MacGyver

Tthere's a recall affecting braking smoothness/cruise shutoff/downhill lurching- my max is smooth again after they fixed this issue, and they were unaware of this recall until I took it in for an unrelated issue. They didn't even know about the rcall until they looked for it.

Took me a long time to figure out that the C-max is pretty big on me, not used to that in cars, so a long time to overcome pre/misconceptions about seat height, etc. At one point I had the seat like on the floor and liked it, slowly adjusted it upwards for more visibility until I achieved a happy medium.

ouch

My old record was 71mpg, until I recently achieved 82mpg... woohoo!

Interesting, was it mostly flat? I'm wondering what the average for the flats would be... And an update to the torque experimentation; the optimum speed may ACTUALLY (at least for my car) be 73mph, the speedo will read 75mph while the Torque GPS speed and OBD sensor speeds consistently read about 2 mph SLOWER than the speedo. Will eventually have AAA test the car and tell me for sure, but it would make more sense to have the optimum gearing between 70-73mph, 75mph is a bit into redline-ticket-bait-dilithium-crystal-cracking territory. Which would mean adjusting my estimation of optimum uphill speed to 70-71mph for about 20-22mpg, better than 65mph=18-19mpg.

If by "personal climate temp" you mean your side of the vehicle, you have to start by adjusting the right side temp knob either higher or lower than the driver side. THEN you can adjust the drivers side independently. It's NOT on the touch screen, though you can accomplish the same thing via voice control. I think. If by "personal climate temp" you mean having the car keep the temp at say 71 degrees, push in the center of the left knob where it says "auto", set temp by turning same knob, viola! it is a bit noisy, but quickly tapers off. You could also avoid max fan by slowly adjusting target temp downward... hmmm, I think I just came up with a hack to control fan speed with the left knob instead of the buttons... I like that. re; noisy air conditioning, at max, yes, maybe, but one of the cars I shopped was the Buick SUV Encore, which is RIDICULOUSLY LOUD set on max, think like so loud you couldn't talk on the phone... not sure that helps, except in a "it could be worse" kind of count your blessings kind of way... maybe take a test drive in one just to see how bad it could be.

Anyone else find the AC a tad too cold sometimes? I'll sometimes have to resort to a "blend" to get the right temp, put the right/passenger side at 70 and the driver side at 72 in order not to freeze myself but not let it get too muggy either.

Got a call from my ford dealer trying to get me to come in for BONGBONGBONG update, I told her (playfully) I don't want the BONGBONGBONG, (NO BLAHBLAHBLAH!!!) I could hear someone in the background telling her to tell me they could do the update then reset it so I wouldn't have the BONGBONGBONG... not sure I trust that, I like to think I'm old enough to recognize doublespeak when I hear it, and that's exactly what it sounded like... lots of jargony talk designed to put me at ease and get me to come in... after which I would get the "Gee, we're sure sorry we can't turn it off, we thought we could" apology, but for what it's worth, I'd recommend telling them if you don't want it, it may be possible to not have the BONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONG BONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONG BONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONG BONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONG BONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONG BONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONGBONG I'd rather have that than the HONK HONK too, if it stopped that, I'd take the trade, but since they're basically wanting to add more noise to my life, I'm gonna delay as long as possible, then try and bribe the tech with $20 to at least tell me how to disable it... I re-listened to it, and she definitely said they could turn off the BONGBONGBONG, so if you don't want it, tell them, worst that can happen is they can't/won't do it, but they're gonna do it the next time you come in with/without your permission so....

Seconded, and I'm going to need your TPMS report by friday, and I need you to go ahead and come in on saturday, mmmkay? Super. I mentioned this to the engineers; "You designed one of the most advanced cars on earth and didn't think people were going to put in a cell phone holder?" My request was to at least have some smooth surfaces to suction cup a "windshield" mount (mine is the Note 2, a ridiculously humongous phablet that is currently held directly in front of the cd slot) instead of the "pebbled" / "satin" surface of the dash that suction cups will not stick to. Which means I've had to use 2-sided tape to attach the disc the suction cup sticks to, which means there's going to be a sticky mess when that wears out and I have to re-do the thing. Which is going to be pretty soon, it has only lasted about 4-5 months.

