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Mine came on too. Read the same advice from the manual - wait for it to clear - and it did. Granted, it cleared shortly after a fuel stop, so I suspect something akin to Shane's leaf. While I can't speak to the first 5.6K miles, the car has yet to see a dealer at 10.3K (scheduled next week). Have fun, Frank

What you're seeing is called "color temperature." Neat animated GIF in the second frame down (on my monitor) showing variations in spectrum and appearance over a wide range of color temperatures. Besided light bulbs, most folks have seen the effect in photographs. Color silver halide systems (remember photograhic film?) were designed for a specific color temperature, so using indoor film outside gave a bluish cast, while the reverse gave a redish cast if you didn't use a flash bulb. Digital cameras are adjustable; "white balance" tries to get the camera to do what the eye does superbly - see white as white regardless the color of the light illuminating it. To dive a bit more into the Physics (I'm a photo scientist by training), there is an extremely strong relation between "perceived color" and actual object temperature. It's Max Planck's Black Body Law. The most famous example of a physical process that follows the law is the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation that's the "last echo" of the Big Bang. Error bars are so small, the prediction line covers them. Back to human preference, we don't typically like high color temps, and I hate the CFL delay, so I went a different route - diodes on incandescent bulbs - long before CFLs came along. Diodes simply cut off one half of the AC voltage into the bulb. Bulbs are dimmer, but the bulbs in our master bathroom have been in use for over 25 years, they come on immediately, and they have a very warm tone (lower color temp) that's not as hard on your fully dark-adapted vision when the 4AM bladder alarm goes off (Don't know what I mean? Wait a few years...). I switched our front door light to CFL and I replace a charred unit every year or so... Have fun, Frank

How about fixing the authentication process? Just about every day, I get kicked off when I open posts. Today was typical; forum opened fine (I open on New Content, which barfs if you're not logged in), as did the first thread. I tried to reply, quoting a message, and it wouldn't quote... and all other threads are open in guest mode. Yes, I can log in, but why do I need to when it already knows who I am??? HAve fun, Frank

This is a bit of a cross post, but let me add here that my steel wheels have 16x6.5-50 is stamped in the metal; 16" wheel, 6.5" wide with a 50mm offset (love the mixed units, don't you?) The centerbore is 2.5" = 63.5mm and Ford uses a 5 x 108mm bolt circle.

Measured last night and got 2.50" which is 63.5mm. Tim, I agree with you. 16x6.5-50 is stamped in the metal; 16" wheel, 6.5" wide with a 50mm offset (love the mixed units, don't you?) Frank

Whine is a function of tread design, and snow tires couldn't be more different from the OEMs in that regard. Take a look at the (now removed) OEM tires. It's sublte, but note the size/spacing of the tread blocks, and how their size varies as you move around the circumference. Varying block size and spacing varies the natural resonance frequencies of one part of the tread relative to the rest of the tire. By spreading out the resonant frequencies, no single frequency is favored and tread noise is reduced. I would wager the Nordman's tread pattern has lots less variation in tread design dimensions around the tire. Next, look at the actual tread blocks. The OEM tire tread blocks are parallelograms, with perhaps 1 sipe across each. The Nordman tread blocks are smaller, with a sipe every couple millimeters. As the Wiki link will tell you, sipes are where you get ice and packed-snow traction, but they also hurt dry-road behavior. When turning, siped tread blocks will "squirm," as you can see by pushing a tread block with your thumb. That squirm opens the sipes, allowing their edges to bite into the snow or ice surface. On dry roads, they feel like little springs between you and the road, degrading turn-in and road feel compared with the larger, squarer blocks OEM tire. In return for these seemingly undesirable characteristics, the snow tire delivers something the OEM can't - grip on snow and ice. Just wait until you drive down your first road covered with wind-blown snow - and the car doesn't notice the snow. HAve fun, Frank PS please don't have a dealer sipe your tires (common in Pac NW?) unless you're ice racing or something that needs it. Buy the right tires, says the guy who owned a tire shaver (for pavement racing).

And I'm scheduled for a week from today!

