TopherTheME

Tim, did you get this to work? My idiot TPMS light went on a few days after switching my tires and the Ford training tool I bought does nothing.

I've driven a volt for weekends at a time, and yea its more fun to drive. Its got a smoother and more planted ride too. But the poor visibility and lack of space really detracts from its driving characteristics.

The other thing to think about is that Tesla doesn't worth with dealers, Ford does. If you are unhappy with your car and want to give it back to Ford then that just wouldn't make any sense because Ford didn't sell it to you. You would be taking it back to the dealer at which you purchased it. Dealers have the ability to allow you to return your car if you are unsatisfied with it, they just choose not to do it because its bad for profit.

I say aftermarket. You can get a good set of wheels aluminum aftermarket wheels for very cheap these days. I got a set of 4 al wheels from one of discount tire's sales for $400 shipped. You won't find Focus wheels for that much, not even at junkyards.

Not sure yet. My Ford TPMS training tool is still in the mail.

I totally missed the load capacity of the Yok's as I never even stopped to think about the weight of the C-Max. You saved me a lot of grief. I ended up going with the Michelin X-Ice3s since they were really the only RR option. I got the tires in size 215/60/R16, FK Ethos Al wheels, TPM sesnors, and a new set of lug nuts for $980 after tax and rebates. All from ebay and discount tire.

While I far prefer the image quality of plasmas vs. LCD TV's, they use way to much power. IIRC, there aren't any plasma TVs that have an energy star rating.

You must have my car! Its always said that mine was a 2013 build in 2012 when it obviously wasn't. I've learned not to trust Ford ETIS.

Another reason I'm glad I turned in my 2005 Civic. There was another recall a few years back that my car missed by one year for the passenger air bag grenading and killing people.

I figured these issues were expected. Is there something that iOS 8.0x does work with?

A lot of it depends on what state you live in but you shouldn't be paying that much. My NRG MSRP was around $37k and ended up paying about $30k after Ford incentives and A-plan pricing. But with this car you should be able to haggle and get A-plan pricing or better. The cost of the NRG model is typically about $1k less than the hybrid model with similar options after tax credit. They really need to just combine the forums.

Sure did, no mention of the Yokohamas.

Winter is coming, and its supposed to be a bad one. I'm looking at getting some snow tires for my C-Max and am thinking of getting Michelin X-Ice3's. The reason being its the only low rolling resistance snow tire with the exception of the new Yokohama iceGUARD which there isn't much info on. I can get the Yokohama's about $100 cheaper off tire rack but I'm guessing they wont perform has well as the XI3's and I base that only on the fact the Michelin makes a damn good tire these days. Think its worth the risk of getting the Yokohamas? Anyone use them before? I'll be mounting these on some 16x7 aluminum rims that I got for cheap from discount tire. I'm thinking either 215/60/16 or 225/55/16 for the size?

You can, it just isn't lethal. High voltage DC is considered 60VDC and higher in which case a whole bunch of design and bureaucratic requirements come into place driving up cost. This is why golf carts never use higher than 48V systems.

Is it just me or are those 18" wheels?

Its about time someone took the intiative in doing this. I guess it took 48V stop-start systems to change peoples minds.

The battery in that tank of a car is only 8.4kWh, a modest 11% increase in size over the battery in the C-Max. The 80% increase in weight compared to the C-Max is because its a Mercerdes and made from Germany's finest kuhscheiße.

+1 for 3M Sotchguard (ClearBra). I installed it with a pre-cut kit and its worth every penny. I didn't do the front bumper tho, just the hood, side fenders, and mirrors.

This is what I ended up doing. This is the same item I bought: http://www.ebay.com/itm/4X-Tire-Pressure-Monitoring-Sensor-TPMS-for-Ford-9L3T1A180BB-DE81A150AA-TPMS12-/171420002709?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27e96da995&vxp=mtr I found that you can get the ford trigger tool for $35 off of Amazon.

The only thing I regret is not bartering to get the moonroof for free, as many people have. I don't think its worth the $1300 premium but I would take it for free or maybe $100 extra. I got my 2014 NRG 302a for ~$26k after credits and incentives so I can't complain.

Yes I saw that. I think its worth trying in an effort to save $100.

"So global warming IS a thing." Thank you! I'm a huge advocate of higher taxes on fuel. Think if there was a federal tax of $1 for a gallon of gasoline. Not only would it encourage the buying of hybrids and EVs but would also make people drive less. You would always have the crazy conservatives that would mortgage their house to put gas in their V8 trucks but I choose to believe that the rest of Americans are smarter. I mean HEVs have been available for well over a decade now, and they only make up 3% of cars on the road?

Absolutely. I would also like to add that we already know the limitations of battery technology. You can only go so far up and so far left and right on the periodic table until you run out of elements and the laws of physics will let you. The higher up you go, the less mass the element has, and the farther left and farther right (except for noble gases) you go for the anodic and cathodic electrode materials, respectively, the more "electro-active" the elements are. Think of the most used battery ever created, the lead acid battery, Pb and PbO2 near the center of the table. Then the NiMH battery (H/NiOOH), and now the Li-Ion battery (Li/MOx, where M is a transition metal). The next revolution for more energy dense (gravimetrically speaking) battery is to use the lightest metal you can , Lithium, and then use a cathode material which doesn't have to be carried on the battery at all, Oxygen. Hence the Li-Air battery. After that there isn't much further to go. You could use Florine as a cathode but its such a reactive gas that it would be a nightmare to use from a safety stand point. A pure lithium anode could be used instead of a lithiated carbon anode to increase energy density if you could find away around the dendrite formation problem. Other than that the next most energy dense chemistry that could be used is Hydrogen and Oxygen. Hydrogen being the most energy dense reactant thats available (2.7x the specific energy of gasoline) and I don't think I need to tell you where that leads...

Yes you can, but I'm not swapping tires and wheels I'm just having a seperate set. One set of wheels and tire for summer, and one set of wheels and tires for winter. Hence needing another set of TPMS sensors.

Good catch. I made a mistake, I ment to say "fossil fuels" including coal and natural gas, not just coal. I was using data from 2012 which stated 37.4% coal and 30.3% nat gas which in total is 68%. But still, for the average American a PHEV or BEV isn't really any better for the environment than a fuel efficient HEV or ICEV. I am one of those people who pays more to have my electricity provided by wind, however that doesn't mean my electrons are coming from windfarms, its just not how the grid works. It simply just means I'm paying more to promote alternative energy sources. "Plug-in owners in many areas can choose their electricity generation source and fill the cars up with only clean energy electrons. It's my understanding that's something a hydrogen car will never be able to do." Why can't H2 come from renewable sources as well? Many thermochemical and photochemical methods of generating H2 are far more efficient than photovoltaics.