ptjones

Plus what they are doing to your MPG's . Paul

My tank holds 14gal., I ran out on purpose to see how much the tank holds and luck ally across the street from Gas station and I EV over to it. I have only run out once, but I have filled up twice with 14gal. so I was about to run out another time. Paul

I had a trip where the gauge said 13.71 gal but as I said before, it is not accurate when actually filling up the tank. BTW gas pumps are calibrated as certified by the State. I spoke to a company in our industrial complex that services gas pumps and they said they are accurate to .01 gal. Your fill up amount can vary just by how level the car is when you fill it up. I have had 2 tanks where I've put 14 gal in topping it off. Paul

The C-Max SmartGauge Trip Fuel Indicator is not very accurate. The highest I've seen is 13.6 but you have your 2 gallons so go for it! Don't forget funnel in the back of the car to add fuel from can.

Here is the brochure I came up with in Feb. of this this year when temps. were cold. Everyone I talked had an improvement of 2 or more MPG. I have left my covers on all year long with no problems. I'm currently working on wheel covers and expect 4% improvement. Paul Correct image attached

Thanks for clearing that up. Paul

Thanks, but I'm not sure what the (RobertLane?) is. I'm not Robert Lane. Paul

I joined Nov. 19, How would I find out member # I am? Paul

Without a can of gas in the back anyways. You still had close to 3gal left. LOL Paul

As I feared my wheel cover came off in the rain. The tape stuck to wheel instead of LEXAN cover. I had planned on making more wheel covers for all the wheels and screwing them on in the center. Paul

I put one on with 6 pieces of double back sticky tape and it stayed on for now. It's raining now so I will see how long It stays on. I'm going to put a screw thru the center when I get a chance to make it permanent. Paul

That is very curious. :) Paul

Today I temporarily installed .04 x 18" round LEXAN wheel cover to see what It would look like and function. It's to thin to center mount it but looks great, you can't even see it's there. I think maybe 1/8" will do. From what I've read it sounds like you should expect 4% improvement in MPG's. Then going from 45 to 50psi I show gain enough to go 1,000mi on a tank and average 40MPH! Also have you coolant temps have gone up with update? I use to be running 207-213degrees before and now 220-225degrees with Grill Covers on. It looks like the top white mark on Smart Gauge temp gauge 240-245degress with comparing ScanGauge. Also coolant temps are lower by about 10degrees with AC on, It must be the fans running. Paul

When my tires were new the odometer was off by -1.5% and now with 37K it is -1.4% . Smaller tires would fix that problem but make speedometer under more. Paul

My wife is looking for 18 inch pizza pans LOL Paul

420 miles each way using back roads! Overnight in Waycross, GA.

I started out about 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 1, got to Deltona around 8:45 p.m., turned around and stopped 3 a.m. in Waycross, GA, left at 9 a.m. and back home around 3 p.m. on Oct. 2. Wife accuses me of being reincarnated trucker! Thanks, Paul

Started a new thread "13.8 GALLONS = 875.3 miles/ 63.4MPG HWY" with details on my trip. Hope it will be informational to those interested in improving their fuel mileage. Be happy to answer any questions. Paul

I bought my C-Max in October 2012 and currently have about 37,000 miles, mostly long distance highway. Believe there are a few others in this forum with similar mileage. I recently purchased an extended warranty (48 months/100,000 miles, $100 deductible) through my dealer.

Here is an explanation of what it took to get 875.3 actual miles as verified by Garmin GPS. Smart Gauge is off by 1.4% which comes out to about a .5mpg improvement. From what I have heard from other C-Max owners, this appears to be a common problem. BTW I didn't run out of gas and might have made 900mi with the remaining gas in the tank! First: Fortunately a business trip to Deltona, FL gave me the golden opportunity to plan the ultimate fuel economy test trip!Second: My goal was 900 mi. on a tank.Third: I calculated 45mph as the average speed needed to accomplish 900 mi.Fourth: Realistically, you can't drive on Interstates because it's not safe to travel between 40-45mph. In planning my route I used MapQuest and GoogleMaps trip planning to avoid Interstate highways. By using State highways I was able to save 40 mi. each way and typically the speed limit is 55mph. With less traffic I was able to drive 40-55mph.Fifth: P&G (Pulse & Glide) is the strategy for max mpg, no ECO Cruise. You need to watch your Miles To Empty (MTE) to make sure you are going to make it. I started with Pulse to55-60mph and Glide to 45mph. Halfway through the trip I could see it was going to be close so I slowed down to 40mph and easily made it. Here is a list of MODs and explanation: Grill Covers minimize heat loss from ICE and improve aerodynamics to improve MPGs. Top off with Non Ethanol gas improves MPGs 1+ but is not cost effective for regular use, $4/gal vs $3.19/gal. GasPods improve aerodynamics, not sure how much yet. 45psi in tires. Covered Fog Lamps with clear carpet tape. ScanGauge keeps track of Coolant Temps, Instant MPG, Air Intake Temps and RPMs. Garmin GPS keeps track of actual miles traveled, average speed and route. It is advantageous to compare the routes between two GPSs; many times they do not use the same route! I also recommend MapQuest or GoogleMaps to plan the trip, print out directions and compare to GPS routing. Drafting is problematic on back roads because it is hard to find a suitable drafting partner. Truckers tend to drive 65mph in 55mph speed zones and that is just too fast and stressful to achieve optimum MPGs. Weather is important for good MPGs and I was lucky with winds light and variable and 63-84 degree temps so didn't use the AC. I had an EV of 66% and high 90%s for brake scores. Here is my Lifetime Score as of October 2, 2013 and it keeps going up!

I normally use 87, but used Ethanol Free for my record run and I think I gained 1 or so mpg on my trip. But at $4 a gallon vs $3.19 it's not worth it. Paul

What I meant was if it takes 20days to use a tank there is going to be a lot of sitting around time added to the moving time. On my trip there was very little sitting around time because I was moving all the time. LOL :)

:woohoo: :shift: :bliss: 863.4! 63.2mpg! The ACTUAL MILELAGE FROM GPS WAS 875mi.!!!!!! Made a trip from Newnan, GA to Deland, FL and back and here are the results! You will notice that the GPS shows a difference between the actual miles and the C-Max odometer was off by 1.4%. I used back roads to be able to run between 40-55mph. I averaged 40.3mph - the GPS shows 38.9mph because I did some City driving after the trip. Actual moving time was only 22 hours 31 minutes. Smart gauge time was 23 hours 36 minutes. Will add more details later once I have a chance to review the data. I used Grill Covers, GASPODS, 45lbs/psi in tires,ScanGauge, Garmin GPS, covered fog lamps and topped off with No Ethanol gas. Weather, winds little and variable, 84-63degree temps Traffic little for the most part, congested in some of the larger towns. Drafting on back roads is programmatic. Most trucks are gravel, logging and etc. are undesirable drafting partners and they go 65mph which is to fast for excellent MPG's. My brake scores are high 90's and EV% was 66%.

May need to use them for a while and then take them off, we will see. Paul

Rain is a killer to MPG's and I have seen up to 10 mpg drop because of it a number of times. It has rained a lot in Atlanta this year. LOL Paul