Dang, now I have to go looking for ice-green ones! That's a neat use for what has become the catch tray for anything on the passenger's seat. Hav efun, Frank

The first problem is catching up to them, without breaking form... think they saw you? Think they had any idea you used ~1/3 the fuel they had? Now that I'm paying attention, I think most hybrid owners are closet racers who want better mileage... without action on their part. Granted, I have a very hard time with the extreme throttle sensitivity - can't exit a corner in EV to save my life - but I've learned where to find the feather you use, Jus. A little throttle insensitivity would be an improvement in the car's operability, but it doesn't address the human element. Have fun, Frank, whose accustomed to the throttle sensistivity of a car that can vote

The only problem with the question is that all answers are correct... somewhere! I went looking, and one finds the two extremes pretty fast... NOAA predictions http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=03 Farmers' Almanac predictions http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/2013/08/25/2014-us-winter-forecast/ Not surprisingly, the NOAA forecast is sparse, and doesn't make any specific predictions, only general trends (Above, Normal, Below, and EC which I take to mean "can't tell.") the only trend is for above normal temps in the West/Southwest US until Spring, when everything changes. Conversely, the almanac is happy to predict a Super Bowl snow storm for NYC (game's in the Meadowlands) along with a "shivery" winter. The one good source I found is this blog, as he explains why it's hard to do long term forecasting even in light of ENSO (El Nino/Southern Oscillation) and the global climate patterns that correlate with Pacific sea surface temperature. Personally, I hope he's wrong about "La Nada" (a year with no temperature anomaly) as that's when it gets really brutal here in Rochester... Have fun, Frank

Nothing new there...

Paul, That's a tiny change... but it got me thinking about how much tire pressure and wear affect revolutions/mile, and so speedo/odo cal. Wear Per Tire Rack, Michelin makes the OEM tires with 9.5/32" of tread depth. - I'll calculate using unloaded dimensions; there's a consistent 3% difference between loaded and unloaded radius. - Assuming a 3/32" threshold for "worn out," one expects a 6.5/32" change in radius over life, or a 13/32 change in diameter, 0.406" The result is a 1.6% change in static diameter over life. Pressure Michelin rates the OEM tire at 1433 lb.@51psi. Tread width is fixed at 8.2". Contact patch length will vary with pressure. - from Pascal's Law Force = pressure x area, so contact patch area = force / pressure, or 1433 / 51=28.8 sq. in. - assuming square corners (a bad assumption), contact patch length = area / tread width - the hard part is calculating the radius change due to a "flat spot" the length of the contact patch (Warning, trigonometry) Loaded R = static R x (1 - cos(x)), where x = asin(contact patch length / static diameter) The result is a 0.3% change in rolling diameter going from 51psi to 38psi., up to 0.6% if you go down to 30psi. Have fun, Frank

A few points of reference, as this has wandered into territory my C-Max would recognize. I don't think this car has seen a dealer since delivery (none of the warranty service has been done)... but it is an SEL. I inherited Porter from my Father-in-law, its namesake, who was in his 80's when he bought it last October. My Mother-in-law had passed away that January, and he just took his Ford SUV and Marlea's Prius to the dealer and asked for what he'd get in an even-up trade. In 8 months of driving, he went nearly 6K miles. The car's in great shape, save for the driver's side rear door sill, which is beat up from him putting his walker in the back seat. Old is not a synonym for inactive. When he passed away, the car sat idle for 4 weeks. No issues resulted from storage. Not all C-Max's have battery issues. So, what am I doing wrong that my battery's fine? I've even left small loads on over a weekend (rear 12V socket is not switched with igntion or door locks) without noticing a reduction in battery performance or car reliability. At this point, it's been 100% (knock wood), but it's seeing the dealer next week. We'll see! HAve fun, Frank

My point was you took a round trip... no chance of elevation assist!

It's a 460 mile trip from Newnan to Deltona... I'm betting on a round trip with overnight stay.

Revolutions per mile differences will affect speedo/odo calilbration and so fuel mileage readouts relative to a GPS-based mileage. Here are X-Ice specs (click specs tab). A 215/55 has a shorter sidewall than a 215/60, so it has a smaller diameter and more rev/mile. The difference, 823 vs. 796, brackets the OEM tire's 803 rev/mi. +1% one way, -2.5% the other. On the road, you'd have the normal differences that result from lower aspect ratio, but they'd be very subtle as 55>60 is a very small change. You'd accelerate faster, but would be traveling slower than you think. Unless you have reasons to want 16's (like cost), the 215/55-17's offer the advantages of a narrower contact patch in the stock wheel size with a 791 rev/mi., +1.5% Have fun, Frank, who bought 215/60-16's on steel wheels BTW, I only talk rev/mi. when discussing rolling performance because it assumes rated load @ rated pressure, which is a heck of a lot closer to reality than static diameter and circumference measurements.

