MacGyver

If it's that zag shield stuff they use on cellphones, it should be plenty tough.

I have an annoying squeak/rattle in both my front doors.  I can replicate it by pressing on the door panels, but I cannot stop it.  It started about 6000 and I have 9500 miles now.

 

Suppose I'll have to take it to the garage.

 

Nonetheless, I love the C-Max Hybrid enough that we went out and bought a second one for the household yesterday.

yeah, mine too, sounds like the doors are moving enough to make the rubber weatherstripping move and squeak, or it could be those plastic panels at the rearward end of the side window, it sounds like those when I go to close the doors, that cheapo squeeeak they make causes me to wonder who at ford signed off on that crap.

One of the reasons I didn't buy the buick hybrid is because of the door handles- they were so loose that when you pulled them out, they would wiggle LOOSELY off center 20-30 DEGREES (or more, I put 20-30 because any more might seem like exaggeration). I had the feel of something made quick in china.

That would have bugged me for YEARS every time I opened the door, the FIRST thing you do, and those shiny black plastic deals on the door are the same for me.

It's not a big deal function-wise, but psychologically, every time I touch one and it FLEXES and makes the car sound like it was snapped together from plastic parts, it bugs me.

Ah, a very professional conversation with a customer support representative; someone who is just trying to make money to support their family.

 

Nicely done.

Maybe you could elucidate the benefit of speaking professionally with the rep of a company that baldfacedly lied straight to my face in order to steal my money?

Like you I'm a visual person....WOW :hi5:

 

How long did it take you to type/modify this? :worship: 

 

Did you find the missing O?

No time, that was a straight cut-and-paste. 

Missing O? What do you mean?

 I really want a GPS that when I try to use it it actually gets me to where I need to go and does not tell me to turn left in the middle of a bridge

Congratulations, you've also had the iphone maps experience!

So I guess you can cross that off your bucket list

Please wait for a SYNC Agent to respond.
Chauntay says:
  Hello Eric. My name is Chauntay how can I help you?
Eric says:
  is applink disabled on My Ford Touch with voice control?
Eric says:
  I cannot get my Samsung Galaxy S2 to work with it
Chauntay says:
  I can assist you with SYNC.
Chauntay says:
  I apologize, Applink is not available for this radio system.
Eric says:
  why not?
Chauntay says:
  The feature has not been developed for MyFord Touch.
Eric says:
  So what you're saying is that because I u bought the top of the line MFT package, Ford screwed me by disabling applink
Eric says:
  in order to force me to use sirius or whatever
Eric says:
  why is it available on the lesser package systems?
Chauntay says:
  I apologize that the feature is not available for this system at this time. Our engineers are working to develop this for the MyFord Touch system.
Eric says:
  yeah right. do they provide any kind of ETA of when they will turn this feature on?
Eric says:
  silence
Eric says:
  silence
Eric says:
  silence
Eric says:
  long pregnant pause
Eric says:
  dramatic pause
Eric says:
  looong dramatic pause
Eric says:
  hellooo
Chauntay says:
  Would you prefer to call into our center for assistance.
Eric says:
  anybody there?
Eric says:
  no, I'd just like an answer, but I think I read it in between the lines; basically go F myself you already got my money, right?
Eric says:
  if they're "working on it" there must be some kind of ETA
Chauntay says:
  I apologize, again, for your frustration. We support the functionality of the system.
Chauntay says:
  This feature is not available for the system.
Eric says:
  like maybe 2014
Chauntay says:
  We have no additional information on the future availability at this time.
Eric says:
  ah, I see you're reverted to generic non-answers
Chauntay says:
  Is there anything I can assist you with?
Eric says:
  I get it, I'll stop wasting time here then

 

I play Pandora in my SEL.  It works over bluetooth or plugging in the USB.  When you plug it into the USB, you can control it from the MFT screen. 

