John Sparks

When are you guys getting one? You're missing out on all of the fun. With all of your research, are you leaning towards the hybrid, or Energi?

Snarky......I like it! Are you a car salesman? :D

Nice explanation. Watching that threshold in Empower mode is key. What really amazes me about this hybrid Powertrain is the number of rather descent sized hills I am able to traverse in EV mode. Compared with Fords previous gen hybrids, this is truly phenomenal. Sure I may slow to 25-30 mph but the EV threshold is what allows me to accomplish this. I simple back off of the accelerator as the threshold begins to back down. Loving this car more and more every day. Think we're going to lease an Energi for my wife in the next year. Hey SDM. When you are logging your fill-ups with Fuelly, do you go by the gallons you pumped or the gallons the car says it used?

How familiar are you with computers and software? When a software company creates a new software, OS, etc., they go through an Alpha stage (smaller group of developers) and then Beta run which is released to sometime thousands of people. A software, or service's Beta period can last quite sometime before the bugs are worked out at which time it is released to the public. I say that to say this. Yes they train us on our products! However, sadly, most people don't really care and are just in a hurry to get through training. Not me. I pride myself in knowing as much as I can about each and every vehicle we sell and have more product knowledge than any other salesman I work with. That being said, the 2013 was a first year release. So in reality, first year models are really the Final Beta Run. There are so many things that may not or cannot be discovered in quality testing. It's not until it goes out to the masses that the "bugs" are worked out. So while break in may be considered to be 1000 miles, ideal break in is 3000-6000 miles and I lean more towards 6000 miles. Plus things are always different on paper than in the real world, and real world experience with a product is always better than any training a person can receive. If you need a more precise example, just look at the owner's manual revisions. Some vehicles have as many as 5 revisions in 1 year, recalls are much more common on first year vehicles too. If you compare the 13 Fusion, Escape, & Cmax, there are many more recalls on the 13 year models than the 14. This forum is here for fellow Cmax owners to connect, learn, discuss, discover, & brag. Just because you are unwilling to try a technique that others have had success with doesn't mean you have to insult the intelligence of others. I hope you are enjoying your Cmax and doing well! I'll get off my soap box now. :)

This is basically the exact same terrain I deal with. 55 mph or less highways, lots of hills. Everyone always says that a 2 bar burn gives better charging. I have to disagree. I find that going up a hill, big or small, at 2000 RPMs not only uses less fuel (though you will really slow down on big hills), I also find that I have accumulated more charge on the battery. Now this may simply be due to the fact that the engine is running longer, or could be the lower speed puts more load on the engine. Either way it's nice to reach the top of a hill with a higher charge. SDM...I just started to have to use the A/C around here and it amazes me just how much of a difference it makes. Fortunately most days I leave early and get home late, after the temperature has dropped however, I suppose that wouldn't make much difference there in Miami

Yeah, just recently started using the air a little here. It amazes me just how much of a difference it makes. Starting to think I'm better off rolling down the windows.

So picked my Ford trainers brain today about CarPlay. He looked at me with a puzzled look and said he would like to know too. He and other trainers in his group have been trying to find out about it but, Ford is being hush hush. He's excited about the possibility of it. He did say that there is some "speculation" that this could be why the 2015 F-150 has been delayed, so that they can go back and add it but, in reality he had no information on it at all.

Car says 11.76 gallons. I put 12.47 in it but it was like 30° outside. I'm thinking when it gets in the 80s around here I'll be doing much better. My goal is to get at least 1-60 mpg tank this summer. Don't mean I'll stop there though.

First tank at 600 miles. I probably could have got a lot more out of it but I didn't want to take any chances. Pretty sure I could have got another 70 miles. Now what is the url I need to add to my signature to add the graphic? I tried the one on the top of the post but it shows up full size NM. Figured it out.

It's all up to Ford.

Guys I'm finding that two bar burn is a great way to keep up your efficiency when you need to accelerate but I still believe that a 2000 RPM burn is the best way to keep up your efficiency when you're going up a hill or even as you're just moving along. Accelerating is really the only thing that I find a two bar burn good for. Then again around here we have a lot of hills, it's not like other places where it's mostly flat. I don't recommend it up an extremely steep hill because you will get very very very slow. Loving the warm weather lately. However I wish mother nature would make up her mind. Will have a day or two in the 60s low 70s and then it'll drop down the 40 or 30. With the warmer weather I'm in getting 55 to 59 miles per gallon on my way home and we haven't even got into the mid 70s or even the 80s yet. Was getting mid to high 40s at best 51-52 mpg and those were only when it was in the 40s going home.

