C-MaxSea

and I'd assume nothing from these polls! They are extremely weak, represent but a fraction of what car ownership is about, and are relatively meaningless to me. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a car from any of these Manufacturers if the individual car was compelling and what I wanted. We buy our cars because we need the dang things, and want what we want. We then pay whatever it takes (& more sometimes) to keep it going because we like it and want to - if not we move on to the next gamble (& within our budget). just saying, screw the 'scientific' poppycock polling data. (Alternatively, worship the polls, buy a Mercedes and pour money into it ;) ;) ;)) (((our friends recently blew theirs up after 7 years and got $500 for the carcass - and it was meticulously cared for))) Nick ('Gee, Snugglebuns, should we get an 82% or an 81%' ............ ) We love our lemons Volvo 240, VW Busses, Audi Fox, BMW 525, Renault 16, SAAB 96, ............ C-Max !!!

+1 HB & Scuba. We do everything we can to make the first ICE burn meaningful, IOW moving, and preferably on a flat or elevating grade, never descending. Ultimately for us I think EV+ may just be fluff - we still try to make it home with plenty of charge regardless of the EV+, and EV+ makes us work harder to do that - forced burns like Scuba. (Always nice to have enough charge to leave (or sneak around) the neighborhood in glorious EV silence :) ) Also, cracks me up to be 250' below our house (below a bluff) on a road and have the EV+ kick in with a major hill climb to go - EV, ya sure. ;) Fortunately this is not our normal approach. Nick

Sooooo right Fub4r3d ! (and some of those folks have owned their C-Max for quite a while. ;)) Welcome & :congrats: Depending on where you are at in Canada, keep that ICE as warm as you can, and minimize the remote start idle if you can. Don't fret the numbers too much. Enjoy the ride and all of the great features, Nick

Welcome & :congrats: CandyBlue302 ! That is a very nice way to start off - 15 EV out of 22 miles. Keeping the EV over 50% is definitely the MPG way to go; of course the next step is discovering how to do that - a challenge for some, but very easy for many. Have fun & enjoy the new ride! Pics, yes ! Nick

Twizzle Twazzle Twuzzle Twome (my version) time for this one to come home. Sigh ..........

Thanks everyone so far. Those are certainly front & center, with EV+ the result of on-board GPS. Did not realize the wipers reacted to speed. I guess we could also add the gimballing effect on EV management (what is that called?), also in the 'instantaneous' category. Hmmm, I would like to think that there is more to it with all of the systems interactions, algorithms, and 'computerization' advancements, if that is even an appropriate term. (I may catalogue these above if anything else pops up.) Aside from these then, I guess it simply 'drives' to its core values, and 'adjusts' (or 'adapts') predominantly on the fly as all cars, pretty much only through peddle pressure. Nick

Sorry Marc, but FWIW, we do not warm the car up before driving, we do keep up with traffic, we love hills (very little flat here), and use AC some of the time. We will 'crash & burn' our MPGs eventually. Yes we are an exception, in that we do drive carefully, have fair weather, do longer trips and have a garage. I'm not suggesting that you or anyone strain at the meaningless number 47, just noting (primarily to your readers) that aero mods are not requisite for good MPGs, and that there are built in opportunities & alternatives to aero mods (ECO Cruise) that are not fully utilized. Keep on Maxing any which way - a joy no matter how you slice it, Nick

A minor correction Marc, and a minor disagreement: Firstly, we have no grill blockers, no oil pan heaters, not wheel pans, .......................... no aero modifications, and have the original posted 47 MPG (dash 'lifetime' 48.4), so it can be done without mods. Secondly, I'm not disputing that it can be difficult or impossible to achieve, 'on average', for most due to winter weather, driving patterns, & or refusal to take advantage of the built in intelligent fuel management options on the C-Max. Nevertheless, I know personally, that I could achieve the meaningless number of 47 in all areas of the lower 48 much of the year, and most areas 3 or 4 seasons of the year. Just pointing out the exceptions to your 'rule' there, and more importantly, that there is a distinct MPG opportunity available to all that is often not fully utilized. Yes we are part of a small 'exceptional' (and I believe growing) demographic, but it does exist and could easily be larger. On a final note, it is actually extremely easy to achieve mid to upper 40s (if not 50) most of the year on extended trips by simply setting the cruise control at 67/68. Driving an ULTRA-smart car, (unless our C-Max is just plain magic) Nick

