cmax-nynj

I do know how to maximize regen braking and I score 100% most of the time.  However, The better tires are for peace of mind and more driving confidence in foul weather. The braking performance sucks on the CMax in emergency situation.  I think a lot of it has to do with the LRR tires.

If gas prices remain low as-is I am willing to sacrifice a few MPGs for the added grip. I'd like to gain some braking effectiveness through better tires.

There are plenty of 150K+ high mileage CMax taxi cabs in NYC.  Some are for sale on Ebay; Craiglist for a couple grand.

I wonder if waxing the metal where the rubber touches would help....

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!!  I used nothing more than WD-40.

I had window creaking issues from a few months ago and never found a solution.   Having the windows down a bit would solve the issue but it was annoying.   I took a look today and decided to spray the metal with WD-40 where the fuzzy door rubber meets when closing the door.  Car is quiet as a vault now.  I was going to trade the car in last week.......!!!!!  This may not be a permanent solution but it's good enough for now.  My brain is relieved when driving.

I didn't choose the VW Diesel because I couldn't get over the vibration and clatter at idle.  How's the vibration on the A3?

Other than the Transit connect which is undesirable to most familes, Ford does not sell any 7 seater with sliding doors in the US

The center seat in the middle row was stowed below the seat cushion of the seat next to it.  This CMax is a 7 seater, from Germany.

Link:

http://www.hkford.com/eng/grand_cmax/index.html

Highlights:

7 seater with dual sliding doors

Made in Germany

1.5L EcoBoost engine

6 spd auto w/ Paddle shifter

7 seatbelt  sensors on Display

Sync2

Bi-xenon adaptive headlights

Stow-away middle seat in 2nd row

6 airbags not 7 

A spare tire

Price: about $31.5K USD over there including local tax.  It is considered a very cheap 7 seater.  Focus ST sells for almost $40K over there.

I bought an inexpensive set of fog light kits for my SE online and I'm about to install them after I get yellow H8 bulbs.  It comes with everything I need.  I tested it out with the car battery and it is working.  However, I'd like to know the best way to run the switch wires through the firewall and to find a Positive wire under the steering column which is only live when the car is on.  

Getting back to the topic, I did swap in a Leather driver seat into my SE which is without heating.  The seat harness plugged right in but inside the SE plug a few pins were missing.  As a result, the seat motors wouldn't work and I abandoned the installation.  It's too much work to add a few wires and fuses for me at the moment.

I think Ford would sell a lot more CMax's in the US simply by naming the car as Escape Hybrid or Focus Hybrid in the first place

Thanks

I'm interested but I'm new to all this.. I have an android phone and the mount.  What device do I need to purchase besides the software?

Thanks

This is a stupid design but thank you. Would you know what item 3 is?

same as topic?  I only see the High pressure port under the hood

EVs are good but make sure you check the electricity kwh rate before buying one; and the range drops a whole lot once you use cabin heating.

I have an SE with basic radio without MFT the big screen. I added rear parking sensors and backup camera + a small screen myself with very little costs.  I find the parking sensors more useful most of the time than the camera.  You may want to add that first and see

Very nice.  When your battery reads 13.3V, is your car on or off? My car reads about 12.5V when it's off and 14.2-14.5V when on.  I do occasionally get "Battery low, audio off" message when I'm using the radio while car is off.  However, the voltage still reads 12.5V

I had to throw away several Li-Ion batteries (camera / laptop) since I left them in storage for too long without enough charging.  Same should be true for the car's battery.

The Hybrid's HV battery requires conditioning (cannot be left low) for long term storage.  Even the 12V battery is already 2 yrs old and it didn't get regular charge cycles.   For me I wouldn't buy this car if it was forgotten.  Tires flat spot and rubber age with time and weather.  Fuel also becomes stale on top of other fluids.  However, there is 8 yr battery warranty so mention this to the dealer and see what they say.

Activate Engineering Test mode by pressing the left "OK" button on the steering wheel while turning the key to ACC, hold the button until you see a message on the dashboard.   scroll up to see the battery reading, it should be 12.5V when off and about 14.4V when the car is ON.

The turning radius does suck but it shouldn't kill the deal.  I do have a gripe about the steering ratio which is too quick for highway use.  However, you can expect sports car handling from this chassis.  I used to own a MR2, Celica GTS, 07 VW GTI, etc..... and I find the CMax handles really well.   I drive on high speed mountain roads every day and have no problem keeping up or even passing expensive sports cars.  

I rented one from Hertz too and bought the car based on my one day test drive