ptjones

She must be doing mainly HWY driving, my Jetta Wagon only got 36-38mpg City and Passat gets less MPG's than a Jetta TDI in my experience. :) Frank I lived in SoCal in the 70's and wasn't crazy about the SMOG, but the best solution for SMOG was the Santa Ana Winds, LOL I'm a big Green Plant Supporter, Plants LOVE More Carbon dioxide, the more the merrier ! BTW last week there was a story about Dinosaur's had 4 to 6 times as much CO2 and only a little warmer, They weren't very happy about the tropics. LOL :lol: Paul

It would have been alot cheaper to use windmills to blow away the pollutants. LOL :) Paul

Interesting. :) so much for the 47/47/47 mpg, I've blown that out of the water. :yahoo: Paul

Auto Manufacturers BSing the the public is pretty normal it would seem to me. It has happened to us a number of times. ;) Paul

I have been noticing that my HWY FE has gone up this year especially this last month. My overall average this this year seems to be 2 mpg better than last year and it looks like I'm averaging around 54 mpg HWY. The only difference I know of is using 0-20W Mobil 1 and K&N oil filter which I can't see them making much of a difference. My tires are down to 5/32" which might make a slight improvement. :headscratch: :detective: ;) I haven't changed my FE driving habits. :shift: Paul

I hear India is getting involved Today too! :) Paul

I don't think that makes sense, why would they take the risk of penalties for just a loss in top speed. Sounds like they aren't telling the truth yet, how stupid is that! The only reason that makes sense is FE to risk so much. IMO ;) PS I think CMAX Hybrid has very good acceleration and handling performance. IMHO :shift: Paul

I just take a iPhone pic trip display every time I fill up. Then I can put in actual calculated GPS miles and actual fill up gallons in Fuelly later. I think I have 186 fill ups on my iPhone. :) Paul

Patience, this isn't a race. LOL Here is my spread sheet. LOL :) I want to go 10K ICE miles. :shift:

My spoiler didn't fair any better, there are way to many hazards out there. I used Velcro to attach mine which was a good Idea, because of all the times it got ripped off from hitting parking lot stops and curbs. LOL I got pretty good of just reaching under the car and straightening it out again. I finally hit a big dip and trashed it. I gave up considering I don't think it was making a significant difference. ;) Paul

Got a Blackstone Lab. Oil Sample Kit. I have 19.6K mi. since oil change with 8.4K ICE mi. , took about an half an hour to write down the EV miles for 30 fillups and then add them up and subtract from total mileage to get ICE mileage. 57% EV and 43% ICE not to shabby. :) Will be changing by 10K ICE mi. and sending in my oil sample. :) I haven't been using any oil. :2thumbs: :shift: Paul

They aren't decorative, there the real deal. I use a air gun to take mine off. They are probably chrome plated though. :) Paul

Also traveling around the country I have noticed I get better FE in south east and south west and not as good middle of the country. Using Corn for Ethanol is a waist of a good Food Source, barely energy effective, Cellulose makes a lot more sense. IMO :) Paul

I heard US Producers could shut down and wait for prices to go up. ;) Paul

Thanks. I thought it had to do with supply and demand, Saudi Arabia is supplying cheap oil and the demand is down. If it was up to the Political powers in power now it would be $5 a gallon. The Market Place decided something different, it will be awhile before alternate energy will have a significant impact as Technology improves over time to get the price down. It is all about the economics of various types of Energy Sources. IMHO :) Paul

I looked at 215/65-17" 28"dia., 225/65-17" 27.3"dia. and 225/50-17",25.9"dia. OE tire, there doesn't appear to be enough room(1/2" with wheel turned at front) for a bigger tire. I would recommend 50psi. Grill Covers will make the biggest difference in FE of anything you can do. Wheel covers work good too. :shift: :) Paul

I was referring to FE in that it drops quickly going 70 mph and above. I have had MADMAX up to 90 mph and thought the car was fine. :) Paul

It is important to check info Posted on this site so members don't get misinformation. Most of this has been covered on other threads. :) Paul

It sounds like you aren't that concerned about you gas mileage or you would have made improvements on your CMAX like the ones suggested above in Post#7. The reality of this situation is the CMAX wasn't designed to go above 70mph. That been said I believe that going 80mph with Mods I could get 45mpg. I guess I'm getting old(LOL) but I find it alot less stressful going 65-70 mph and getting 50 mpg. IMO :) Paul

Curious as to what mpg's you get going that fast. My last 2K mi. trip I averaged 53mpg going 65-75mph. What kind of improvements have you done, 50psi, Premium, Grill Covers, wheel covers, etc.? :) Paul

