ptjones

I just filled up and got a Fuelly.com 56.7 mpg and so with my total miles of 227.2k miles my average since new has gone up to 49.4 mpg. :) Paul

It seem to me that I get instantaneous torque from electric motors when I step on the gas, other Hybrids can't keep up with CMAX. Interesting that the worst mpg's I get is 45 mpg's with A/C on temps in the 90's and going 70-75 mph and I usually get low 50's doing 60-70 mph. Paul

I also have noticed a clunking sound when starting fairly quickly and when stopping at rear passenger side. I think it has something to do with the brakes, it showed up after having oil changed and tires rotated at Dealer. I tightened wheel nuts with no change. Don't think it is suspension, because it would be doing it all the time. :headscratch: Paul

Sorry to see an end of NEW CMAX's , I'm thinking a New Escape Plugin early next year, suppose to have +30 mile range and it is a little bigger than CMAX. I will miss getting 60+ mpg's though and I'm sure I will be looking to improve gas mileage on it too. :) Paul

Hi There Congratulations, there are many topics on this forum. You can start here and then we can recommend where to go to answer any questions you might have. :) Paul

If you are into improving your gas mileage you can watch my video's from my thread: http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/6568-how-to-drive-a-cmax-hybridffh-to-get-great-gas-mileage/page-1 Paul

raja I moved my GasPods to your location in front of rear hatch for a month and I didn't see any noticeable improvement in MPG's. Yesterday I moved them back to on top of the hatch as shown and my mpg's started getting better. I think it is safe to say my location for GasPods is at least as good as raja's and seems to be better. When we first started using GasPods we did alot of R&D to determine best location and that is why I installed mine where I did. I think the GasPods are worth less than a mile/gal. Using Cruise/ECO Cruise you can expect to lose 1 to 2 mpg compared to driving yourself. I would expect ECO Cruise to be better than straight Cruise, because ECO Cruise slows down going uphill and speeds up going down hill which is more efficient. On flat ground at FWY speeds our CMAXHybird's/FFH's act like Prius with ICE running most of the time with the electric motors assisting. This is very inefficient from the ICE stand point, if the ICE is running you want to be running at 2 Bars power and it doesn't do that in Cruise Control. Now on hilly FWY's ECO Cruise starts to imitate Pulse and Glide which you should be doing not using Cruise Control. Going uphill you should be doing 2 Bars ICE Power and downhill Gliding in EV mode. A couple of weeks ago I filled with the temps in the 80's-90's*F I was getting 61.5 mpg for the first 200 miles with speeds around my local area of 35-55 mph. But then I had to make a number of trips on the FWY's so that I ended up with 57 mpg for that tank, but does show the potential of getting low 60's around town driving. I hope this is some useful info for those working on their MPG's. Paul

It''s working right now. :) Sound like you have a problem with your login Paul

In the OM it tells you to look at door jam to get the minimum recommended and don't exceed the tire Manufactures max pressure on the sidewall of tire. This would imply that you can use any pressure from 35 to 51psi. The tire experts at Michelin, Tire Rack and Discount Tire all agree with this statement. This is my Michelin Energy Saver AS using 50 psi since new with 80k miles on it and now has 85k miles going for 90K miles. Actually got 95k miles out of tires on the rear that were rotated to the front when I replaced fronts that had a hole in the sidewall. As you can see it has even tire ware, definitely not Over Inflated. From the information we have I still go with I said before Properly Inflated will have 44 psi to 50 psi. to get even tire ware. BTW my tires squealed while cornering hard and they didn't at 50 psi. Paul

Seems reasonable and I think raising tire pressure to 50 psi also improves wet performance by decreasing contact spot some and increasing psi on spot. The deeper the tread the better wet performance. Just put new Michelin's E/S on front and almost new on the back and with 50 psi and they don't handle as good as the old E/S in the dry and hurt the gas mileage a little too. Paul

