Recumpence

Nope, so far no transmission problems. My understanding of this transmission is that it is not a shifting or variable ratio unit. The ratio between engine and wheels varies by varying the speed of the electric motor in relation to the engine. The issues I have heard of its a bearing going out in the transmission. So far so good for me on that front.

One thing that no-one has mentioned (unless I missed it) is that the first 10 miles of a drive after the car has sit for an hour or more will return very poor mileage. For me, I see mid 30s mpg for the first 5 miles, then it eeks up to around 40mpg over the next 5 miles. I arrive at my first stop a touch over 40mpg. Then my second run (another 12 miles or so) will move my daytime mpg up to around 45mpg. It typically takes me around 3 or 4 of these trips (appointments for work) to hit 50mpg. On top of that, you are doing almost exclusively highway driving. If I leave first thing in the morning and hit the expressway to go out of state, I will average around 42mpg for a 2 hour interstate trip. Matt

If driven at 30mph or less with no elevation change, smooth pavement, areo mods, high PSI in the tires (and some decently broken in tires), and proper hyper miling techniques, yes, 72mpg seems to be the max possible. I am lucky that I do very little expressway driving. My driving averages around 45mph with LOTS of stop and go. Oh, I have a Model 3 reserved. I am one of the early ones (I stood in line for 3 hours before the store opened). I plan on getting all the performance goodies on mine (dual motors, big battery, performance package, etc). But, I plan on keeping my little C-Max. I love this car. Matt

Hey Guys, Long time since I have been around this forum. For those of you who do not know me, here is a quick background; My C-Max is 2013. At this point I have 115,000 miles on my car. I bought it in late 2012 (October) for my business. I carry about 250 to 300 pounds of equipment in my car and do mostly town to town driving. I was the first on this forum to achieve a 700 mile tank of gas. My best day was 110 miles at 61.5mpg. Paul has since radically eclipsed my mileage in individual runs. But, my lifetime mpg is an even 50.0 (even through northern illinois winters). I had been running three grille blocks on the nose of my car and smooth wheel covers to maximize MPG. Now, two years ago I was rear ended badly and the body shop removed my grille blocks and replaced the nose of my car. Then I replaced my tires. These two things dropped my MPG to an absolute max of 53 to 54mpg if I really work on it. For grins, I decided to reinstall the original nose section and restore (repaint and refresh) my old grille blocks. The difference is staggering. My MPG went up from the 53 to 54mpg I have been working hard to achieve, to 59.6mpg in my first 8 mile test run (after warming the car up). This is great to achieve. When I made my first grille blocks, they were made one at a time. So, it was difficult to quantify exactly how much improvement I was seeing because one or two MPG here and there is not super easy to quantify. However, adding all three back at once made a massive difference. It is awesome to see a 5 to 6mpg improvement all at once. I plan on reinstating my MPG research now that I have the bug again. :~) Matt

Here is a picture. My driving is about 20% at 30mph or under, 60% at roughly 40 to 45 mph, and 20% at 50mph or higher. Matt

I have a total of 96,600 miles on my Max so far. Here are my stats; 50.2 lifetime MPG 96% lifetime brake score I live in northern illinois with bad winters. My score is a year round average score. I bought my car in October 2012. So, it has gone through three winters and three summers. I will get a picture for you guys soon. (Oh, I just replaced my first set of tires at 93,000 miles). Matt

Hey All! Long time no post. :) As the title mentions I have 90,000 miles on my trusty little Max and I am using the original tires the car came with. I mention this because 95% of these miles have been with 51 to 55psi in the tires. I have been told, and told, and HAMMERED at that high PSI is hard on tires. But, I have been running super high PSI in my tires for the nearly 30 yerars of driving and I have always vastly exceeded the average life of my tires. BTW, I just hit the wear indicators on my tires. I am trying to get 100,000 miles from these tires. But, we shall see. I am not going to keep using them without any tread left. Hopefully I can see 100k from them. That should be around 3.5 months from now. Matt

Do you live in a very cold climate? In super cold weather my auto up will cease working on the front two windows. Once the weather goes above 20 degrees, they start working again. Not sure why. Maybe you are encountering a similar thing? Matt

Actually, this is not an uncommon problem. Google it and you will see what I mean. However, I have noticed a trend, both of my injectors went out in super cold weather. The reports I have read online seem to be from drivers in cold climates and their injectors went out in winter. I bet thermal shock has something to do with it. Yes the first injector was covered under warranty. Matt

Yup, check engine light came on.