I use EV+ and it works for the house and work. I also run HVB down getting there, I monitor SOC and about half of the time it is higher when I start the car in the morning. The other half it is lower, alarming low sometimes, 29% and the ICE lurches when it starts immediately. Something is obviously going on with the HVB to deplete the Battery down from 37% to 29%. On the other end spectrum I came home from long trip on the FWY with 58% SOC and in the morning I had 80%(ScanGauge II), WOW! In the morning when I start out I EV as long as I can, the main purpose is to get your speed as high as you can before the ICE starts running. Note: 1. The first time you start the car, cold or hot, HVB charged or not, ICE will start running when to hit 35mph to lubricate Transmission. 2. ICE wants to get to 128*F before it will operate normally. With ICE block heater and oil pan heater I have been able to get to this temperature and be in normal mode almost from the start. I think it is more efficient to use the EV to get to speed so when ICE comes on when it is making significant power to move car and charge HVB. :) Paul

I asked this question of my Service Manager and he said the fuel pump stops a few seconds after the ICE does. FYI running of gas is pretty much a non event, the car goes to EV when this happens. The ICE will start right up when you put gas in it, I have first hand experience. :) :shift: Paul

Sorry to hear things worked out this way, I consider FOCUS a step down from a CMAX and it would be nice to know what the problem was for the rest of us. appreciate you letting us know. :) Paul

If temps go below 70*F block off top grill to conserve as much heat as possible. This one is using LEXAN It has been brought to my attention I should comment about Grill Covers and possible Transmission failure. AS far as I know I had the highest mileage CMAX to have Trans fail, 98K mi.( Don't know about Taxi Cabs), but the only one with Grill Covers. You could say Grill Covers made my Trans last longer, I'm not going to say that for sure, but it does make you wonder. With the info we have now it appears Trans aren't failing because of temperature, Hybridbear has gotten to 220*F with his FFNRG and the highest I ever saw was 194*F when it was going bad at 98K mi. Now 189*F is the highest I have seen with New Trans. FORD said that the Trans puts out a code at 301*F, I think the ICE compartment would need to be on fire to get that hot. There seems to be a connection between ICE WT temps and TFT because the Trans is bolted to ICE and heat transfers from ICE to Trans. Trans Cooler doesn't get much cool air to it until 215*F when the shutters open which rarely happens. The long and short of it is FORD has a bearing problem with some Transmissions and it is showing up with CMAX//FFH that are driven mostly on the HWY. Temperature change going up over time is a indicator of the possibility that the Trans is going to fail. I do think going to Full Synthetic Fluid is a good idea and hope to do it soon. I think that covers everything I know on Trans Failures. :) Paul :) Paul

Now that temperatures are going down for Newbies you may have noticed your MPG's go down also. You can expect 2 MPG drop for each 10*F drop in temperature. So a temp drop from 70*F to 40*F would be a drop of 6 mpg. Here is what you can do to to get some of that back without spending a lot of money. 1. Use some kind of Grill blocking method, Grill Covers, foam insulation or tape. Center Grill opening should be covered all year around, I have been using Grill Covers for 4 1/2 years/ 150K mi. now. I only remove the lower Grill Cover when going on long uphill grades. Worth 2-4 mpg's Grill Cover using Clear Packing Tape Grill Cover using Velcro attachments LEXAN Plastic 2. Use 50 PSI in your tires, not much difference in ride quality, but it improves mpg's and your tires wear great. I got 64k mi. on first and second set. Worth up to 1mpg. 3. Oil Pan Heater speeds up ICE heating and heat available for the car heater. The only Oil Pan Heater I could find small enough to fit the bottom of oil pan was a Wolverine Model 9 Oil Pan Heater which you can get on eBay. You can put one on the back of the block to have a total of 250 Watts, but enough to raise WT by 40-50*F. Worth about 2-5 mpg on short trips and you have heat almost immediately. YA! :yahoo: BTW I put a block heater in mine which adds about 400watts and 65*F increase in temp which is great, but it is very hard to install. :sad: 4. Park facing the Sun which will keep ICE and inside of car warmer. If you can use seat warmers instead of heater. Worth 1-4 mpg. Make trips during the warmest time of the day. These are kind of obvious ideas, but they are worth mentioning. 5. Premium Gas is worth 2 mpg in my experience, but may not be worth the additional cost. That is what I use. :) Note: 1. The first time you start the car, cold or hot, HVB charged or not, ICE will start running when you hit 35mph to lubricate Transmission. 2. ICE wants to get to 128*F before it will operate normally. With ICE block heater and oil pan heater I have been able to get to this temperature and be in normal mode almost from the start. I think it is more efficient to use the EV to get to speed so when ICE comes on it is making significant power to move car, charge HVB and heat up up the ICE quickly. :) 3. When temps drop below 70*F it's time to block the top grill to keep the ICE compartment warmer. This can be done as simple as using clear packing tape from hood down to bottom of top grill or use LEXAN sheet cut to fit the opening. 4. When accelerating use two BARs on the Empower Gauge, this is where the ICE is most efficient, heats up ICE quicker and charges HVB faster. 5. Use EV from a start to 15-20mph, this gives good acceleration and is more efficient than ICE at those slow speeds. Remember you want to minimize ICE time and maximize EV time to get good gas mileage. :) Paul PS I will add more as I think of them.