinet, and there's a larger dresser in the car. Once thing you can't see is my license plate, which moved to the caboose for the duration. HAve fun, Frank

+1 We just did 1400 miles with a cargo platform - folded up - loaded with dresser - folded down The only problem is the empty runs were all into prevailing wind, so mileage came out about the same, roughtly 40mpg on I-90 at mid-low 70's. Never felt unstable. Have fun, Frank Pics of the haul... http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/2800-whats-in-your-c-max-today/?p=43752

You missed the point... my post had nothing to do with Fuelly. Already logging fuel, tires, oil and "standard route" trip data... It had everything to do with Paul's post regrading the dirth of 2014 submissions to the 600 mile club, and how long it takes to get 600+ miles driving only 30 miles/day. For me, it's not a matter of fuel consumption, but rather timing of the long, high-speed trips, like the 1400 miles we did this weekend, and my inability to stay in town long enough to get a 600+ mile tank driving primarily on low FC routes. The tank lasts too long, and short or long trips kill the average. I look forward to your comments as an owner! Have fun, Frank

In case of doubt, this is Ice Storm. At least it is in the beginning... Frank

Only reason I haven't submitted anything is time - it takes me a month to drive 600 miles commuting, and I can't stay on side roads long enough on any one tank. The last tank was going to make it handily, 49.9 mpg, but I had to fill it early because we were traveling. Life gets in the way of car stuff! HAve fun, Frank

Which you should have recognized immediately as exactly the same as the 1 second following distance you're labeling as unsafe. But you didn't, and that's where things turn ugly. A holier-than-thou attitude from someone that can't see their own mistakes seems horribly misplaced. Your best reply would have been Nevermind.; you're agueing against your own position. If you want to make a point, try starting with actual facts. Research your topic so you don't confuse a technique (drafting) with a very useful driving style (hypermiling) that you currently use on a regular basis (pulse & glide, engine off coasting, etc. are standard hybrid operational features). I think you're smarter than you appear; if you'd just try to discuss reality, rather than prove yourself right, you might have a valid point to make. You haven't made one here that I can see... HAve fun, Frank, who agrees that drafting only works with unsafe following distances - more like 1 car length! - but continues to happily and safely hypermile without drafting.