Jus-A-CMax

Sounds like you want LIFETIME and not individual trips, right?

Spotted this Prius on the today. Back was filled with clothes and this Prius had a box. Check out his rear wheel, that car is loaded... now...visual difference between the back of a CMax and a Prius, abliet later model: Doesn't he wished he had a CMax with more room and NO box on top. ;)

Snow Angels..seriously.... by a snowboarder...you have better luck getting me to ride down in an Elvis suit with the glasses and hair@ Mammoth. Seriously - I have DONE it. Amazing the balls you grow after a "Margarita Run" or 2 ;) CA is one of the prettiest places to live in the US, bluebird skies is just that...BLUE :)

Race day....looking down from Chair 23 going up. That day they were racing from the top of Cornice to all the way down to the main lodge. This mean some runs were fenced off, bummed but thats why the US Ski teams are so good. I think this was the junior race day...what do I know, I am a snowboarder...asking me about ski stuff, lol. My fave part of the drive - the 395 highway and especially going down Sherwin grade. You can see the mountain range on the right hand side and Owens Valley in the background. Astonishing and breath taking, picture does not do it justice... Well, thats it...enjoy the thread and the stats. Thus far, I may not be the one with the most miles on this forum but since Dec 6, I have almost 9,700 miles and due for my 10K oil change. :wub2: the car especially for its utilitarian abilities. PS difference in rear end between Maxine and a Prius...thats a new 2013 Fusion Titanium next to my car... :rockon:...Ford RULES, for this day :)

Looking at Scotty's run in the background. Dark blue, may be black runs. A lot of people can't decide whether to do it or chicken out... Looking back at the traverse to "Daves Run", pretty steep traverse, not for the faint hearted or beginners. Snow was awesome at Daves Run. Sitting on my lazy a$$...yes, us snowboarders are a lazy lot....we only got 1 stick...that's Chair 9 down below. Going down Daves Run after the traverse... Who says you can't fit NUTHIN in a CMax...pretty long powder skis for my wife. Hot pink too...I think the skis are 180s...I dunno, I am a snowboarder...what do we know about skis...lol Last day (weekday) at The Mill car park...loading the stuff into the car..

Saturday lift lines, UGH! Going down "Wall Street" to Chair 2...yes, that is a HUGE map...just so you can see it in the blizzard. Top of the Gondola...yes, families do go up to the top and check out the SPECTACULAR views... Chair 23 in the background, goes up to the top and a lot of black stuff..aka Dropout chutes, Cornice, Scottys etc....don't go there unless you know what you are doing, skiers have died there when they get out of control and smash into rocks.. Scenic run down to Eagle...easy peasy cruisy stuff...thats Snowcreek in the background. Its a resort, spa, golf course (when its not snowed in). One of my FAVOURITE easy peasy FAST run off Chair 8....do it FAST....go baby and lots of nice long driving turns on the board with this run... Top of Chair 23...remember how I said it was experts only - 20+mph winds...so anybody want some free facials? Top of Chair 12 looking up at the peak...Mammoth was doing a FREE special on facials all day that day. LOL. The sky may be blue but it was blowing!!!