I'm afraid to say this but it has never happened to me in 6 1/2 years. :) Paul

I appreciate the detailed report and I'm sure it will help others. :) Paul

Hopefully that will solve the problem, how many miles on the ICE? I replaced my plugs at 100k ICE miles, but they looked OK. Paul

Filled up and this is what I ended up with 58.4 mpg/13.14 gal/768.8 mi. Actual Fuelly.com 58 mpg/13.5 gal/ 782.6 mi./ temps 56-95*F/ 50% City so I could have gone at least 25 mi. more. :) Paul

This morning I started out with 58.4 mpg on this tank and went to Atlanta on I-85/I-285 and back for about 70 miles on the FWY and 35 mi. off. My current average now is 58 mpg, so driving on the FWY didn't hurt my MPG's much. :) So with 693 mi. + 70 mi. to E gives 763 mi. total range, we will see how it goes. Will probably get gas in a couple of days. Paul

with 224k miles I use injector cleaner about every 20k miles, never had injector cleaned. Paul

Now with the consistent 70-80+ degree temps and no significant rain my average on this tank is 57.5 mpg with 306 miles and climbing with speeds between 35-55 mph around home and no Interstate driving using my MPG Tips. Combining miles driven and Estimated miles to empty gives 815 miles estimated total for this tank and 66% EV miles or 209 miles so far. :) Paul

You can watch the SOC for the HVB with the ScanGaugeII while in Neutral to see if it goes up when you apply the brakes. I do know that when the ICE is running in Neutral the SOC goes up. I thought there was no regen in Neutral when stepping on the brakes. Just tried it out and as I remembered stepping on the brakes in Neutral doesn't charge up the HVB. Paul

$1,095 delivery charge, Really? :drop: Paul

Now that it has been 6.5 years it is time update what it means to use these MPG Tips in my videos. My Videos show what I have done for over 6 yrs/224K miles and how I get 52 actual mpg's average/yr for the last 2 1/2 yrs with 78% Hwy driving all over the country using my driving tips. My BlackStone Labs oil analysis are better now than when new with going up to 14k ICE miles/ 30k odometer miles between oil changes. Grill Covers improve mpgs and don't hurt the ICE as testing the oil shows and I'm getting as good of MPG's as I have ever have gotten. I have sold around 40 sets of Grill Covers and many more members have made their own and not one member on the 4 forums has said they don't work or has had any over heating problems. Only JUS and I (OK granted we are pretty motivated and both have gone over 900 miles , the only ones on the 4 FFH/CMAX forums in Hybrid Mode, I have the record of 930 mi. on a single tank) have experience the alarm coming on and it went away as soon I let off the gas a little, no power lost or long term problems. This is very hard to make happen as it took over a year of trying to get it to happen for me. Using my fuelly numbers I have saved about $4,129 in gas using my tips which would easily pay for tires, battery and all other maintenance items for the last 6+yrs. Again I'm not telling anyone what to do, just showing the testing I have done and the results. You decide what to do. Happy Gas/Money Saving Driving BTW Gas Prices Are Going Up You have options. Paul

Here a picture of Michelin tire at 95K miles with 50 psi pressure. That should answer your question. :) The pressure on door sticker has 38 psi. they aren't checking obviously. Paul

Got the new $35.50 A10 NAV Card off of eBay and it works so far. :happy feet: Paul

Took it to FORD today and they diagnosed it as NAV Card or plugin module. Had the card for two months. They charged me $90 for a diagnostic fee for 10 minutes of work. :sad: I could have figured this out myself if I was so sure a memory card couldn't go bad. I put the bad card in my wife's car and it did the same thing and her card works fine in mine. I sent a message to the eBay seller to try to get a replacement and we will see how that goes. Meanwhile eBay has A10 cards for $35.50 so we order one, they have excellent reviews. Paul

I think the main problem is the chemicals they use on the roads in snow country. With 223k miles my rotors look fine. I do avoid using the brakes as much as possible. :) Paul

Tires definitely wear differently front to back, I have 17k miles on backs and 1/64" wear or 9/32nds thread vs new on the fronts at 9 1/2/32nd. Paul