Having heard the concept of cars 'adapting' to the driver, just how 'adaptive' is the C-Max to the driver? In other words, if I drive like Richard Rawlings and fang it all day, how 'adapted' does it become to that driving pattern (& how difficult is it to unwind)? Conversely, if I drive it keenly and allow it to do what it was primarily engineered for (good gas mileage), how 'adapted' does the car become to that driving pattern ? Does 'adaptive' apply to the driving style alone, or does it extend to the terrain, climate, .......................; and to what extent? OK learned folks here, help us if there is anything to it. :) Nick (head scratch, have I posted this question before? Please forgive me if I have - it might be age)

"and I bet you were not even trying to squeeze every MPG out of it as well" You are somewhat right again Jus. Although I was ECO Cruising (& ECO Socking) 68 mph quite successfully Seattle to Vancouver; I had a 'bad' ECO drive up the Sea to Sky Highway with all of the less familiar hills and speed changes for tighter turns, not to mention the eye popping scenery to enjoy (Howe Sound, Coast mountains........Black Tusk .............). Happy to just keep it on the road in a few places. Lots of aggressive driving around there too. ATC, a beautiful road to drive, but my 'ECO driver rating' going up was no better than a B. Improved my driving (& MPGs) coming back down, ECO driver rating back to A- perhaps, making it into Vancouver at almost 50 MPG cumulative. Lost some MPG the rest of the way home with about 100 miles of AC. Net trip 460 miles, 48.8 on the gauge (approx. 47 pump). (((coulda, shoulda, woulda - 51/49))) (BTW, filled up south of the border to save a couple bucks, and our Fuelly is now at the magic 47.0, nice 'rut' to be in) :love_shower: our C-Max !!! Hmmm, are we broken in yet at 9400 miles ? Nick (Always way, way, way more 'ECO Cruising' (& 'ECO Socking') than 'ECO Saucing') (( BTW - EPA '37 MPG Highway' - Absolute & utter nonsense !!!!!! Just let the car do it's thing - ECO Cruise to 41,43,45,..........))

:gaah: is right, sure wish this site was self correcting, "If they drive the Priussy first, then they will never want a hybrid." Sadly, for many folks, you are sooooo right Kelleytoons !

:nonono: :nonono: :nonono: :nonono: :nonono: BAD JUS, VERY BAD JUS !!! V, is for Very roomy boot, otherwise a Very lousy refrigerator - get a Kitchen Aid, or pretty much anything else.. nonononono Nick

Yes Jus, I think you nailed it - so little difference between a toaster and a sophisticated hybrid, ya know - I can just see it, 'hey you, get over here and drive this 'hybrid thingy' around that loop over there and back; and make it snappy'. ;) ;) ;) Drove to Whistler, BC last weekend and got 46 MPG uphill to 2200 feet in elevation FCOL ! (and that included some AC & about 10-20 minutes of idling at the border too - I keep forgetting to charge the battery higher approaching the border, Argh, it still got us a good 35 minutes of ICE free idling) Nick (OBTW, spectacular scenery, and a fantastic ride in the C-Max (it loves the winding mountain highways even more than the lowland freeways !!!))

Good point Snowstorm, although my 'controlling' habit is more with my left hand rather than the right foot on the freeway. Using the cruise control toggle, I sometimes 'click' down/out of the ICE a little early cresting hills, and sometime click up the ICE revs/vehicle speed on some inclines. Almost certainly a waste of time, and perhaps detrimental, but it's entertaining to think it is helping. ;)

Shout Out to db9000 !!! :victory: :victory: :victory: for racking up a mass of 40 plus MPG tanks. 40 tanks to be precise, and all greater than 44 MPGs. !!! http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/c-max/2013/db9000/228383 :worship: :worship: :worship: That is consistency, way to go db9000, Nick

Got caught 'hitting the sauce' the other day. ('secret sauce' that is) Now would that be ECO Saucing or ECO Socking ??? Nick (actually just ECO Cruising, allowing the car to select between ICE, EV, and High ICE (secret sauce), this may have simply been a transition)

As a 6' 1" driver, I may have to sue !!! (no I'm not the older gent described above) Nick

