Jus-A-CMax

Cool website, I think I will start using it, thanks for the link. Its 56MPG there and when I returned home, it was 49MPG total so you are correct, the climb from Camarillo back to San Fernando took some toll, plus I did some high speed P&G on the way back. Typically my runs to Ventura county are 50s and upward from the 118 and the divert either to Los Angeles or the 101 depending on my job. I always hate the run back from Ventura as I know I always lose mileage especially all the way from the Madera exit in Simi Valley to the brutal 3 mile hike to the top of the Box Canyon exit in Woodland Hills - those who drive in LA know exactly what I mean. ptjones - yep, I was following too close then - around 2 car length, gonna back off. I'm sticking with 91RON for now, its only 20c difference here in CA and I seem to be getting more than my investment in it. Interestingly, I showed my wife a run from our house to the Calabasas exit, thru Box Canyon and got something like 51.2MPG so she called me mileage obsessed. She drives my thirsty Jaguar now but I think she pines for a Jaguar hybrid...sure, not. At least not in the near future.

Welcome to the forum and I guess this forum bears the brunt of people who are either disappointed or in luv with their CMaxs. I'm sorry you're not getting the mileage that you are looking for but I think you've come to the right place to learn about your new CMax and improve your milege and learn about your new car. Firstly, as with any new car, it takes time for the engine and the components to "break in" to reach an optimal level. Typically, for any new car this is around 1000 miles on the odometer. Our CMaxs apparently takes much longer to around 5000 or 6000 miles. It has 2 engines - an electric and gas. Even Ford says don't look at the mileage for the first 1000 miles. Hybrid driving is very different to gas driving. Ford in their wisdon, when they built the CMax and installed the hybrid/gas engines allowed for performance or mileage. They packed more kW into the engines to sprint from 0-60 in 7.5 seconds, or on the mileage end,in real world experience with my CMax, drive 124.5 miles with 51.5MPGs with 70% Freeway. There are no "sports" button to press in the CMax like a Prius - you decide which mode by how much you use the accelerator pedal (I was going to say gas for a moment there). The next question you ask is - what about these Prius? Well - the Prius is a different animal, it's designed to go slow and steady, optimized for economy mode. 0-60 is around 10 seconds (approx) for a car that weighs 300lbs less than a Prius so you are forced to drive in the economy mode. It does not handle as well or seat as well, in my opinion having driven both cars many times before I made my decision. Hybrids are extremely temperature sensitive. The temperature has alot to say about how much mileage you get. Most of the complaints here are from brand new CMax owners in the north where its low 40s or below, sometimes snowing. Cold is the killer for any mileage for any hybrids even the famed Prius so its the same for the CMax. Since you live in Florida, this should not be an issue there - even on the coldest day there its a hot summer day in Ohio. Now, we do have an app for the cold weather drivers. Check out the Fuel Mileage section. The type of road you drive (street or freeways/highways) and your driving habits will also greatly factor into how much mileage you get. If you drive purely freeways with little or no street - get a diesel straight up, no hybrid is efficient above 65+mphs constant as their EV (pure electric mode) max out below those speeds. How you drive - whether you like to do above the speed limit or constantly screaming to the next traffic light, or pass that car in front of you - will determine mileage as well. So, here are some key simple tips right off the bat: 1. Be patient, your engine is still breaking in. Based on your mileage per day, it won't be long before it breaks in. 2. Enable eco-cruise and use it as much as possible. 3. Here is a super great and honest website that has some simple driving tips - take some time to play the vidoes: http://www.mpgomatic.com/2012/12/27/2013-ford-c-max-sel-hybrid-review/ Pay particular attention to the 3 speed tests he does with the eco cruise. 4. Ford, in their wisdom, decided to cut off the full EV at 63mph. So most of us typically set the eco-cruise to 60mph and stay on the right hand side. Trucks go at 55mph here in CA so it's not issue to hang with the big boys. 5. When you get more familiar with your car and understand it, there are more advance driving techniques such as Pulse and Glide. It's exactly that - pulse to a speed and glide down. Its a very common technique used by "hypermilers" or hybrid drivers. 6. There is also a Fuel Efficiency thread here in the "Fuel Mileage" section. Grill covers, Pulse & Glide, tire pressure to 42-45 psi. These are suggestions and you pick and choose. Be worth checking it out. I hope the above suggestions help you to get better mileage. I think the main crux of your issue is to be patient with the engine, allow time for it to break in and you'll slowly start to see improvements in the MPGs. In the meantime, its always fun to learn new things and you're already better than 3 MPGs than the Venza with a very efficient Toyota engine. Cheers and Happy Driving.