The ability to set fixed locations like a grocery store, input a grocery list, and have the sync voice alert us when we're near and need something off that list.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MkkDpJrxVs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MkkDpJrxVs feel free to jump ahead to 1:40, the first woman attempting to park is ... well, just kind of a boring example of someone who is really bad at parallel parking, but the SECOND one is hilarious, first of all, it's a SMART 24, the tiniest car on the road since Jeremy Clarkson folded himself into an easter egg pretending to be a car, and as you watch it you may well think; is she trying to get INTO the space, or OUT of it? are her hands covered with butter? I can see her bingo wings flapping furiously, but the front wheels are not turning much... there, there, I've almost ... got it . . . nope. maybe if I get more space and try it FASTER nope ok, more runway is obviously needed then nope then she gets out, and seems just BAFFLED that she's at an angle or how to fix it, maybe the road moved? even in this long distance shot, you can tell from her body language that she doesn't have the first whimperings of an idea of what to do to fix this.... her friend gets out, and doesn't even attempt to direct her- (just stands WELL CLEAR of this tiny car as the driver gathers herself to try again) we can't hear her friend, the poster of this video has added a frenetic banjo soundtrack that adds immeasurably to the humor, a musical pastiche that opens a clear window into what it must sound like inside this womans head as she attempts to square the circle... but if we could, I imagine she's saying something to the effect of; "It ain't gonna git no better Joleen, just let it be, it's good enuff, come on, we're gonna be late!" she slowly pulls out, we're rooting for her, yes, that's a good angle, that will work she continues pulling forward slowly.... slowly....!!! SWEET JEEBUS, she's not going to try and do it FASTER is she !?! NO,NO,NO, ...... wait, is she .... HAHAHAHAHA!!! I think she just decided that this whole car thingy is just not her deal and headed straight back to the dealership to return the thing... she shoulda got a Ford with the auto-parallel park. Poor thing.

projector headlights? So you could park facing a white wall and watch a movie? that would be cool!

I keep a thumb on the silver that runs past the "OK"/arrow control, this will sound the horn, and you get a lot of leverage, so mine is about right, though sometimes it also presses the down arrow button too. Like to see that fixed.

gah. So now we'll have the horn AND a chime?! Suuuck. Is there any way to turn off that honk? This is so lame, why can't I customize my own car that I OWN to my own liking? And it's probably played through the speakers so I can't disable it by disconnecting the small speaker under the dash... Why do you torture us so Ford?

o hey thanx, I didn't notice that until you mentioned it.

PROactive noise cancellation- it would be great to be able to silence the BWOMP BWOMP BWOMP BWOMP BWOMP BWOMP of the car next to you, see the driver confused start twiddling knobs trying to restore the previous level of impolite inconsiderate volume, only to blow out his speakers as you drive away...

you could get a quick shut off from an auto parts store that would quickly cut the 12v batt out of the system, which would be a pain, but would likely solve that problem.

Photon torpedoes

I wonder if there could be a market for this? Would be easy enough to do.... Ebay here I come! The road to riches is paved with sticky foam!

most dollar stores have craft foam as thin as 1/16", some with sticky backing, you could insulate the thing yourself by cutting paper templates, then using those as a guide to cut the foam insulation.

digital instant mpg - I use "torque" android app and bluetooth obd for this right now, and lots more info, including 12v battery voltage (though I've never had a problem) cloth seats for 303A voice notify outside temp is lower than AC setting don't count mpg while parked and engine on increase size / boldness of font of speed limit sign in right screen, I use that daily Give us Applink! We paid more and you took it away? WTF more storage spots seat heater less power (think that's coming, the engineers asked if we'd like that...) factory tinted windows dimming side mirrors AC seats like lincoln has adaptive cruise control sunvisors that cover the whole side window longer, softer seats

Tried to give it back. Seriously. No one called back from Ford. So I had the interior of the max redone in red velvet with red dingaballs hanging down around the windows. Had some left over, so I bought a giant voltron suit. Wanted to mount phasers, couldn't afford it, had to settle for disruptors. Did get smoke screen and oil slick and caltrop dispensers working.