I think this is overly speculative. A Focus which gives up so many of the popular features of the C-Max, and an 'SUV' too tall for good aerodynamics ..... they might sell more, but they would not measure up to a C-Max. The Focus would have to grow, and/or the Escape shrink for it to work for us - in other words a C-Max !!!. Anyway, we all know a rework of the C-Max, or retooled other models is always in the pipeline, just a matter of time ..... and not always for the better. Indeed, it will take several years for Ford or anybody to come up with an encore for our C-Max - it is so good !. We will hopefully be driving ours for another 10 years or more, Lord willing - 45-50 mpg year in, year out. JMInitialHO / 2 cents worth, Nick Felt so sorry for an older gent (6'1" ish) I saw the other day. He had a 2013 Focus and had trouble getting in - very sad. (( I could never develop the UNskill necessary to be a CR driver, no matter how hard I tried ))

Yes and those (not so) intangibles: like when I 'install' myself in our old BMW 5, bend, contort, fall ............ugh! Our C-Max, a beautiful ease to get in. Start the bimmer, a howl & an annoying whine before it settles in ........ugh! Our C-Max, just quiet sublime pleasure on start-up. Driving the bimmer, feels like a struggling overweight boat ....ugh! Our C-Max, with the same weight & a couple fewer hp, feels light, agile & responsive. Nick

AMA, drive like LizM !!! Since you live in Florida, talk to Kelleytoons and ScubaDad directly, or go visit them for a ride. My guess: her commute driving - 45 MPG; your 75- 80 mph romps, 35 MPG. Nick

+1, Diesel is only good for 'pure freeway' in my book. Congestion, or mixed off freeway use - C-Max, hands down for so many reasons beyond MPGs & costs. Nyet, per P3G post above, not 20, guessing 30-35 'unencumbered' (???). Atkinson was chosen precisely for it's compatibility & efficiency. Big plus to C-Max. Edit; We love our Atkinson because it enables us to get 46-50 MPG 'encumbered' with the 'hybrid' system. +1 in my book again. Unless one is booking 70-80 mph freeway runs almost exclusively, why buy all of that noise, ..............? (Yeah, I know they are quieter now) +1, Thanks for jumping in again on this P3G. Edit; Generally meaningless because it does not account for the miles driven via the 'hybrid' system it is encumbered with. (Juxtaposed with that data, as Frank has below, very meaningful - the lower the better! ;)) Finally, another 160 mile run for me today mostly freeway and 49 MPG. Was 'secret saucing' it for a few miles at 48.7 MPG (did not budge at 48.7, so likely 45+ 'instantaneous' - Trip 2 out 110+- miles). What's not to like there. Big meh to diesels for me. Our C-Max, Lifetime 48.4 & rising (hate the pressure of the impending retreat), Trip 1 for 'tank' at 50 regularly, Trip 2 for 'daily runs' - can't seem to get much less than 50 these days. Swiss army knifing all roads successfully with our C-Max, freeways too, Nick (60-62 in 60mph zones, 65-68 in 70 mph zones with 3 or more lanes)

................ and just try to have a decent pillow fight in the back seat of a Prius (sp?)

Yup to Snowstorm, outside of 'High ICE', limited value from the instantaneous MPG read out - rather, for us it is just: is it blue (EV) or white (ICE), how is my HVB charge, what is the road grade ahead (should I tap into the battery or push some extra ICE), and occasionally how am I doing as shown on the daily trip 2 gauge. Sadly, there are too many clicks between Empower and Trip 2 - a big peeve of mine. Net result for us is letting the car dictate driving mode in ECO cruise about 90% of the time on our hilly freeway (70% of our C-Maxing). Nick (PS extra heavy duty peeve is that Trip 2 on My View will not show MPGs even though there is room for it - ARGH !!!!! That would be very handy to me. My View has very little of value to us (other than temp gauge for mountain passes))

That is funny, Rick - those are bluffs and drumlins (glacial mounds) around here. We need the extra HP of the C-Max to get around our mountains. (Priii - DOA) Mt Olympus in background (pic taken from wee Mt Ellinor earlier this summer)

Huge thread here under 'Tips & T _______s" http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/topic/1434-i-have-found-the-illusive-mpg-sweet-spot/ We enjoy the 'secret sauce' when the car slides into it in ECO cruise, but rarely, because there is almost nothing flat here. We seem to do just as well or better allowing the car to select going from EV to ICE and back again (all in ECO cruise) on the freeway at 65-68 mph - 46,47,48,49 MPGs (trip gauge), March to November ;). Nick