MikeB - sounds like we have a common issue - according to our GPS - our inability to drive on the road in our new cars :sos: I've noticed it at 35mph (streets) and also on the freeways. It's random. Changing to top view doesn't do anything. Eventually it will fix itself but I don't know when.

Wait, are you dirving in the houses, sports fields, along the side of the highway when I AM ON THE HIGHWAY....again...like me....according to the MyTouch GPS? I'm going to send this to my sales guy and see what he says. This GPS is 90% right but the 10% is beginning to really suck.

Dude, go to Mammoth - more skiable area, no morons and much, much, much better quality snow. Even for the weekend :wub2:

truedat... :hysterical:

Wow...sorry to hear about the delays. darrelld - whats the story there..thats bad news man. I hope they fix it right this time. I have no plans to visit Ford until 10,000 myself so fingers crossed.

That guy is on crack. I drove down Box Canyon Rd from the 118 this morning and thats a much, much tighter road than Mt. Baldy. That has some really, really nice inclines and the beauty of that road is that it links the 118 to the 101 and I swear, I barely used any gas, mostly EV, gotta luv the hybrids. I have also driven up to the top of MtBaldy when it was not snowed in so I know both roads. In regards to body roll, theres nothing there. It cornered and braked extremely well, no loss of brake feel at all. Tight and good feel sterring and its the 2nd time I have taken Max down this road and I just luv it, LUV IT! Now, its not as much FUN as driving Box Canyon in my Jaguar but thats not apples to oranges. I see he quotes a 0-60 figure and provides none of his own assessment, unlike Dan at mpgomatic.com. Another dumba$$, short and stupid review imo.

The deal with a Prius is that they HAVE to drive different because that car is totally set different. The acceleration and the handling is not like an ordinary car and to the Prius credit, it rolls pretty darn well as well. So Prius drives don't have a choice as they have to react to the car. The CMax is like an ordinary car, responsive to the throttle and steers pretty darn better than any front wheel drive car I have driven. Now it has guts so you feel there is performance there and performance - hybrid driving are oxymorons. The CMax driver can choose to hoon it around like they did with their gas car, or put on the Prius hat and drive conservative - they have a choice and the CMax will react according to the driver's wishes. Rewarding the hoon with performance and some mileage, and rewarding the conservative driver with even way more mileage. No buttons to press here...just choose with the gas peddle. My 2c. As for my Max, I have no special grills, or foam, jus stock standard SEL. Most morning I leave my house, its mid or low 40s and then I am chuffing off down the 118 highway to Ventura county. However, one thing I do not do is speed at 75 constant. When I am bored or when the grade of the road calls for it, for example for those who live in the Agoura Hills/Westlake area, the 101 is a series of high rolling hills and I try to use the slope to pulse & glide (watching for the CHP as well) - sometimes up to 75 or more. On other days, I would set the eco-cruise on 60 and sit on the right hand lanes with the trucks. Sometimes I would draft although I don't see much improvement there but may be I don't draft close enuf, who knows. However, the secret sauce is the engine - give it time to open up and feed it some 91RON. Also, I last pumped my tires to 42psi as well after I think someone here suggested that (darrelld?) initially and that seems to be the spice in the sauce as well. I noticed my Max rolling much better on the glide phase than when it was when the tires were 35psi - although I can't be bothered to do the testings to prove it but as we all know, even the Almighty Halo Great One in the White House suggested that as well, maybe he's not BS for once in his public life - jus sayin'..... However, my overall MPG is rolling upward and I drive the same areas, freeways, roads as part of my job. Oh I hooned up a ramp today, got the kW gauge into the yellow, that felt good. Silly, I know.

Congratulations! And welcome to the website...lots and lots of reading to do...

Adair, I just use Flickr. Here is another run this afternoon: San Fernando to Camarillo: Total for the return trip from Camarillo to San Fernando. Approx. 70% highway. Temperature range from 65F to 70F. Eco-cruise, manual. Range of speeds from 60mph to 75mph. So this begs the question of all these so called professional car review websites, how did they get their low-mid 30s MPG? Egg on their face, for sure.

Nice! And very unusual...thanks for sharing.