 

Never done anything special besides plug the iPhone 4s in the USB, start Pandora on the phone then go to the Entertainment screen and can control from there.  

I was under the understanding as well that if you bought the top of the line MFT package, you were rewarded by applink being disabled, possibly as a result of some backroom deal with Sirius.

Anyone with an android phone ever get applink working?

I want to say I've seen an official Ford checklist / spreadsheet that verifies no applink on MFT, but I may just be mis-remembering this based on other forums all agreeing they cannot get applink working on MFT.

If yours works, great for you, but that may be an anomaly- if it stops working after an update, please post that...

I've tried plugging in my Samsung Galaxy S2 in the usb, previously, it would say "unsupported device", (and that message, annoyingly, would repeatedly pop up on the screen, blocking everything) now it will play music directly from it, but navigating that is not worth the hassle/time, and I prefer to just play it over bluetooth.

Cannot find or command applink or get it to work on any of the apps that are listed on Fords website.

Tested; Kaliki, Pandora, Stitcher, Iheartradio. No go on any.

It's frustrating that Ford insists on their system controlling everything, wish they would take the more sensible path and let android be the brains, it's far more advanced.

While the MFT / Voice control is an amazing technological achievement, using it feels like going backwards in time 10-20 years vs. android or iphone. 

I feel for the tech geeks at ford, who probably are looked down upon by the "real men" car guys at ford, they probably are the red-headed stepchild department. 

But that doesn't change the fact that they're NEVER going to surpass Google or Apple at creating a usable OS for the car that compares favorably against those giants.

It's WELL PAST time for Ford to realize they are a CAR company, not a COMPUTER company.

BTW, just for the record and in the interest of developing accurate info / troubleshooting / diagnostics, my phone is "Rooted" (jailbroken in apple/iphone parlance) but with a stock OS, so that SHOULDN'T make a difference in how it interacts with Sync, but of course, there are always problems / idioSYNCrasies...

The s2 DOES do text to speech. Did you mean sync is not compatible with it?

The use of ICE to charge batteries makes sense under certain conditions like when ICE could be running at the most efficient areas of the BSFC curve if charging.  The stored energy from such efficient charging will be used when ICE would have had to run in very inefficient areas of the BSFC curves (like acceleration and lower speeds).  Even with the charging and EV mode operational losses, overall efficiency of the hybrid system improves with such operation.  

 

Also, I have run tests at 70 mph and the amount of recharge from ICE was minimal even with a 55% or so battery level (level was virtually constant within +- a few %).  In other words, from an efficiency standpoint, the PC algorithm chose to not run ICE harder to charge the battery at 70 mph to its full level likely because it was not going to be an efficient use of energy.  Also, once coasting down to a slower speed from 70 mph (and also going down steeper hills) ICE would shut down and there would be regeneration from such coasting which would increase the battery level to near 100% very quickly.  So, the system does capture energy when going down hill and also when slowing down not using the brakes.

 

One more point, there is no engine braking going down hill or coasting to a stop.  The engine is not spinning (rpm are zero).  The "braking" one feels is the motor being used as a generator and recharging.  When one engages the "grade assist", engine braking will occur along with the generator "braking."

I thought I felt that, despite my ford salesman telling me the direct opposite.

Got any numbers on which is most efficient? I would expect braking, hill assist, then coasting.

Trying to figure out how to post pictures of average mileage... wasn't there a thread about long distance mpg? I got 51mpg going to malibu and 56mpg coming back.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_0HkVXu8lXNUUcydTB4MmQtYk0/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you for posting your test results, and for trying the differnet modes.  All this is very helpful for us to adapt driving styles and maximize mpg.

 

I commute 8 miles to work daily, but on surface streets ( 3 lanes each direction, traffic lights, etc.)  If you have ever driven in Phoenix, you know the speed limit if 45, but traffic goes 55+ in most cases.