UPDATED FOR TRIP 5 (April 2013 trip!!!!) I :wub2: the ad that Ford puts out here in California about the CMax and the lady who "loads up her car with skis and goes"....but I have yet to spot a single CMax at Mammoth mountain. I find it funny and I truly wonder if she is for real or fictional... Focus, Escape, Prii, Subies, BMWs are all over the place but no CMax, at least not in the extended long weekends while I was there...so onward we go to....a real person aka Jus-A-Cmax's on-going trips to Mammoth.... :shift:...driven by a real person (me), the wife, the 2 skis, the snowboards, all the exotic Goretex snow softgear and boots, food, snow shovel, alcohol, eating utensils and plates, blankets, towels, snow cables etc. Yes, it is consistently loaded with the same amount of gear literally to the roof and YES, you can feel the weight on the car which takes a while to get used to since I drive the car at least 500-600 miles per week unloaded. The Route For those not familiar with Mammoth or CA, I have added in the googlemap of the route... Major freeways: 210 and 395 (65mph Speed Limit), 14 is predominantly 65mph with 1 section 70mph between Lancaster and Mojave, 203 is 50mph. I have driven this route since 1998 and it use to be a speed zone, drivers would literally fly at 90+ mph but in the last 8 years and especially the 395 - its a money maker for the CHP. You simply do not speed thru any of the towns and the section between Lone Pine and Bishop, you are guaranteed to go past at least 5 CHP lurking. IMO, any route after and around Mojave are speed traps. A few years ago, I was pulled over for doing 68-70 mph once, given a warning so now I simply do not speed, its not worth the $400+ ticket and the day in traffic school. So now where once the Mammoth trips took like 4hrs and 45 mins, each leg takes me about 5 hrs - 5 hrs and 15 mins in the CMax. This is also dependent on the time we spend to gas up and re-fuel with ice cream at the Indian Casino in Independence... ;) My past 2 other trips to Mammoth can be found here: 1st Trip: http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/index.php?/topic/805-let-is-snow-let-it-snow-let-it-snowcmax-at-mammoth-lakes-ca/ 2nd Trip: http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/index.php?/topic/975-part-2-let-is-snowcmax-at-mammoth-california/ 3rd trip was a post in the Fuel Mileage. Now onto the statistics for my Mammoth runs and keep in mind, this is with the CMax FULLY LOADED: For Trip 4: Frankly I did not expect that much of a MPG difference coming back from Mammoth. I knew it was better when I got to Mammoth with 40 Avg MPGs and this is in context that I got to the Sherwin Grade outside Bishop with 43MPGs and I lost 3 MPGs going up that grade to Mammoth town, just could not recover and I can't fight physics. This trip, temp was not that cold, some light snow. Now on the way back from Mammoth to Bishop, what I paid up to go up Sherwin Grade, I now got back about with a tidy profit on the way back:Yep, thats right. This was taken at about Pine Creek Rd. Yes, it was :happy feet: & :wub2:. Rest of the coming home was nothing special, not much traffic or trucks since it was a weekday that we drove back. Tanked up in Independence as we always do, and a couple of Choclate Hagen Daz from the wifey, I was a happy :shift: . For Trip 5: Big headwind going to Mammoth and cold too. Coming back, it was a tail wind (very dusty hitting Mojave/Palmdale). The MPG Gods take it and giveth as well :)However, I can see a slight improvement and I suspect, my engine break-in has levelled out and I got a slight improvement. Overall, the average MPG is consistent between 4 and 5 even with the slight temperature variations. Yes, chocolate Hagen Daz stop in Independence as well! Pictures from MammothNow some posters have requested some shots from Mammoth so here are some feasts for your eyes. I am a snowboarder so nothing fazes us riders...I will do all the chutes and runs and it was POWDER, POWDER, POWDER for 2 days and then the weekend crowd came but by this time, all the pow was ripped. Somelight snow as we got to Mammoth - I finally put up the wipers...man those things are LONG. Race training down Ralphie while I was going up Chair 1, these guys were scooting... Looking back at the Main Lodge at Mammoth: FRESH POWDER!!! Untracked!!!!! In the trees with moi...I wonder who's track that is...my favorite hunting ground, can't tell you where though... Powder for sale! Powder for sale! I lost a lot of it before I stopped...

I typically do a 5 hr run each way between Los Angeles and Mammoth Mountain when my wife and I go skiing/riding with the car fully loaded. There is nothing special anyone needs to do, at least not for me and even at loads, the car continue to have plenty of power but -get this- continue to give plenty of MPG. I've had 4 trips, typically 580 miles return over different freeways/highways, upgrade/downgrade, severe grades (Sherwin Grade) and my MPG numbers have improved each and every time. Take a look in the White Platinum section for my Mammoth thread writeups. http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/index.php?/forum/51-white-platinum/ In regards to the battery, don't worry about it. Typically the battery level will always regen-discharge numerous cycles (not all the way down since the software prevents this) so no need to worry about it at all. Given your SEL is new, just throw it into eco-cruise just a tad above the 65 mph and let it do its job. Temperature and level road permitting, the instant MPG may dance around 40 MPG. Alternatively, set it 63MPH and the eco-cruise will run between the EV and ICE mode and utilize either engine and this is where the battery levels will regen and discharge in many cycles as the software uses either or both engines to improve your MPG. With hybrids, always keep in mind, you trade mileage for time...but Ford was brilliant to give us such a car to choose great mileage, or if you want to get there faster...you can but trading off a little in the MPG for speed. This car has no problem climing severe grades but trade gas for that performance but it has a 13.5 gallon tank. Hope this helps, its really a fun and easy car to drive and you can carry a ton of stuff including that kitchen sink my wife like to take...j/k...I am so dead if she ever reads my posts, lol. Feel free to PM me if u have any additional questions. Good luck with your decision. :) PS if you want a full battery, there are simple driving techniques that you can do to charge the battery even at highway speed such as Pulse&Glide or sticking the eco-cruise above 65mph (say 68mph) will always force the ICE on full time and will charge the batts to about 90% capacity in no time, guaranteed. The software will not allow anymore than 90% charge but there is nothing that says you can't do this manually thru P&G and with a little help from the road down slopeage.

