ScubaDadMiami

I ordered my C-MAX from the factory, and I got the Pano Roof. At the time that I ordered, I wanted the roof rack, and my dealer told me that you cannot do both. Like you, I was worried about space for carrying gear. I may eventually spring for a tow behind basket or a spare tire carrier. However, I have already filled my C-MAX in a bunch of ways, and there was always room, including on a 2,000+ mile drive for a camping trip with two adults up front, and a dog taking up one of the two rear seats.

+1 on both accounts. You can do a really long glide when you allow the battery to go way down while traveling at 45 MPH or less, and even more so at 35 MPH or less. If you just keep rolling along, you can give it a 1 to 1.75 Bar five second recharge, and then you can just keep gliding it down for a good distance. At a slower speed, you get great torque while in EV. So, from a stop, you can use EV to get rolling to about 13 MPH, and then do up to a 2 Bar burn to get up to around 33 MPH, and then drop into EV, give a slight tap, and the torque will pretty instantly get you up to 35 MPH, and then you can glide with slight slowing until hitting 30 MPH, when you recharge and speed back up. Sometimes, a 2 Bar burn is all that you need to quickly recharge and stay up to speed. Sometimes, you can do a smaller burn to bring up the SOC while using the least amount of fuel for the time that you are running ICE. If you drive differently under different conditions, you get your best fuel economy.

I would imagine that any remaining battery issues have been resolved in the 2014 model. You should check those out before reaching a decision. I am just one person, but I have had my C-MAX since May 2013, and the only problem I have had in 7,500 miles is that I had to get a sensor changed in my Panoramic Roof cover; it would close but then bounce back to partially open. My last tank yielded 63 MPG.

Looking forward to getting your numbers! Good luck! :thumbsup:

It is a curious mystery, for sure! Are there any strange options on yours, or are there any missing from the package that should be there?

Look very closely at the lettering. Is it possible that the L was actually an E that has either been trimmed or broken off, and the L broke off, too?

I might be interested in that design. Are they easy to clean (road bugs, etc.)? I will be making a 4,000 mile trip in June to July. So, I am looking to boost highway speed mileage.

Are you suggesting the grill covers for all highway travel, not just in cold weather? I'll be driving up to New Hampshire in June. I am looking to increase my highway FE, but I would have thought that using grill covers during the summer would cause overheating. If anything, I would only use them for the interstate driving portion of my trip.

Tough break. Sounds like a one in a million event. Hoping the repairs go quickly for you.

The only time I ever hear a noise like this is when I am doing two bar burns or accelerating.

Yep!

My last car was 10 years old (but with only 105,000 miles on it) when I sold it to get the C-MAX. There would have to be some big changes in the model, or some other car that I would consider superior before I would sell or trade. Never say never, but I plan to keep and drive my C-MAX for at least 70,000 to 100,000 miles. I got the extended warranty and tire warranty to 125,000.

Glad you are okay, Matt. It's only a car . . . even if it is a pretty great one.

From the looks of it, the aero mods to the 2014 look like something that someone could make in a home shop, which I don't have. I can't really see anything from the picture of the front that looks different. What am I missing with that picture?

Is it possible that you got something sucked into the air intake for the A/C? Maybe try cleaning out the intake from leaves and debris?

I will. I went up via Atlanta, and then I went over to Savannah on the trip back, on this past trip. I'll probably do Atlanta on the way up and back, when I do the trip on the next visit.

That seems to add up. It is very hot here in the summer, and winter is mild and warm, most of the time. During those times, what I see on the dash indicator and the pump are very close, usually with two-tenths or so of each other. However, it has been cooler for this tank, and, for the first time, my fill was off by as much as half a gallon.

My daughter currently lives in New Hampshire. So, I will be driving up there during summers. However, I recently got a call from her, and she told me that she and her husband want to move farther south, where winters would be milder compared to NH, but in a similar environment. Next month, they are coming to check out Asheville. If they make that move, I'll be seeing a lot more of your neighborhood. I had a great time in North Carolina. I want to check out more of the Bartram Trail, especially Sam Knob Summit. I really loved it there. Plus, I can take the dog with me on those hikes. I'd love to check out the National forests, but I won't go where I can't bring the pooch! If they make this move, it probably won't be for a few years. Until then, I'll enjoy New England, and making this trip allows me to stop in to see family in the Philadelphia area, where I grew up. Once they make the move, I'll look forward to not having to drive nearly so far to visit.

Much respect to those mountains. In September, I was in the mountains of western North Carolina. (Here is the trip report.) At the time, my C-MAX only had about 4,000 miles on it, and I was getting around 48MPG while in the mountains, running the air conditioner. You are absolutely right; there is no one way to drive for best FE in all conditions. This kind of thing appeals to my nature. I earn part of my livelihood as an instructor for a piece of underwater scuba equipment that is also highly technical. I tell my students that this piece of equipment is "the thinking diver's" rig. Sure, you can just go with autopilot and have a lot of fun. However, if you fly it manually, and you put thought into operating it manually, you get the best efficiency. It takes a little more work, but by practicing all the time, it becomes second nature, and isn't that big of a deal to do. The C-MAX is the same. You learn to develop awareness of road conditions, which allows you to drive in the best way for safety and efficiency.

I am assuming that you mean topping off after the run. No, I shut off the pump when it clicked off. This was the first time that there was a pretty significant difference between what the (Costco) pump said versus the dash meter. Pump = 13.288 C-MAX = 12.68 Normally, there is only about .2 difference.

There is some difference between crunching the numbers and what the C-MAX shows, but that sounds like a big difference, bigger than what I would have figured. As Doug/Fotomoto mentioned, it could be the gas pump. I try to fill at Costco, and that has always been very close to what the dash meter shows.

No serious vibration. How many bars are your acceleration burns? I mean, I guess that there could be more vibration if you are really flooring it, which I assume is not the case.

Welcome aboard! Yeah, that's a great color. I always go with white, because it gets so hot here in the summer.