 

I have attempted in the couple weeks of having the CMax to stay in EV mode, but as you say, the pedal is so-o-o-o sensitive.  WHen the battery level gets down to about 1/3, the ICE seems to kick in.

 

I did manage to make it home from the grocery store over the weekend in all EV, a couple mile distance, and the Trip Summary showed my mileage at 165 mpg!!!  Wish my camera was ready for that!

 

Thanks again for the post.

I've gotten in the habit of activating my cell camera before shutting the car off to document mpg, if you miss the picture, you can hit the start button again and it will still show the same trip mpg if you hit the down arrow steering wheel button.

FYI I've seen all electric up to 63-64mph with an almost fully charged battery and a level to slight downhill.

I have come to regard my C-max as "the Fast hybrid" because I had been trying to drive it with what I THOUGHT would be the most efficient style, i.e., slowly.

Tried to keep it in EV as much as possible, to the annoyance of anyone behind me.

Tried to drive it at 55-60mph on freeways.

Then I read an article that interviewed a ford engineer, who explained that people were getting low mpg because they weren't driving them HARD ENOUGH to charge the battery.

Found out that I got BETTER mileage at 65-75mph than at 55mph ( 55mph=30mpg 65-75mph=40-50mpg).

Found out that if I used the EV to start off the line until ICE kicks in, then accelerate briskly up to speed limit, do a quick liftoff of foot off gas to re-engage EV, I would get 0.1 MORE MPG. It's not a lot, but it's easier to drive that way, and doesn't annoy the people behind me, and recharges the battery better with the higher RPMs as I accelerate, and I'm burning more gas for a shorter period to reach cruising speed. This is my city driving style now. It's kind of funny when you see the people behind you realize they're behind a hybrid beginning to look to go around you, until EV switches off and I accelerate past all the other drivers.

I also draft behind semi's to reduce wind resistance, (at a reasonable distance, it doesn't make that much difference) but not concrete trucks anymore since one dropped a big chunk of concrete that shattered and nicked my nice new car.

I saw 50mpg going 75mph, (maybe 50+ I forget) took a video of it, unfortunately, my sd card died, so I don't know if that was recovered by the recovery program, I'll post it eventually if it was.

This was on a slight downhill on the 5 fwy just south of the 14. Maybe even level.

Ditto the sweet spot, I had thought maybe the CVT was simply more efficient at 65-75mph, nice to get the high ICE / batt charge info, thanks!

I use the brake to recharge on downhills steep enough, it can be activated with a light enough foot, unfortunately, the pressure required to do so is just a bit LESS than simply resting your foot on the pedal so as to recharge without slowing too much, requires a pretty high degree of touch sensitivity and muscle control.

It would be nice if the resistance in the pedal could be adjusted so I could simply rest my foot on it while going downhill to activate recharging without slowing my speed too much, wife's sister lives in Tujunga, which is a big climb to the base of the mountains, then one loooong downhill back to Torrance.

I've gotten 50-60mpg on that run consistently.

Matter of fact, now that I think of it, I will have to take a look under the dash to see if I can add a spring to the brake pedal so I can rest my foot on it without having to hold some of the weight of my leg off of it...

I've even gotten 70 mpg not on the instant, but on the average, in stop and go traffic, where I was basically just using EV to creep forward, then braking almost all that power right back into the batt, like a yo-yo. Of course, I had to reset the average while already on the freeway, and once I started driving in the city again, that 70 disappeared pretty quick, but it just goes to show how efficient this car CAN be.

I lose a lot of mpg while idling, doing phone calls in the car, paperwork, etc. I think I lost 2-3mpg in a half hour once with the A/C on.

It's stuff like that that makes me really happy to have this car now, because I am actually happy to see traffic, knowing I will get good gas mileage.

Anyone know any numbers of how much more efficient brake recharging is vs. when you're just coasting and seeing the arrow above the batt display? I assume that depending on how hard I brake, that changes the CVT gearing ratios to generate more power? Or is that an incorrect assumption?