Hello All, Yesterday I had my second fuel injector failure since I have owned the car. I am right at 75,000 miles at this point. I am a little bummed that injector failures are so common on the C-Max. However, I am not disappointed with my purchase. This is not a ranting thread. It is merely an informational heads up for all of us. Last year my #3 injector went. Yesterday it was injector #2 that failed. The part was $47 and took an hour to install. Actually it took 2 hours but one hour was spent looking for a dropped socket as well as talking to a few mechanics about the location of the fuel rail depressurization valve. It turns out the C-Max does not have a fuel rail depressurization valve. You just let the fuel squirt onto a rag from under the injector. No biggie. I must say, having a Scanguage is a great thing. I get the code from the gauge immediately, so I am not left in the dark. At this point I think I will order another injector so I have one "In stock" for the next failure. I hate to have to do that, but this is my work car and it sees a lot of miles. The injector is an uncommon part. No-one around me stocks it. So, I think I will buy one to have on-hand for the next time (maybe a year down the road from now). Of course, I will probably forget where I put it by then! Since owning the car I have replaced two injectors, one left side front sway bar link, and the passenger side strut upper plate is slightly clunking. So, that is the next item to replace. This is not the most reliable car out there. But, it has never left me stranded, parts are inexpensive, and it is relatively easy to work on. I still wish it were more reliable, though. Oh well, first model year, you know! Matt

Not crunching, clunking. A couple guys here have had front end noises with far fewer miles than mine. So, this thread was meant for them. I wanted people to know not all noises are major problems. Matt

My car has 67,000 miles on it. Matt

Hey guys, After bringing my car in and being told the front end clunking noise I was experiencing required struts, strut plates, and swaybar links for $850, I decided to look into it myself. After some messing around, I found the right side swaybar link was rattling. I ordered it online for $18 and spent all of 25 minutes installing it. Problem fixed! I am a happy camper. Matt

Yup, roomier. But, I only use about half the space. Of course, I know there will be times I wish I had more space if I had a Volt. Nothing is perfect. Matt

The added cost would just barely be covered by the added savings. I want to trade my car in next year before it has 90,000 miles on it. The only reason I would consider an Energi is for the fun factor. I am considering a Volt as well. Matt

I am at 50mpg exactly for 65,000 miles. The is through two summers and two heavy winters, 40% with engine running and 60% electric only. My lifetime brake score is 96%. Matt

I average 57 mpg in summer and 44 in winter. My lifetime mpg is 50.0 exactly right now even with bad Illinois winters. Since I am approaching trade in time with my car, I would love the EV experience. I have considered the Volt too. Matt

Cargo area is not as big a deal for me even though I carry equipment because most of it lays on the folded down seat backs and only a few things in the cargo area. Matt

Hello All, My beloved C-Max hybrid has 65,000 miles on it. This is a work car (appliance repair). I plan on trading it in this spring and getting an Energi. The reason for this thread is to ask those who have (or have had) both cars, tell me what their MPG is on the Energi. I know the EV mode increases the overall MPG. But, I am curious if the hybrid running mode decreases it? I have heard rumblings on-line that the Energi has a different gear ratio and weighs 300 pounds more, thus reducing the gas engine mpg. Is the true? The reason I ask is because I drive 130 miles per day for work. If the engine only running is lower than my hybrid by any measurable amount, that may kill any increased mpg I would get from the first 25 miles or so running EV. (I hope that makes sense). :) Anyway, does anyone have any first hand info for me on this? Matt

I like the dual fuel aspect of plug in hybrids because you can still drive if the power is out. We have alot of storms here that kill power. Matt

Yup, true to a large extent. If the EV range is 50 miles and I can get 40 mpg after that, the math works. One big thing that has always irritated me about the C max is the poor mileage for the first 5 miles or so. That kills my MPG on the weekends. However, the Volt would shine on short trips. So, it looks like my mileage would be a touch better during the week on the Volt and way better on the weekends. Hmm, much pondering to do. Matt

Basically I drive 130 miles per day in town. I average 50 mpg year round with my Max. With that type of driving, what are your thoughts on mileage for the Volt?

Just curious if anyone here has a Chevy Volt to compare to our beloved Max? With the recent price drop, they look interesting....... Matt

Paul, Why is your lifetime mpg so low when you are able to achieve such high mileage tanks? My lifetime mpg is 49.8 at 63,000 miles, yet my best tank was 766 miles.... Matt