Jus-A-CMax

Laughs on me fellas ;) Tonight, we are once again driving from San Fernando to Mammoth Lakes and being that I put in 40 miles since my last fuel up (all of yesterday), I thought I would top Max's gas tank again before I leave. I looked at the Trip1, says 40 miles, 0.8 gallons consumed - ah ha - I can at least get a gallon in there. Cool. Paid the gas at Costco, it was $3.95 for 91RON started...and then stopped. 0.3 gallon. Huh? As usual, I top it to the quarter (long story) and damn well overfilled it. So this was not anywhere near the 0.8 reported... Now, I know I will get a earful from my CFO for the $1.50 gas on the business card - but at least i have a full tank. :runaway: Silly? You betcha but I set a personal record of the smallest tank up ever in my driving history - $1.50 to tank up. PS....the sub story here is that 40 miles on that piddly amount of 0.3 gas, that still awes me. And fuelly REFUSED to accept my tank up. PS2 Broke 5000 miles on the odo, I should not be :happy feet: but what the hell, it's Friday :rockon: have a great weekend :)

Same here, the Energi battery pack just killed it for me as well, given the stuff I have to haul that needs the flat surface aka snowboards.

Whatcha complaining about, it's $3.85 here in San Fernando Costco prices.... :runaway: Yeah, it takes forever to warm up the ICE, time to get those grill plates and we're not talking BBQ food here. I don't mind the charge up but at those temps when I drive to and around Mammoth, the EV does not hold at all, dwindles in no time flat - might as well keep it in the ICE mode. I'll try the ICE High MPG mode tonight as I am heading back to Mammoth, not stormy/snowing cold but should be cold enuf.

With MFT GPS, what do you think ;)

I will, Galpin has a VW lot so now that you perked my ears with the Fender system, I will have to check it out next week. Joshua Tree is always a classic - in fact, aside from the last decade music, any music earlier can be a good choice because they actually used actual musical instruments - as crazy as it sounds. I didn't list it here but I have a recording of Vivaldi that would test any system, especially the lows to the hilt. As I visually describe, one section of Vivaldi its like a blanket of frost rolling in like the ocean waves, super, super low.

I think over time, its going to be real clear which areas the CMax can get the most improvement - my hunch is the MPG cold, followed closely by the MFT. Some people may have overlapping improvements but list them anyway as you may have slight variations from the posters above you.

:wub2: gotta get me that steering wheel cover....on 2nd thoughts :redcard: I had no idea what pinterest was till now :)

....must come with bacon, butter, chives and a walloping of chilli flakes to be screaming :rockon: :happy feet:

I think the driver mode sounds better, imo. darrelld, very interesting. I'll have to try it and especially on my Krix. I use this, it's a bit older but its still my fave for testing the amps, speakers et al. I use to have the LP which sounded much better than the CD but alas... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYur1NCL6xc

In the spirit of the upcoming Ford event in Irvine and also the proposed upcoming fordcmaxhybridofrum.com meeting in MI, lets hear your thoughts about what you want to see improved in the CMax. This is a super site but the reality is that our known issues such as the battery, cold performance is scattered into various sections of the site, and I am hoping this thread will allow us to catalog our issues and more importantly - suggest - some solutions and enhancements that you would like to see improved. So, please choose which category (one or many) you believe that Ford can improve as well as come commentary to support what you have chosen. For me: 1. MPG cold - we can always do better especially the cold performance. I like the ptjones grill covers but lets face it, I rather see that implemented within the car itself to temporarily shut off the ICE area from the cold air. How hard would it be to add a temp sensor that controls the shutters to the ICE? 2. MPG Other - work on moving the 63mph EV threshold to 65 or 68 - yeah I know a bigger battery but even right now, 63mph can't be sustained no more than a mile anyway even on a full battery and flat road so I'll settle for less sustainability but higher threshold. 3. MFT - better, more snappy performance. Screen refresh is not the greatest and there are known issues with the GPS accuraracy. Ford is working on this but I would like to see snappy performance overall, especially when entering input for street addresses. 4. Interior. An electronic powered front passenger seat should have come with the SEL. 5. Exterior. An electric folding mirror would be nice. 6. Electronic - Get rid of the Enlighten mode, no real practical use. Engage and Empower is great. 7. FOB - I would like to see a proximity lock. Jaguar has this, why can't it be implemented by Ford since they once own Jaguar. To an extent, CMax has this as it knows when you are close and allows you to open the car door - just add the locking part. Ok....post away, lets see what you think can be improved :rockon:

This sounds like a great beer drinking topic :rockon: Some cars are good and some are lemon and imo, no one manufacturer has the title to quality. My personal experience with Toyota was my 98 Camry. It nearly caught fire when a light inside the rear brake light unit on the shevling burnt what looks like a bullet hole in the plastic - smelt something burning and caught it just time. Then the tranny gave me issues and then the seals in the cylinders started to go, black smoke et all and this car was at 160K miles, fairly young for a 98. My 04 Jaguar XJ8 had more time in the shop than actual driving, it was a lemon but boy did Galpin and Jaguar really took care of us. So far so good with Max, rock solid interior - nothing falling apart aside from that stupid panel near my foot (which has hung on since I posted that thread...maybe someone did some voodoo there for me ;) ).