Okay for some reason this is what clicked. You drive 100 miles you've used 5 gallons, you drive 100 more in EV, you've still used 5 gallons. It goes back to what plus 3 golfer said. It's all about fuel used. Honestly it still doesn't seem right, but like he said you cannot assign a value to EV, technically it should be infinity but it doesn't work that way.

Thanks again guys. Interesting graphs SnowStorm. Kind of goes back to what Frank was saying. It all comes down to load / conditions. Salesguy, I guess you refereeing to how in metric it's measured L/100 Km? Honestly mpg avg is easier for me but then again I'm not a custom to using the metric system. BTW my last car got 46-53 mpg depending on the time if year. :) I'm expecting to get better out of my Cmax but I'm am concerned with the gauge to gas pump discrepancy. I have seen where others have used a gps to track miles, etc. and their figures have came out slighty better than the car so the jury is still out on that for me.

Thanks guys! :) I understand that the more miles averaged in means that overall fuel economy is going to be less affected. I also understand that it ultimately boils down to fuel used for miles driven. It just always seems that regardless you always loose mileage faster than you gain. I wonder if you could do a controlled test with same terrain, wind, load, etc, what the results would be. I guess considering the conditions that make the engine come on, around here it usually has to do with going up a hill but not always, could be the largest factor. It just confuses me how sometimes when I turn off the car I have a high EV percentage and my mileage is not as good as times when the EV use is less but then sometimes it is. I guess that leads back to load on the engine, etc. Like I said I consider myself fairly intelligent but this probably makes me sound like an idiot.

Okay I consider myself a fairly intelligent person but the one thing that I truly suck at is mathematics. What I don't understand is this: say I drive .5 miles in EV then .5 with the ICE, then another half EV. In the middle of this scenario when the ICE is on the mileage drops rapidly understandable but, when switching back to EV it's much slower to go back up. This of course is the case, the mileage levels off but still you loose mileage faster than you gain it. I know this is how it is but my mathematics deficient brain doesn't completely understand it. When in EV mode the car is using no fuel at all. Infinity mileage and when the engine comes on it is not the complete opposite. You are achieving mileage. Whether it be 20 mpg or 40 mpg. This confuses me. Getting unlimited mileage should bring up overall mileage opposed to the ICE bringing it down faster while it is indeed getting mileage out of the gas. Am I making any sense here? I know there's nothing that can be done but, it bugs me cause to my small brain it doesn't make any sense. If anyone can explain it, please do. Thanks. :)

Tap on the settings cog on the main myFord touch home screen. On the menus on the left tap on system and iscroll all the way down on the right and click on master reset. It takes a few minutes and you will see the system go black and then a few minutes later it will come up with the sync screen that says performing scheduled maintenance. Then you just have to pair your phone.

I'm sorry you didn't know this. It just means you had an absolute worthless sales person. The Easyfuel cap-less system and the funnel for emergency filling is something every Ford sales person is supposed to cover in the presentation of a Ford Vehicle. Feel free to message me if you have any questions. Selling and driving these things is what I do.

You hit the nail on the head. I've been at my dealership for 2 years. I'm the only one that really knows anything about our hybrids. The sad thing is if people really understood the benefits of the hybrid over a regular car, they would sell them like hotcakes. I mean most people will never need a brake job. Electric motors have practically a zero fail rate and the ICE only accumulates about half of the actual mileage on the vehicle. There is no serpentine belt to replace, the transmission is eCVT, which mean no shift shock and does not require servicing for 150,000 miles. Oil changes are every 10k, 20k on the Energi and then there's the gas mileage. The cost of ownership is quite a bit less than a regular car. What's even funnier is the public perception of a hybrid. It's crazy the number of people that think they have to be plugged in. A matter of fact a lot of people think that hybrid means no gas, which makes no sense since the term is hybrid, but I digress. The real issue is public awareness and education. No one really understands it.

