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I was planning N=5 (1 week ea.), but only scenarios 1 @ 15 miles and scenario 3 @ 22 miles as they are my commuting options. However, I will record them in pairs of round trips, as I do have a net elevation change. No ScanGauge or smart phone available, so photos of trip screens will do. I'll record temperature at some point, as well as any needs for heat or AC. Our weather's fairly uniform this time of year, but clearly changes for the colder in mid-October. The only thing I can't replicate is the inital PCM once I upgrade, so any seasonal adjsutments will have to wait a year for the next season change. Any other suggestions (beyond "buy a ScanGauge")? HAve fun, Frank

You're asking the wrong questions, or at least not asking any of the right questions. GO DRIVE ONE. And I don't mean for mileage, that's a given, but rather for fun. This thing is more of a go-kart that anyone expected. It may be heavy, but the weight is carried low, and the added low end torque of the EV side means this thing can scoot! Smokey burnouts are a possibility, and the autocrosser in me finds it very easy to carry speed in the turns. Very fast steering with a very responsive suspension and a torquey motor make for an altogether unexpectedly fun ride. All that financial stuff will sort itself out; disaster stories would be easy to find, and I haven't found one in a month of research. What I did find was a lot of folks traveling on gas-by-the-drop, and talking about how much fun they're having with the car. The right question is if that much fun is worth the price... I see no reason it wouldn't. Have fun, Frank

What data are you interested in seeing? I'm not planning to update for a month or more; got to see what the pre-update can do, first, but I'm still at 1/2 on my first tank! HAve fun, Frank

This kind of performance change sounds like something's wrong. Test reports show a 0-60 time of ~8 sec. From your note, I expect you'd have a hard time making 60 mph in twice that! Do you have EV boost when accelerating? That's the car's "ace in the hole" when you need go juice. Mileage takes a long time to measure and it's open to many variables. Acceleration is a quick test, and if you're right, the proof is as simple as asking the dealer's service advisor to keep up with you when you're driving one of their C-Max demonstrators. Have fun, Frank

DRLs are a safety feature, but not a free one in a hybrid. You pay for the electrical load at the gas pump. Granted, I expect the affect to be small, but many small affects is where you get the big gains. In this case, I'd be standing at the pump saying " stupid DRLs" so I don't ahve to blame my poor hybrid driving skills... maybe that's not such a bad idea! HAve fun, Frank

Ford didn't ignore it, they used a different solution, granted one that requires more than a strong hand, but it is a solution... kind of like the "spare tire" solution. HAve fun, Frank

http://fordecoboostchallengedrive.com/Map.aspx You can also sign up... the series is half over, but if you're in the South, or Minnesota, you still have events available, and none are showing "full." Have fun, Frank, who doesn't live near any of them

Welcome! I'm new here myself; 11 days of driving under my belt as well, albeit from a 10/2/12 "birthday" - I inherited the car from my Father-in-law. You've found the hybrid feedback displays, and you're letting them change your driving style a bit, just as I am. I got to drive it a few times before there was any chance we'd own it, and it was a nice car. Now that I'm approaching it like more of a car enthusiast, I'm enthusiastic! Power, handling, room, comfort and 50 MPG to boot! I can see why these will become popular in certain commercial applicaitons. Taxi may be a bit much, but Jus-A-C-max is a real estate appraiser in the San Fernando valley and this car's ideal for his job. Another guy's a handiman, and does paperwork sitting in the car, not idling. Neat vehicle, regardless, and one that stirs folks' souls it would appear. Enjoy it! HAve fun, Frank

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/head_restraints/headrestraints.aspx?ford One little bit of C-Max data from IIHS... HAve fun, Frank

Yeah, I guess I did; the "kitchen sink" would fit by the dozen... I'm coming from 35 years of Volvo wagons, and as mini-van owners know, height matters. It's little comfort (literally) to have a car you can sleep in, if you can't sit up. Try getting dressed laying down! Maybe when I was younger (like 12...). The cargo area may only be 5'5, but you can move the seats up and get lots more length. I actually moved the passenger seat back and reclined it a bit in the photo, so the rail was in it's most stable position. Must have worked; wife's been riding the lift for a week now. Have fun, Frank

Proof you can fit an eight foot rail without touching the dash... my fingers still fit. Sure glad one rail had been cut down! HAve fun, Frank

Remember, Hyundai offers free oil changes for life, so they see the car on a regular basis... you do things differently when you're a small player trying to grow a business. Have fun, Frank

Something very similar is already there my C-max fronts... HAve fun, Frank

It's dangerous to presume ignorance... Compensation is news, the rest, not so much, or at least I learned little about Ford's EPA qualificaiton process. I will admit to doing a lot of research before taking posession, but the EPA-related stuff I found was 2012... Your factual posts have been interesting. I've learned a lot from your posts. But I also recognize a bias when I see one. I seem to have a different one. In a regulatory environment, a company is courting suicide by not gaming the rules for a competitive advantage. It's a simple fact of life in competitive markets; ethics have nothing to do with it (at least we see no evidence... yet; Hyundai wasn't so lucky). That there are gaps in the rules is not in dispute, nor a lack of foresight on Ford's part in not setting customer expectations for the product. It seems kind of stupid to launch a hybrid that has to run the ICE at the speed limit, and I wonder at the "conventional car" throttle calibrations that make hybrid operation aberrant behavior. How may times does Jus say "feather" regarding throttle in his mileage tips? So stupidity, poor judgement yes. Malfeasance, no, not necessary at all to get to this point. And keep up the informative posts, just tone down the rant! Have fun, Frank