Schweet MikeB.....600 miles and under 10 gallons, you could have pushed near 700+ there :worship:

Thanks :) I think the Energi drivers would cream us regular CMax drivers with your bigger battery and plugability so it would not be apples to apple - however, I think it would be awesome if an Energi driver would start a new thread with a higher benchmark. I certainly want to see what you boyz are getting in those beasts ;) Today I had a ~575 mile tank and I finished my errands but not enuf for tomorrow's run so I had to tank up. IMO, given the right temps (not sub 50s) and with an engine post 4000 miles on the odo, 550 to 600 miles is achievable and that would give at least 45 to 46MPGs, right up there with the quoted Ford MPG combined. These are real mileage driven in a real world scenario :drool:

Well, it lasted one day. Today, according to my GPS, I was running down all the pedestrians along Victory Blvd. Got away with bloody murder, I guess :rant2:

*sigh* my car feels so old, built in Oct 2012 :doh: PS wait till you smell the lovely leather interior :rockon:

Yaah x 2. Now we - may - get a CMax music thread ;)

Depends on how steep is steep. Pulse and glide is generally for flats but my own Punch & Glide (see the Driving Tips section for my thread and read more about it there) - that works better but it needs at least 1/2 battery to make use of the EV to lurch and punch the CMax up. Put the car into Engage mode and see the blue EV climb way high before it kicks in the ICE to which point you already have met your need to give momentum to the vehicle and ICE is just literally a spurt. Now don't this on much longer inclines, you'll go nutz and be too slow but it's practical if you have say a dead stop and need to go up 330-500 yard steep rise. Longer rides up the hill, stick it on 55mph eco-cruise and sit back, can't fight physics unless you really, really want to play with the pedal. Down grade assist is cool, I actually use that to do a faster regen. I have not used Low gear yet as theres no incline that I have seen that is too steep and I do my share of hill climbing in my line of work. Good luck with it and welcome to the forum, lots and lots of reading that I think you'll enjoy :)

Long day today in Max....San Fernando to Ventura to North Hollywood back to San Fernando. Map below but I changed the destination points for privacy: Got to Ventura, it was 54.6MPG. Overall was tracked with Trip 2, as per below: Lost some MPGs coming back. Temps around 70F +/- 3F.

He will, it becomes a competition and trust me when guys get into competition especially against their spouse, they will be snoooping here and everywhere to get ahead. Plus, the beauty of the CMax is that is has plenty of power so you have the choice....crap, why am I preaching to the converted :rockon: Ha....you reckon he's bad, you've not met my wife who drives the Jaguar juggernaut. That car costs us $80+ per week to fill up the 22 gallon tank and goes like the clappers and she drives it like that as well. I've managed to train her to leave me alone when I drive to Mammoth, my way. I can't wait to get her a Ford Fusion hybrid as she wants a lockable trunk so the CMax is out. She loves the Lincoln MKZ which shares the FFH platform but is so much, much nicer inside. (and way, way more expensive).

I am telling people now, give it time for the engine and temps to become friendly and I swear, you'll be putting up a 600 mile tank like ptjones and I. Now that you would :wub2: , surely! The more you drive, the better you get to know the road and the better technique. Now, I am just amusing myself at each traffic light to see which fool fangs there first, break hardest and wait the longest while I cruise in stealth EV and burning ZERO gas.... :happy feet:

The stick did not work, tried it twice. I am rebooting with the menu option. Here's a question - is there anyway I can reboot without destroying my fave's and bluetooth links? Its a full on reset, I gather?

Ooooh, another white CMax, nice photo for the article ;) Count me as someone who bought last quarter, had to beat the upcoming sales tax here in silly California for 2013. IMO, once this myth of low mileage on the CMax is blown to pieces - and it will - when these engines are broken in and friendlier temps, they would sell like hot cakes. After all, that the press' alleged Achilles Heels with the CMax, everything else is a cut above the Prii family.

Welcome to the forum! Don't sweat it with the jargon - I started the thread below just for new posters such as yourself, can know what we're all talking about... http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/index.php?/topic/974-hybrid-car-acronyms/ Enjoy the site, lots of goodies and hidden treasures all over the forum sections. Seen and you shall find :)

whimp ;) Sweet, sweet, sweet its nice to see all those EV miles. Engine is not even fully broken in yet, makes this even better. Also, imo, the 45-55 is a sweet spot for our EV and if you can go along that route as versus one that forces you to 70+mph, take that anyday. As I posted prior, sacrifice time for the mileage. Hell, if we needed fast, we all could have gotten the Focus ST instead of the CMax.

Well, well, well. Today I had a long day going all the way to Ventura county and almost clocked over 5000 miles on my odo, my tank has about 530 miles on it and some yellow to go. But I digress...I reset Max's MFT last night and guess what - the Nav tracked BEAUTIFULLY all day today, not once did it go offline on me. And I am talking about up and down those bendy, tight Ventura hills with the lovely sights of the Channel Island and ocean views, 70F and no breeze---sweet, sweet, sweet. Ha, how I wish I lived there instead of this stupid LA city....but I digress. Again. So, thats the secret, reset the MFT. The only bad thing about it is that I lose my Favourites that I program into the MFT like the Costco gas stations. PS Boy do I :wub2: this car, climb hills, stealth mode and I am hitting the 47MPGs :happy feet: so Ford was right on the money as far as I am concerned.Now, I don't think this is a 50MPG per tank car though unless you do surface streets all day .