Do a search for the DRL thread. Here's the gist: - FORD offers DRLs as a fleet option only - some dealers have been willing to activate them for non-fleet customers like us - the work-around is to put the lights on "auto" so they turn off with the "key," then cover the dash sensor (dome at foot of windshield) so they stay on HAve fun, Frank

Welcome! Etis is your friend. Click "vehicle" in the top line menu and enter your VIN. Tells you all the recalls under Outstanding Field Service Actions. There are posts on here about most of them. You can also tell by the EPA mileage rating on your Monroney label... and you'll know what to look for by reading here! HAve fun, Frank

Actually, they're overkill for Rochester. We get 8' a year, but it snows almost every day, so it's an inch at a time with lots of melt/freeze. Even our big snows (only ~3') take a week to fall. We need ice tires that work on dry road. Now, Jus's trip to the mountains is what these are made for - deep snow - because you can put them on just before you need them. Also good in Buffalo, because they can get feet of snow in hours, just like driving up a mountain, without the driving. I need ice traction all the time because I never know when I'll go from dry to ice. And if it's a new F-150, be careful; the F-150 forums are full of folks who have to pull their ABS fuse or disconnect wheel sensor (same effect) to plow snow. Safety features run amok when it's slippery outside. Cars with traction control that can't move? The oxymoron would be humorous if it weren't true. Have fun, Frank

"Aftermarket" is anything other than OEM... Ford or aftermarket are all possible choices. Nothing to be concerned about assuming they pick a wheel that meets Ford specs. The one that gets missed a lot is centerbore - the size of the centering hole - as that should be a snug fit. You don't want the lug nuts to be responsible for centering the wheel on the axel, just to keep it tight. Some aftermarket wheels need spacers, which I avoid. There's a discussion here. The Nordman looks very similar to Hakkapeliitta Q's we ran years ago; a very good snow tire. Are your studded? It will be interesting to compare the impact on the car's performance between the Nokian's and Michelins, and whatever other brands and sizes of snows folks try. Have fun, Frnak

My apologies, got wrapped up in other stuff and completely forgot to measure - sorry!!

Look into SAE Class S. "Class S - Regular (non-reinforced) passenger tire traction devices for vehicles with restricted wheel well clearance" That's very different from the tire chains of my youth. Have fun, Frank

Looking at snows for a hybrid means you're interested in rolling resistance as well as winter performance. Recognizing that, Tire Rack included mpg in their most recent snow tire test. It lead me to buy Michelin X-Ice as the best combination of ice and dry road performance with the lowest RR. Tire Rack has a very niced web site for price comparisons. I won't discuss prices here, except to say that X-Ice will cost you $34 extra per tire for stock 225/50's compared with 215/55's. Per my discussion above, I'd recommend the 215 on performance grounds as well. Rev per mile is 803 stock vs 791 for the 215/55's, about 1.5%. Have fun, Frank

Regardless the external dimensions, I'd be concerned about the centerbore. If too small, they won't fit. If too large, they won't center without the correct spacers. You cannot rely on the lug nuts to center the wheel (personal experience). Lose one spacer and you're SOL for the set; I avoid wheels with spacers like The Plague. That said, until I get home, I can't say what centerbore you need... 4 snows on Ford steel wheels sitting in the garage. Have fun, Frank, the slowest fo these 3 great minds

The thing I learned racing is that accuracy is for bench racers, all you need out on the track is repeatability. Same reading, day after day, is what makes a good instrument. It also helps to have a bleeder valve if you have specific targets (like one would on the track). I use a cheap little mechanical dial gauge that always reads the same, and may be off a few psi, but is always off the same amount. Granted there's one big difference here - lack of feedback. When you're racing, you mark the sidewalls to see how the tread is reacting in the corners, and adjust pressure accordingly. You calibrate to your car's handling with that tire, so the actual pressure reading is immaterial (I raced at pressure readings from 24 psi to 44 psi in the same car and wheel size). Not so here... we can't "see" load rating and any rolling resistance changes are in the noise. Thankfully, there's a lot of latitude; the OEM tire is rated at 1433 lb. @ 51 psi. Ford tells us to use 38 psi, where the tire's load capacity is no more than 1068lb. (load capacity varies with air contained, and thus pressure). Seems odd that this only supports a 4270 GVWR, while the vehicle's rating is not found in the owner's manual. Perhaps there's no latitude in ford's recommendation... HAve fun, Frank PS it's simple to calibrate a gauge; that's why I don't worry about it.