ptjones

Sorry to hear that on two fronts, That does take some of the fun out of it. ;) Paul

Not sure what you are commenting on, but on trips I will drive 12-16 hrs a day without knee problems without ECO cruise. Granted my body is tired including feet, but that is to be expected. :) I make several trips to AZ a year which is about 1700 miles and do it in two days. That works out to 850-1000 miles the first day and the rest the second day. Paul

MaxHeadroom, you need to get a ScanGaugeII so you can see what the temps are, they are alot colder than you think. Today it was 88*F at 1PM and driving 14 miles with the car already heated up I was seeing only 96*F for Intake Air temp and 220*F WT with Middle and Lower Grill Covers on. BTW the MyView Temp Gauge doesn't go above the middle until getting above 226*F WT. The top of the white bar is 246*F WT. :) The ICE compartment would be very cool, because all the heat would be going out the tail pipe not the engine block. I'm not an expert on recapturing energy from exhaust gases Yet. :) Paul

They did make a all-electric for a year, but that business closed. ;) Paul

I have seen this before long time ago and it didn't seem very practicable and I wasn't convinced about the efficiency of it. Diesel has extra oxygen, gas ICE not so much. Another interesting note is this black material might be able to be able to laser 3D print the parts for the ICE. :) Make constructing the parts easier. Paul

Going with low thermal conducting material I'm hoping for 50+% efficiency and maybe able to use these other technologies too. I looked at trying 215/55-17, it looked like they were just to big to fit without rubbing. Has anyone actually installed them? BTW under hood air comes from top grill which isn't covered during the warm time of the year and shutters are closed until at least 210*F WT which means their only open on the FWY after atleast 20 miles. Not that much air going through ICE compartment other than from top grill. Also it was my understanding that with Atkinson valve timing the effective compression ratio is lower, the lower end torque isn't great and the ICE gets boost from motors to make up for it. My total improvements are around 7 mpg. :) Paul No, just polishing, maybe if I get some extra time I'll look through one. :) Paul

I have about reached the limit for AERO and Temperature Efficiency Improvements like Grill Covers and Wheel Covers for my CMAX. With temps in the 80's*F I can average 50-54mpg at 65-70mph with no A/C on the HWY. Not bad, but I'm still looking to improve more. I remembered someone had said the ICE is very inefficient so I looked it up and to my surprise it is only 25-30% at best. WOW :drop: So looking at GOV site and Wikipedia http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/atv.shtml https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engine_efficiency From Wikipedia: "Modern gasoline engines have a maximum thermal efficiency of about 25% to 30% when used to power a car. In other words, even when the engine is operating at its point of maximum thermal efficiency, of the total heat energy released by the gasoline consumed, about 70-75% is rejected as heat without being turned into useful work, i.e. turning the crankshaft.[1] Approximately half of this rejected heat is carried away by the exhaust gases, and half passes through the cylinder walls or cylinder head into the engine cooling system, and is passed to the atmosphere via the cooling system radiator.[2] Some of the work generated is also lost as friction, noise, air turbulence, and work used to turn engine equipment and appliances such as water and oil pumps and the electrical generator, leaving only about 25-30% of the energy released by the fuel consumed available to move the vehicle. In the past 3–4 years, GDI (Gasoline Direct Injection) increased the efficiency of the engines equipped with this fueling system up to 35%. Currently, the technology is available in a wide variety of vehicles ranging from less expensive cars produced by Mazda, Ford and Chevrolet to more expensive cars produced by BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen Auto Group." As you can see about 30% of the energy is absorbed by the cooling system from piston, cylinder walls and cylinder head and another 30% goes out the tale pipe. ;) :headscratch: This got me to thinking about using a material that has very low Thermal Conductivity and as it turns out I help to develop STAR21G, a black material with Thermal Conductivity of: 1.25 W/(m K) at 25*C, 160 times lower than Aluminum,34 times lower than Steel. Aluminum: 205 W/m K) at 25*C steel: 43 W/m K) at 25*C Here are the advantages that I can think of.: 1. Potential MPG improvement of two times. 2. Almost instantaneous operating temp, no energy being absorbed by combustion parts and lower pollution. 3. Eliminate the need for a cooling system there by saving the cost for having one, may need oil cooling. 4. Cut pollution in half by using half as much gas for each mile. 5. ICE cars will be cheaper to own and operate then All-electric Cars and create similar amount of air pollution assuming they use coal fired power to charge battery. 6. Hybrids could improve MPG's more if we can use exhaust gases to run a steam engine generator to charge HVB from using exhaust gases. 7. Would increase HP and Torque by a factor of two for the same ICE design. 8. There maybe more advantages and I will add when I or someone else comes up with them. I'm thinking 100 mpg/ 1400mi. on a tank with a CMAX Hybrid on the HWY for 2018. :shift: (Maybe 2K miles with Hypermiling) :yahoo: This isn't a cost effective solution for current CMAX/ICE vehicles, but for Future Hybrid/ICE vehicles this could be a huge improvement in MPG/HP/ Torque and cheaper to make. IMO anyway. I might try to add this to my ICE now that I'm out of warranty if I get the opportunity. (133K mi) :) It would be interesting if I could get someone at FORD interested in my idea otherwise I'm going to put this information out to the Public Outlets and see what happens. I have applied for a patent too. Let me know what you think. :) Paul

From what I've seen it has been a high percentage of highway driving causing the problem like in my case. (83%, 98K mi.) ;) Paul

Using your example if you lowered the tire even more you should shorten your stopping distance even more which is not the case too. Talking to the Michelin's Rep on the phone I explained I was getting even tire ware at 50 psi and he agreed that would be right pressure to use and didn't have a problem with that. :) The 38psi is FORD's recommended pressure for the CMAX, yet the FFH which weighs the same tire pressure is 36psi. ;) Paul