Ron..she has....you forget my job takes me to the beaches in Port Hueneme, Oxnard and Ventura However, I will NOT drive it on the sand like the TG fools...there are limits to Maxine ;)

Nice!!!!!! I am glad you brought that up....yeah, I saw that episode as well and I know all the spots. They didn't reach the peak...no freaking way, not in that storm...they may have reached the top of Chair 12 and called it quits. Those guys are nutz...I hate to see the $$$ budget for each episode, they trash everything. For the record, Maxine got to the Mill parking - I'll show the pic in my upcoming Mammoth Trip 4 thread...with some very interesting and blow-your-mind results. Keep an eye out for it ;)

Don't worry about explaining Fuelly, I have been getting 47+MPG tanks (including 3 x 600 mile tanks) but mine is skewed lower due to my long a$$ trips to Mammoth when its snowing. Anyway...hope your family is doing better and welcome back :)

Wow...all these high weaponry JUS to blow away the Prius V huh? :drool:

Patience is a virtue JohnnOhio...you'll be rewarded when the weather warms up but for now, grin and bear it - but hey, its a brand new car, whats there not to like :) Are you doing fuelly?

The 35mph and 45mph street is the CMax's forte. I too wish for bigger batteries and its the 1st thing I told Ford enginees at the Irvine gather - just a tad bigger without the bulk of the Energiy battery so I have at least 5 miles of EV and can charge more. Yesterday I was full with batts 1/2 way down Box Canyon - argh, no more charging.....no time to google map it but it was bliss to be all EV for about 3/4 of the leg between the 118 and 101 thru Box Canyon/Valley Vista - a route I normallly would not take with a gas only engine car but for the hybrid its bliss :wub2:

Keep driving - thats the best way to get the word out there - thanks for all the testimonials and welcome to the forum dman and thunderbird97 :)

We're all waiting for the MFT update, very anxiously - even my call to Galpin goes unanswered.... :sos:

Wow, how we differ in our driving philosphy zhackwyatt. I always take off in EV. Up to 10mph, you're always keeping up with the next guy and then kick in ICE or if no one is behind you, EV to 25 and then kick in ICE. Imo, zero to 10 is always the time when the most gas is guzzled, I am eliminating that from my equation and the batts have a ton of torque to move our 3500lb beasts so use it -, works for me but may not for someone else in different traffic conditions. edman - I P&G so if its 35mph, P to 40 and let it down to 35 and start again, but watch the roads you want to glide down any downslope. I get ridiculous MPGs in my 8 mile runs in the flat valley like going from Galpin Ford in Van Nuys to North Hollywood, easily 50+ MPGs with 0.0 or 0.1 gas used = thats how nutz it is with my Maxine. Gotta :wub2: her and yes, I more than keep up with traffic. PS I had fun letting loose Maxine against a Camaro this evening...yellow baby.... :rockon:

I don't see how that is frowned, thats just the way it is. I know Adair struggles to get her MPGs close to the 40s but its limited to her temps there - I think shes now getting some over 40s. I drive in different terrain and higher temps, different engine break in, so my MPGs differ. We all want better MPGs which is why we hang and add input to the forum or find out the latest cool tips. As I said, come summer, the MPG trend would be towards the right and the numbers will be up as the warmer temps kick in and as your engines break the 3000+ odo miles. :)

Yeah, which was why I got the MFT Nav...but oh no, it did not have my address. Doh!

Ah...I completely forgot about that. Damn, I should know about it, I wrote about that in one of my threads :runaway:

Well today I had to try to find custom house in the prestigious Sherwood Country club in Thousand Oaks/Westlake Village area. I spent 5 mins trying to enter the address in MFT and no it does not exist. Wipe out my DroidX/GoogleMaps - WALLAH :worship: Turn on the GPS navigation on the phone and I am there....phew, saved :) Moral of the story - luv the MFT but always keep a backup :) Anyone else with missing addresses in the MFT? Also how old are the maps that Ford gave us? This particular area was developed in 2010 so it should be there - eventhough it is a private street in a gated community.

You have the benefit of already owning a prior hybrid so a good leg up over the rest of us, while most of us, including moi, it's our first hybrid...and :wub2: it. The Ford engineers did ask about the brakes at the Irvine meeting and I said I luved them, great to have no brake dust to clean.

Awesome jkngale and welcome to the forum! It's really great to hear your wonderful experiences with the CMax oops Ceecee :) If you have any questions, there are a lot of owner drivers here who will be more than glad to help. Welcome to the CMax forum family... :rockon:

No problem here...infact, I like the grabby brake feel, akin to the Jaguar XF that I use to drive from Galpin - its assuring and gives confidence. Also, I love the fact that even after 9000+ miles, I have not had ONE black wheel with brake dust, everytime I wash, it's like pristine inside the wheels. Freaking amazing.

Thanks Ceemax71, added