I'm new to hybrids, and have only had this C-max since Saturday. I'm already getting 50 mpg on this first tank, granted on surface streets. Conversely, I'm well aware that it's hard to beat 40 mpg at 75 mph driving on the ICE - well duhhh. One can understand the desire to "kill all the lawyers," but in this case, they're not the problem. It's the owners who expect magical results. We're too accustomed to getting what we want, regardless the (il)logic of it... HAve fun, Frank

I would be very surprised if an automatic door opener would work while the car is moving... I'm new to these technological marvels, but this just seems like something a lawyer would insure. HAve fun, Frank

Thanks. I find my left elbow, specifically a home for it, is one of my most common complaints in rental cars... not here. Of course, much of the credit goes to the range of motion on the steering cluster adjustment. Have you tried the full range of motion; in-out surprised me? Get more/less bend at the elbow and perhaps you'll be more comfortable. HAve fun, Frank

Now, now... never tell a woman what to do with her purse, especially if she knows where you live.

My son moved to Baton Rouge at the end of June for a new job. Great timing as he drove through a few days before my FIL went in for surgery and they were able to visit for a bit. We'll be visiting him this winter; as I said, Marj already made plans... inclulding a load of furniture out of her parents' house. Right now, he's enjoying La from a lawn chair... When he's ready for a new car, I'm thinking of suggesting the Fusion version of this hybrid drive train... should be even more fun to drive! Have fun, Frank

Porter, after the original purchaser, my late father-in-law. And I remember Hazel - Shirley Booth played the role as I recall... HAve fun, Frank, who doesn't name his cars, but loves them regardless.

That's cheating! (Unless you live near Ashtabula, then it's survival gear.) An important part of comparison is "compared to what?" If you normally drive a 4x4, your opinions about winter driving will be different from most of us. Remember the old VW ad: "What car does the plow guy drive to work?" Have fun, Frank

I'm quite impressed that the first response hit the nail on the head, and wasn't the only one to do so. It's not the car that matters in the snow, it's the tires on the car. My only qualification is living in Rochester, NY since 1973, driving RWD almost exclusively, from an RX7 through a half dozen Volvos (240, 740, 940). Most folks know about Buffalo because they periodically get 10' snowfalls. We're the other extreme - it snows nearly every day - but the record snowfall is only about 3' and that took a week. We get an inch every morning, and lots of re-frozen snow-melt during the evening commute. I have found that conventional tires with good rubber compounds and aggressive tread designs work well with FWD when new. My wife and daughter are both running Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring tires in FWD cars with good results. I've been driving the last of what was once 3 Volvos with spare wheels for the snows, so it was Continental ExtremeWinterContact XL for me that last few winters. Given the C-max will be our winter trip vehicle, there's a closeout set of X-Ice Xi2 waiting for me at Tire Rack... BTW, if your car only sees snow when you take it there, Jus has a great solution for temporary need applications. HAve fun, Frank PS Remember that a driver who's in tune with their car and can feel the subtle variations in traction will be able to drive a poorly-shod vehicle better than a ham-footed pedal-masher with chains. Hybrid throttle skills have other applications as well!

My first car was a Ford, and this C-max is my second... Ford. 40 years later. The first Ford was a 1970 Maverick , purchased in 1973 for $1250. 200 cid straight 6 with 3-on-the-tree, that would become the largest car engine I've ever owned. It's only claim to fame is that it got me through college; it had many claims to infamy... HAve fun, Frank

Been there, did that as soon as I had a VIN. 3 queued, including headliner, PCM and MFT. Part of my introduction to web-integrated car ownership; we'll see how integrated I want to be! I was speaking literally... the Volvo had an intermittent speedo, and so an intermittent odo, which becomes a problem if your gas gauge doesn't work... sometimes a little tap was all it needed, other times, it ignored me regardless the level of persuasion. Not far off on the "addition" part... we're empty nesters so we have room. Marj has already planned a trip to see our son in Baton Rouge in February... Again, I was speaking literally... I don't plan to use MFT or Sync features of the car immediately if ever. However, of the C-max places I've found, this is the one I'll hang in... More impressions... - the advice to get rolling electric, run ICE at 2 bars and use brakes properly are giving me surface trips in the 50's for MPG right off the bat. Highways are a lost cause until the PCM update. - in addition to watching the displays, you also have to watch the road... - while a chubby 3600 lb. and tall 5'4", the C-max handles like a sports car, likely due to the weight being carried low in the chassis. - it's a bit discomforting driving a sports car when your butt's not at axel level... but the car just doesn't roll in the corners! - space and not just space, clean space. No junk collected (yet). - good seats, at least in front, and that's by comparison with Volvo, who use springs in the rear seats, too. - neat steering wheel adjustment range; couldn't get hips and shoulders comfortable without pulling the wheel way out from the dash The best part is the wife's agreed to a set of snows, which will be tall and narrow compared with the 225/50-17's, and likely on 15" wheels... HAve fun, Frank PS I appreciate all the condolences. I call this car Porter (and I don't name my cars) in honor of the original owner. It was he that first mentioned the "science project" but in reference to an HD spy-cam he had in the back seat. His was a life well lived that he ended in dignity; not much more one can ask for.