I'm trying to remember the price they quoted me, I hit a safety cone that fell out of some dips truck on the freeway, which to the repair department was the cause of that fabric being torn, (though I've been feeling this vibration since about the 3rd day in my C-max) it was either $100 or $250 (each side), I forget, but we were trying to diagnose the vibration I feel coming up through the floorboard, and they let me sit in it while they put it up a little way on the hoist and the guy just flicked that aero cover thing by pulling down on it a couple millimeters and letting it snap back up, and I could FEEL that through the floorboard... I considered those aeroshields failing and / or vibrating a design flaw, so I'm not gonna spend $200-500 just so they can tear again or vibrate. I do have unusually good touch sensitivity, but that seems a bit thin to me if I can feel it through my feet! One of these days I'll get around to bringing it in to have them temporarily remove the aeroshields to see if that vibration disappears. If it does, I might just leave them off and take the mpg hit. Or replace them with something less vibratey.

yeah, can't say too much about it due to the confidentiality agreement, but I think I recognized 5 out of the 6 cars. As with all concept cars, the models they asked us questions about will likely get toned waaaay down, and probably a good thing, cuz dang! Uuuugly. Funny though, one of them looked like something you'd see in an anime, which would look pretty cool there, but no way I'd be caught driving the thing. Ford's got nothing to worry about if they go with those body styles... unless the thing gets 100 mpg or something. Even then I'd have to think hard about it... And there were volt and prius owners there too.

Not sure... like I said, trying to let it develop its own personality organically. Think I might prefer a boy car, women can be needy for attention... I've fixed cars in my youth just be telling em; "All right, that is ENOUGH, one more breakdown and you're getting SOLD!" Whereupon the car would magically run great for a while where before it was breaking down at least weekly (I was young, didn't know any better than to not buy a british car, let alone one that only cost $600). Would hope that a male car would simply take satisfaction in doing the job, being the rock I depend upon to get me to my work and back, and take my family and I to where we want and need to be, without fuss or drama or need for overmuch attention, a strong stoic manservant / bodyguard / friend who understands with a look just how much I appreciate all he's done for me and that it's been done well. That may sound hella odd coming from a backyard scientist like myself, but I always harken back to a story I read about a guy who built 3 robots who developed distinct personalities despite being made from identical parts (which actually could be explained by the natural variability / tolerance of those selfsame electrical components themselves... each resister, transistor, etc., on a given board may be 5%-10% different from an "identical" one next to it, (or even 20%) but anyways, these three robots all had a solar panel, whereby they would "eat", a circuit that would sense battery level, and shut down "eating" when their battery was full, bump and camera sensors to be able to sense and feel their environment, memory to learn the floorplan, etc. One bot had the "kid" personality, and would zip around the house exploring, getting stuck in a corner or highsiding on a rug until he had to be rescued, one was a lazy adult that would slowly glide about, spending long periods parked in the sunlight from a window, and one was a grumpy old man that would "eat" until he was "full" and then retreat to sulk under a chair, rarely venturing out until his battery wore down. I'm not saying I do believe it and I'm not sayin I don't, but I will say the idea of cars, boats, etc., having spirits or personalities is hardly a new one, and deserving of a little caution, after all, if we're wrong it doesn't hurt much except we've acted a bit silly maybe, but if we're right, the universe is a much more interesting place and we've treated a unique being with love and respect, hardly a bad thing.