I know this sounds like a stupid question but, have you tried turning up the volume on the sync system during the call? If so you might try rebooting or resetting your iPhone. Most people I know never turn their phone off and you would be surprised at how many customers come in with the strangest issue and simply rebooting their phone fixes the problem. On the iPhone you might try a reset. It's the same as a battery pull on a different phone. Hold down the home button and the sleep button at the top of the phone until the screen goes off then just boot the phone back up. If that doesn't fix your issue, go into the Bluetooth settings on your phone and remove sync from the paired devices. Do the same on the sync side. Then re-pair your phone to sync. If that doesn't fix it pull the 12 volt battery cable in the back of the car for 5 - 10 minutes. Last but not least, perform a master reset on the sync system. I resort to this as a last ditch effort because you will loose all of your settings and your EV+ locations will be wiped and will have to be relearned. It does not wipe the lifetime stats though. Hope this helps.

I'm sorry that you have had all of the issues that you mentioned. It sounds to me that a lot of your frustration stems mostly from your local dealers approach to resolving the issue for you. The 2013 year model is a first year model and most will tell you to be wary of a first year model because in reality the public is the final Beta test run. Unlike a computer program where software companies have sometimes thousands of beta testers to work 99% of the bugs out of a program before it goes public, car manufacturers really have only the development team to test and test. As the Cmax (and all cars) are software driven these days this is the real hurdle to overcome. Just look at all of the recalls for the 2013 Escape & Fusion while there not being any for the 2014 models. I bought my Cmax in November after all of these issues had been resolved, with software updates. I love my Cmax, there is a break in period and temperature has a large effect on performance. I have almost 10k miles on mine and the weather has warmed up to the 60-70s. I'm consistently getting 55-59 mpg on my 31 mile commute home now and coming home last night from dinner I was in the mid 60s. I don't drive extremely slow either, I probably average, and I'm guessing here, about 50-52 mph. This will be my first tank over 50 mpg :D That being said what most people do not ever take into consideration is the fact that the EPA ratings for highway mileage are based upon the following criteria: 11 miles flat terrain in a controlled environment, no accessories powered up, 100% gasoline, and at a constant speed of 48.3 mph. In reality the EPA should have city / highway / interstate Again I'm sorry for the troubles you've had but I'm sure Ford will make it right. I recommend you try a different dealer. Trust me, if another dealer finds out the trouble you've had with your dealer, they will go above and beyond to earn your business. I really hope you stick it out and end up loving your Cmax as most of us here.

What kind of issues are you having with your iPhone and Sync? Also what kind of iPhone do you have?

There is a "very" slight possiblility that we will see it in the new Mustang or F-150, but don't hold your breath. I'd say it's far more likely that we won't see implementation until next year. Possibly in the 15 Spring refresh. Periodically the Ford trainer will come by for new vehicle training or new procedures, etc. Sometimes we can get him to give us just a little tidbit about upcoming products. Not sure when he'll be back around as our next training is on the F-150, I believe, and that's hands on training in Atlanta, he may be out with the new Mustang before then. I'll see if I can get anything out of him. :D

Ford is getting on board with CarPlay. While I have no official information on this, I highly doubt we will see it available as an update to the existing MFT system. From what I've been reading, CarPlay requires QNX hardware, which is why Ford is jumping ship. So unless that information is wrong, which I kind of doubt because it all makes sense, we won't see CarPlay support for legacy systems. Which kinda makes me feel better since I paid a premium for the navigation system but, I would still like the ease of use Apple provides.

Here's the one I use. I took this picture last spring. It's strange. It looks stretched if I view it in my iPad or computer but perfectly fine on MFT.

So I went out and drove the 14 Cmax today. I drove it down about a 7 mile stretch of interstate at 70 mpg Eco Cruise. I can't say for sure but I do feel that it will do better at highway speeds. There was a lot of wind and traffic today so I really cannot consider this a very good test considering I couldn't keep anywhere close to a constant speed but initially my mileage was doing better until I was constantly slowing down and speeding up. At the end of that stretch I drove it back to the dealership through town. The last time I took this route was in a 13 Cmax in the summer with the air on 70. Previously my best was 65.3 mpg. Today in 40° weather I ended with 66.7 mpg. So better mileage but I didn't run any air, however it's much cooler than the last time. All in all I think the mods will make it easier to achieve better mileage on the Cmax. One thing I noticed right off the bat, and it's probably my imagination, EV mode seems to have more pep. I know they changed the final drive ratio, but that should only affect the highway performance, but I swear it feels peppier as though it is allowing the electric motor better torque distribution. I wish I could take it home overnight, but they don't let us do that around here and I don't have the time to take it on a 30 mile interstate drive. I might try to get it back out next week and take it on a longer stretch.