spyburn

Was doing another highway test run to see if I could improve on my FE when a Ruby Red blew past me at about 85 mph heading west on I 10 between San Antonio and Boerne. I decided to follow it. Geez, I'd like to see what kind of mileage that guy is getting! Spent the next 15 miles trying to catch up with him. I still got 42.1 on my trip home, even with the speeding I was doing!

Hello from Pipe Creek - also in the Hill Country. The hills are killers on my MPG, but before the update I was getting around 41....after the update I'm getting around 45 on my daily commute. I'll probably never reach the kinds of MPG numbers some of our esteemed members are getting because I spend so much time on the freeway or on really hilly roads, but I'm still pleased.

SInce I rarely go anywhere except the office and the grocery store, I tested me Nav when I first got it but haven't really used it. When my husband is riding with me, I'll turn on the map with no destination, since he likes to see that. One time I noticed that when I was on the freeway, the screen showed I was on the access road. It corrected itself when I got to my exit.

Generally I would have thought the same thing Salsaguy - but the guy who reported it to me? No way. If he had done it, he would have owned up to it. He probably would have offered to pay for a car wash!

Hey Mavrik! Welcome from Pipe Creek - just up the road from you in Bandera County. Enjoy the forum and the ride!

One of my co-workers came to me late yesterday afternoon and asked, "You're the only C-Max in the parking garage right? You might want to go look at your car." There was dried cola all over my car. It looks like someone set their drink on my hood and it tipped over. There was cola down the hood, the side, on the grill, had dripped down into the fog lights, etc. Since it was 103 outside yesterday, it was already dried and sticky, but at least I was in the garage so it wasn't baking in the sun. With no access to water in the parking garage, I decided to just drive it home and wash it immediately. I washed it, paying careful attention to the crevices and nooks and crannies (yeah, I know...it isn't an English muffin....but you get the idea). Once dried, I used Griot's Speed Shine afterwards. Looking carefully, I don't see any damage to the paint or anything, even though soda is pretty caustic stuff. Any recommendations on anything else I should have done.....to the car, not to the person who spilled cola on it!

Thanks C-Max Traveler. I have noticed similar increases in my mostly highway driving. And I have also noticed a hesitation in the Eco-cruise dropping into EV. Based on my observations, I did my highway drive yesterday without the cruise control on. My mileage was just a touch better than with eco cruise engaged, however the difference was small enough that it could have been any number of things - temperature, how often I had to slow down for the traffic merging onto the highway when I couldn't get into the other lane, that sort of thing. My gut feeling so far is that while the update took, there are some fine tuning issues Ford missed. I'm getting higher mileage, but my "coaching bars" (acceleration, braking and cruising charts) look like I suck at this. The engine temp gauge used to do the color change thing when the ICE engine was warmed up - not anymore. I used to get some EV assist on long highway runs and once in a while would get 60+ if I was on a slight downhill long run, even when my state of charge was low. Now I get no EV assist on those long runs and it won't drop into EV unless my SOC is 75% of better. With everything so interconnected in this vehicle, I'm pleased that it seems like they only need to keep tweaking it to get it perfect!

Package actually fit in my mailbox. I installed it tonight while dinner was burning! When I unfolded the canvas a little package with 2 dog biscuits fell out. How nice of them to provide treats for the canine monsters!! SDM, I have a question. When I ordered mine, I don't remember there being options other than color. Mine came with openings for the child seat anchors, but no flaps for the D Rings. Did I miss something or did they do something special for you since you were the first C-Maxer to order? I'm not complaining - I think the flaps might have been an issue for sliding things, but I was just wondering.

Sheesh.....this is like being at work.....it's alphabet soup in here!

Tracking says the package was delivered today.....which in my case means it get to the PO today and they stuck a notice in my mailbox to pick it up. I should have it tomorrow!!

Haven't found the new sweet spot on the car since the update, but I have a few more comments from this morning's drive. First, has anyone else with the upgrade noticed the temp display no longer does the blue to white thing? Or is that just me? Second, this morning I went back to my early days where I took the WWCMD (What Would C-Max Do?) approach. I set the eco-cruise and let 'er rip. In my early days of trying to figure out how the car would drive and watching the displays while it did it's thing, I was consistently getting 39-41 MPG on my trip into work. Using the exact same technique, I got 44 this morning. Jus, you asked about the length of time at 70mph in EV.....I had my cruise set at 68 and saw 2 long stretches where the SOC was 2/3 or better to start - the first one was an ever so slight downslope and I got 1.6 miles in EV. The second was flat and I got 1.1 miles. Last, I'm noticing that even as my SOC gets high enough that I think it should drop into EV, while in Eco cruise, the car waits for a much longer time than I think it should before dropping into EV. Since I was testing, I didn't force the issue, but over the next few weeks I will play around with it. As Jus has mentioned before, Eco cruise doesn't know the roads - so when I know there is a slope coming up, or a place when I have to brake for a sharp curve, I can control the charging a bit more.

IMHO, spouses are NOT trainable. If, and ONLY IF, she asks for advice on how to drive it to get better mileage, share your experience and things that work for you. If her eyes start to glaze over as you discuss drag coeficients, stop speaking immediately and offer chocolate.

Sorry to hear your nav is giving you the cold shoulder Dave of Durham. By the way....I miss Durham. Lived there for years, then in Rougemont for a few years. A change of seasons would be a lovely change of pace from the land of eternal blistering hot summer.

11Sti is correct - in My view you can scroll thru several options until you find the temp display. This morning I had the temp display on the right and the trip meter on the left so I could gauge when the engine was warm and compare it to previous days.