It should be better in rain with slightly smaller contact patch area so more pounds per square inches to push the water away. With my experience of not hitting a deer, I don't see how the stopping distance could be shorter.(Stopping on a dime)(50psi). :) Paul

I only use 0E when I want to break a record of mine. :) $.70 a gallon more than Premium. ;) Chances are all the gas in your area comes from one refinery and just the additives are different. :) Paul

The top speed is higher than 90 mph, I think I have gone 95 mph and someone said it was 103 mph, not sure. ;) I still think even the 2016 is no match to the 2013 CMAX, it has very little EV Power or Speed and the ICE runs almost all the time. :drop: Paul

I would think you would do better on the HWY with your Aero Mods. I hit 47-52mpg on the HWY. :) Paul

With 133k mi. I hardly ever use the cruise control, I get better FE without it. :) I do like the Adaptive cruise on my wife's 2013 Explorer once you get use to it. Pretty cool for drafting to keep the distance pretty constant. :) Paul

It looks like you could get 700 miles on a tank. Great Job. :yahoo: Put 50 psi in the tires. :) Paul

I think my FE went down 2 mpg when I was at max load, but I think weight would hurt you more in city driving were you are stop and go. :) Paul

On my record run speeds were in the 35-55mph with about 35mph average which means I was doing alot of 40-45mph to make up for the stop and go. ;) It took us 4 days to do it sightseeing in FL. I don't need to slow down to break my record, just be more efficient, not have traffic problems and weather problems(wind and rain). Hard to have everything go your way for 4 days. ;) Paul

Well been there and done it. We use to live in Flagstaff, AZ and have Daughter and grandson in Phoenix so the worse climb temp wise is coming South on I-17 from Camp Verde for about 10 miles. The only time I have got the overheating buzzer twice with Grill Covers on. This is at the top of white band on Smart temp guage,(246*F) as I was reaching the top of the climb. This not a problem with lower Grill Cover removed. :) Just thinking you have a NRG so you could EV the tough climbs so you could use Grill Covers all the time. :) Do you have a ScanGaugeII or OBDII gauge to measure WT, TFT and AI temps? Paul

Welcome Back Matt, it's nice to get more interest in MPG's again. I currently have life time of 48.1 mpg. and 133K miles, 83% HWY, but I'm still going up. :) At this point I know how to get 1K mi. tank on a slow trip(72mpg), but haven't had the opportunity to do it. :) Paul

I guess I make up to it. :lol2: :) Paul

I've driven the 2016 Prius and it still isn't as nice to drive(power) as CMAX. :) Prius is still a step down from a CMAX IMO. Paul

Yesterday We took MADMAX up I-85 with lower Grill Cover off to test shutter operations. I was afraid with the lower Grill Cover off we wouldn't able to get hot enough for shutters to open. Sure enough the WT(CHT) only got to 215*F going up hills and speeds up to 80mph on our 20 mile trip so we stopped and had lunch to figure what to do. I decided to use masking tape to block off 1/3 of lower grill to raise temps higher. It turned out to make little difference ;) on our trip home with speeds up to 90 mph :drop: so at half way I turned on A/C to see shutters work and they did. ;) So traveling at 90 mph and still only 215*F, but when I turned to get off at our exit it hit 216*F and shutters still closed, but I'm not giving up. With one foot on gas and other on brakes I keep ICE running and WT hits 218*F and shutters open finally. :yahoo: I slowed down to 30 mph to go the 1/4 mile to our shop and upon arriving WT was still 215*F, not much cooling at 30 mph and in EV ICE isn't circulating the coolant to cool it off. Instead of stopping I continued on to see what temp the shutters closed at, 210*F shutters started to close but at half way they stopped, i thought they were going go back to open, but they reversed direction and closed with temp at 207*F. The things we have learned from four separate tests: 1. I can see of no logical reason not to have the center grill covered all the time. The ICE runs to cold, below 202*F with the lower Grill Cover open, no need to add more cooling. ;) 2. If you are doing mainly city driving and less than half an hour trips on the FWY you can leave lower Grill Cover on all time, exception being using A/C. Although I use A/C with Grill Covers on and not much difference in cooling. :) 3. Shutters open at 208*F @ 30 mph and 217*F@ 65-70 mph and are either closed or open, no in between on my CMAX. 4. Given all the info I have accumulated 3 1/2yrs my CMAX Grill Covers are a much better solution than FORD's active shutters for improving MPG's IMO. :) My results speaks for themselves. P.S. Testing shutter operations is a good way to ruin your MPG's. :drop: I lost 6 mpg's in two lunch hour tests sessions. :sad: Paul

Plus 3 Golfer Said: The PCM can infer air flow by using speed and shutter position. Again, take the grille covers off and also get the forscan app. There's no reason to believe forscan data is incorrect. The operation of the grille shutters correlates with ECT, speed and temperature. Just look at my graphs.

Posted Yesterday, 06:18 PM PCM doesn't have anyway of knowing whether air is going through radiator or not . There is no feed back loop for shutter motor, one time I was trying to automate lower Grill Cover and managed to screw two of the shutters together, PCM never reported a problem. I figured out the problem myself. WT is the main mover with speed having a minor effect on shutter position( open or closed) the couple of times that I have tested shutter operations. BTW I find it difficult to get to 215*FWT with Grill Covers removed. I wish you would do a video so we could see shutter operating. If you need some help let me know, Thanks :) Paul

Plus 3 Golfer said: You need to remove the grille covers because the PCM computes an inferred position which no way can match actual operations with no air flow through the radiator. So, the PCM appears to be constantly moving the shutters as it tries to match inferred with actual going from wide open to shut. The PCM can't find anything that makes sense with the covers on and no air flow.