takingittothemax

As I see it, there are three advantages of the C-Max: 1/ More fun to drive, better handling, more power 2/ More interior space and storage 3/ Nicer interior and more equipment than that Prius vintage Disadvantages: 1/ You don't have to try hard to get good MPG in a Prius, you do in a C-Max 2/ Resale will always better with a Prius.

If one changing the lights at the front was so easy ....

I hope you meant drag ?

Glad to have you here! Now tell us the long story as to why you have a 2013 Energi and a 2014 Hybrid...

Is that site legit? It doesn't run HTTPS, which seems unusual ...

Congratulations! The C-Max is better is almost every way over an Escape, except for the cargo space. Post pictures of your new ride!

Having only just bought our C-Max, it's staying for a while ? It's a shame that the mini-minivan segment is dead ?

It's only a mild hybrid. A lot of the latest generation of Euro cars, including diesels, are gaining 48V mild hybrid systems in order to meet increasingly tough emissions rules. Automakers that can't get below 95g of CO2/km fleet wide will be handed punitive fines.

If your Sync3 has Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, you just use Apple or Google Maps on the Sync3 touchscreen for all your navigation needs with free map updates and traffic info.

I noticed the A/C compressor is kinda loud, so I made sure it was off even though it was 90F outside.

I'm almost loathe to post this here, but is this metallic/grinding noise (you can hear it around the 5 or 6 sec mark) a sign of impending HF35 failure? I haven't noticed this noise until recently, and only because I'm now willing to drive the car with the windows down on occasion. I can't hear it with the windows up, but windows down the noise can be heard echoing off other cars or road barriers. Recording this on a quiet roundabout in a park with my phone placed on the curb, so I'm guessing it audible to anyone outside the car. My 2014 Hybrid SEL was in EV mode at the time, by the way. metallic noise.wav

Wow. Interesting stuff that. Yep. There's very definitely a sweet spot at around 50mph, and the few times I've been cruising at around that speed for a sustained period, I've my fuel economy improve markedly. Sadly, it's hard enough cruising at the posted limit most of the time, and more so when the kids are in the back ready to be at the destination yesterday ?

Yeah, I've been using the Engage gauge to do just that. My thing is to lift off on flat or declines if I'm going fast enough. The best I've managed is about 50mpg, and that was because there was traffic on the interstate. Most of the time I can only get between 43 and 48mpg on the highway because I can't resist going over 65mph.

AHH! Thanks for that hot tip. Empower really does help. I can see the bar grow and shrink depending on the incline, and as the SOC changes. After a bit of playing when I first bought the C-Max, I've left the display in Engage because I wanted to see how much power I was using from each motor.

It doesn't start every time. I would say (off the top of my head), under 25-30% SOC it starts most of the time either when I turn the car on or when I very gently start moving. Between 30-50% it may or may not start, but it does on occasion even when I'm super gentle on the throttle and don't have heat/air con on. I don't think it's started over 50% unless I press the gas a bit too much. I don't usually have the battery at over 50% in my neighbourhood because I usually have to do one loop to find a decent parking spot, and it's over mile from the highway exit to my house with about 10 traffic lights or stop signs along the way. I'm fairly sure it has to do with the slight incline I'm often parked on, and possibly the age of my 12V battery.

Nope. I think the problem the car is often parked on a slight incline and the HVB charge level is usually 30% or lower. Maybe.

Greetings. I was sorta tempted to get the rare final generation 9-5 before jumping into our C-Max.

I've been quite careful when moving the car to another parking space to make sure the heat/air con is switched off, ditto the seat heaters. Also been mindful to keep throttle inputs small. Not sure what else it could be. Maybe the state of my 12V battery? An slight uphill incline?

I've tried turning it off, and seeing if having it with a higher state of charge helps with keeping ICE off for those really short trips. Doesn't seem to make much of a difference sadly.

With all the previous Prius and other hybrids I've driven prior to owning a C-Max, I always thought the EV Mode button was nice, but rather gimmicky. Tootling around a car park silently has it charms, for sure, but the limited range and speed in EV Mode in various Prii made it a bit useless. Skip forward to now where I own a C-Max, and have it parked on the street. Thanks to alternate side street cleaning and limited parking spots in our area, I have to move the car a few times a week. Often it's just across the street, sometimes it's 10 car spaces away to make it easier for me to load or unload things from the car. Sadly because there's no EV mode switch, the petrol engine will fire up to warm up the catalytic converter in anticipation of a trip I'll never make. Often I'll have 30-60% charge on my HVB, and leave the air conditioning off, but the engine will fire up anyway even with EV+ mode enabled. I know there's nothing I can do about it, but I thought I'd cast this rant into the wind.

I'm sweating just thinking about driving in that type of heat without aircon.

I saw a US government C-Max SE, same colour, in my neighbourhood in NJ the other week. There were two guys in military uniforms inside filling out paperwork. Every now and then the engine started up because they had the air conditioning on. It was a warm day.

I got sent this original carpeted trunk floor cover from a scrap yard by mistake. It's good shape. Let me know if you're interested.

They look great. How long did it take you do the physical hardware changeover? And how hard/easy was it take the standard bulbs out? I'm trying to change the turn signal indicator on the driver's side and I get seem to get the dang thing out.