I had it done yesterday too. I have no idea how long it actually took, since they gave me a rental for the day. I didn't have any fingerprint issues around where they fixed, but I made them take it back to clean some greasy elbow prints on the center console and boot marks on the door panels. The headliner itself looks fine - I can feel the difference when I run my hands along that area, but while there may be a bigger "lump" there, it's hard to see the difference. As for electrical tests, my radio works fine in all modes, the dimming mirror still works, overhead lighting is fine and the rear wipe and washer work. Haven't gotten to test the rain sensing wipers (will have to use the hose for this as we apparently don't get rain here anymore) and I forgot to test the gate opener thingy on the sunshade last night.

There are so many threads related to this FE update that I can't find the comment to quote it, but someone wrote that the update did not make the C-Max a different beast. Perhaps not, but it will change how I drive, I think, and it changed the beast's "personality" a bit. I did see improvement in my FE.....been averaging about 41.5 mpg on my daily trip into work, with around 8 of 30 miles in EV. This morning I was at 43.6 mpg with 13.5 miles in EV mode. Some things I noticed: I watched the temp guage for the last few days to see where the indicator changed color. This morning is started off showing it was warmed up enough, even though it was 5 degrees cooler than yesterday morning. The early part of my drive into work is very hilly, lots of steep hills and curves. I noticed when I got to the freeway, there was a lot more time spent in EV mode, however where I used to have a stretch of several miles using ICE I would get that marvelous feeling when I'd see the ICE running but still getting that 60+ sign! Didn't get that this morning at all - when ICE was running, only one time did I have the EV assist thing going. Probably more about learning to get the balance back than anything else. The last thing I noticed was when I got to my exit. Usually I have a full charge at that point and I stay mostly in EV as I drive down the access road and head into the parking lot. My SOC was very low this time, so I used more ICE than I'm accustomed to at that part of the trip. Again, I think it's more about me figuring out the best way to balance things. All in all, it was a pretty normal trip into work - I was running a touch late, so I pushed the speed a bit more than usual, and I bumped it up to over 70 a couple of times to ensure the FE update took.

Hey ScubaDad.....I ordered mine about 10 days ago. They asked who referred me.....I wrote ScubaDadMiama from the C-max forum! Anyway, mine has shipped and arrived in San Antonio at 4:43 this morning....I'm only 30 miles from there, but it'll likely take another 2 days to reach me! Thanks for posting your pictures - this was exactly what I was looking for!!

Will we be seeing this as your new wallpaper?

I had both the FE update and the headliner done today. Posting pictures: Before (with the red barn in the background) After As for the FE update, I noticed the EV+ was gone, but since I picked it up on my way home, there was no more freeway driving ahead of me. I know what I generally get in gas mileage from the dealership to home, but I don't think today's test was a good one. Usually by the time I get there my SOC is very high, making the trip on the slower, rural highway more EV than ICE. When I picked it up and drove home, the dealership had apparently been tooling around the parking lot for a while....SOC was almost nothing, so I actually got worse mileage on the way home than usual. Add in the road construction, which is usually finished by the time I drive through there and usually doesn't stop me at the bottom of a hill, and you have the makings of a really terrible trip FE wise. Tomorrow morning is expected to be about the same temperature as this morning, and I know where the little blue thermometer turned white over the last few days. I will be able to report back if the engine warms up quicker than before, and I will be able to tell if there is a difference in my morning commute. I'm usually through the never ending road construction area long before the crew shows up, so my commute should be "normal" tomorrow. Crossing my fingers for an improved FE!

Welcome!

I'd buy it again. I really like it. Even if I'm not quite getting the EPA estimated mileage. I still get to wave at the gas station as I drive by!

Karma Jus.....I bust the new kid's chops, it comes back to bite me in the liftgate!

Dropped my car off this morning for the FE update and the headliner recall. After busting the new kid's chops (handed him my bike helmet and told the poor kid it was the part for the recall) I hand him my key fob and walk around back to get my computer and lunch bag out of the back. I kick once. Damn thing won't open. I kick again. Damn thing stays closed. Finally I realize I handed the key fob to the new kid. Boy do I feel stupid!

You'd think they could come up with better terminology. Every time I think about being flashed at my dealer I wanna stick forks in my eyes.

First and foremost, an apology. When I first started looking at the C-Max, I read everything on here and when people would post about dropping off their car for service, I would think, "People...it's just a car!" To all of those people I humbly and sincerely apologize.....I dropped my C-Max off this morning and I miss my car!!! To the dealer's credit, when I dropped it off they told me this was the first FE update and the first headliner recall they've done and they arranged for a rental at Ford's expense. They wanted to make sure they did it right and did not want to inconvenience me. Not so much to the dealer's credit was the rental they provided. A Nissan Frontier with 10k miles on it...but it smells like it's been rode hard and put up wet. I mean really....who left their sweaty gym socks in the fresh air intake??? Why do the brakes suck? (I'm going to have to retrain myself to brake properly when I get my C-Max back - even after driving this POS for only a day!) Where are all my cool displays? Where is the voice control paddle? Where are the controls for everything? And where are my badge and parking pass??? Oh crap! I am the harbinger of doom when it comes to new cars. It's a given that when I purchase a new car, there will immediately be a safety recall. My co-workers call me the albatross of cars. So it was no surprise when I started hearing about the recall. It is, however, annoying when people ask me what kind of car I'm thinking about next so they can run the other way! Oh yeah...one more apology is in order. The dealership hired a shiny new kid...waaaayyyy green behind the ears. I handed him my bike helmet and told him these were the parts for the recall. The poor kid was so new he just stuttered at me until I let him off the hook. I'm so hard on the newbies! Not sure when I will get the C-Max back. I will post pictures of the headliner fix (For real...not the bike helmet) when I get it back and update folks on changes in FE.