Good idea. However, I doubt if Ford will unless this forums get super big, they may stealthy watch the postings and threads to see the trendings but we will never ever know and nor will the adminstrators. Case in point, GolfWRX has been around for many, many years and its only the last couple or year that staff from the big manufacturers began postings. However, they never or rarely addresses individual issues though and most of the time it was to post new product information. When this forum gets big, may be Ford may take formal notice ie FordCustomerSuport user...who knows...my 2c.

There was a lawsuit here in the valley against Honda hybrid. The woman was so frustrated with the crap MPG she took the unusual step of taking it to the small claims court and won (less than $10K). I believe she was an attorney as well. Then Honda got whiff of it and then took it up and another battle ensued. One of the reasons Honda hybrids never, ever came into my potential buy list. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/01/business/la-fi-mo-honda-loses-civic-lawsuit-20120201

HotPotato - I think Galpin train all their sales people that way. I remember buying our first ever Jaguar and a guy called Stephen Henry served us. He knew tons about the car and he was very laid back, explained everything and he was smooth and he followed up. Infact, he was so good we still remember his name till this day but unfortunately I think he went to Keys Mercedes, bad loss for Galpin there. Also, on the Jaguar side, their technicans are A++++++ rated, can say enough of them and they are honest. I know cause my wife has connections to people who fixes and drives Jaguars for a living and the service prices at Jaguar are fair or better especially on those d*cky behind the firewall hose jobs that these Cats are notorious for. Hopefully I do not see as much on the Ford side but I will miss that nice, nice customer lounge, Starbucks coffee side of Galpin Jaguar though. Hey great to see a local SoCal "homie" on this forum! :happy feet:

I am surprised the FH is selling less than the CMax, I just thought on pure looks the FH would have been a much, much better seller...but I guess I a few people have drive the CMax and switched? Hmmmmh. Thanks for the article. The real interest would be at the end of this year when it can be seen how the CMax/FH does against the Prius juggernaut family. In regards to the CMax Energi, I think Ford made a big mistake not have stocks of this vehicle. Here is Los Angeles one of the biggest markets, I know I could not test it and was given word no stock would be available until Feb so that killed it.

fixored.

Tire pressure 42psi. Great for roll and within the tire limits.

Tap...tap...tap This is a decent 100+ mile run from San Fernando to Port Hueneme, Oxnard and back. It's over 50MPG...time to.... Temps was 52F to 63F. Manual & eco-cruise when I am bored. Jus-under-3000 on the odo. I am seeing better and better MPGs as the engine opens up. Woohoo....

Ha...nice review HotPotato. I don't think my Max would appreciate being called a potato....now go and post some pictures. Enjoy the forum and congratulations.

+1 thank you ptjones for all your research and trials.

Thats a $25 dollar piece of Lexan. Now the foam tubes, I have no idea :drool: ptjones is onto something here and seems to be a few people able to verify his results independently. My fear is what happens over the long term and when the weather gets hot. It looks like ptjones is using velcro to fasten the lexan and so it should be easy on or off. Also how does his lexan hold up against the flying rocks and stuff considering he drafts off the trucks et el? However, the software solution would be the cleanest as it then controls the shutters but thats beyond anyone here in this forum to haxor it. My 2c,

I'll have a different experience - Galpin Motor Company in the San Fernando area has been our dealer for the last 10 years. All the salesmen are knowledgeable and they have the Aston Marton, Spyker, Jaguars, Volvo, Ford - almost all the gamut of exoctic and regular cars. I have dealt with their Jaguars for the longest, got 3 of them and they are sweet - one of the best service department I have ever experienced and they truly treat you like well. The Jaguar and Aston Martin parties are to die for and my wife and I consider ourselves lucky to be on their party list. We saw some very, very exotic Aston Martins indeed. My CMax was the first Ford from this company but I had just a great buying experience. They were more busier and their procedures was different to Jaguar. Our sales guy Miguel Lopez knew his stuff, synced my phone etc. Still a first rate buying experience. Kudos to Galpin and they certainly have more of business in the future thats for sure.

Interesting article: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/effects-of-upsized-wheels-and-tires-tested So I think I saw a couple of CMaxs out there with 16", according to the article your cars should be faster and more fuel efficient....hmmmmh. Harping back to my own experience, my wife and I had the same Jaguar Vanden Plas. Hers was an 07 and mine was an 06. Her's had 18" wheels and mine had the 19" wheels. She always said that her car was faster off the block than mine and this is probably true now that I read this article. But my wheels looked way, way, way better though. Price for vanity I guess.

Broken legs in the Prius V, nice. Not. Also, looks like the side airbag popped the wrong way by the looks of things. Scary indeed.