Riddley Posted June 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 (edited) First off don't compare the newbies here to newbies that never logged on to this forum since our Newbies have been reading all the wisdom posted and have incorporated this wisdom and coaching to get these High FE numbers. That is the first misconception since us early adaptors tried to figure out all the tricks until we found this forum. Second, my FE numbers are on a constant rise even with A/C running on this 300 mile tank which I am at 48.3 mpg at 300 miles driven with the only change is the use of premium in this tank and so far I can say its making a BIG difference. The BIggest difference is weather and better summer fuel grade cause my car was the first batch built and shipped Sept 10 th to my dealer and I took possession around the 20th of Sept 2013. I am scheduled to get the upgrades next week. So my FE numbers have been going way up and I could have easily had 4- 600 mile tanks if I wanted to run my tank that low again, no thanks :) I want my fuel pump to not burn up :) Hi Catsailor! First, I agree that many new owners benefit by the sage advice provided here. They will be quicker on the FE curve, having the tips and tricks early adopters had to learn by trial and error. Still, by your own admission, you have gradually improved to the point where you are now getting 48.3 in your C-MAX which you've had for 8 or 9 months. That is way better than me. My best is only something like, 46.6. But - if I compare your results to the reports from a few of the new owners...ScubaDadMiami in thread "I Think This Car Likes Me" (reports 48 MPG in 1st tank)SnitGTS in thread "600 Mile CMax Club" (reports 49 MPG Avg in 1st tank)SnowStorm in thread "600 Mile CMax Club" (reports 49 MPG Avg in 5th tank)... then I still must wonder if there is a more probable explanation than that new owners just are better informed. Second, everyone agrees with the fact that the C-MAX will improve in FE over time and miles. Jus and Matt suggest the improvement will continue from 2K to 20K, and then possibly plateau. This fact has no bearing on the topic of this thread (was there possibly some slient tuning by Ford in more recent production runs). The fact that the car should improve in FE over time and miles actually supports the "silent tuning" theory. Third - that the weather and the change in summer fuel are the biggest factors is promising. Regarding the weather theory, I admitted both in the title of this thread and in the opening post, that the weather could help explain what is being reported. However, we can still observe that there are a lot of owners from warm to mild climates that didn't see 49 MPG/tank until after many months and thousands of miles were logged in the car. I don't know of a single owner in a warm climate that achieved 48-49 MPG right from the start. Many owners in warm climates have not ever reached 49 MPG/tank. The weather effect is slightly suspect for these reasons. Regarding the quality of summer Fuel. I know nothing about this, so I can't even suggest a reason why it might not explain what is being reported by new owners. However, consider that you yourself, with the many miles you have on your car, are using the same summer fuel, and are not getting 49 MPG. I'm another example - I am also using summer fuel. I am a fairly good hypermiler, having eclipsed 600 miles/tank, and I still have not yet averaged over 47 MPG. These facts might suggest that the summer fuel theory is also slightly suspect. So, to me, this continues to be an interesting phenomenon that is not yet explained. Edited June 1, 2013 by Riddley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 (edited) Jus for the record, I thought the breakin would plateau at 12,000 miles but I don't know...I think Matt is right there with it still going past 15,000 since I too, am seeing ridiculous MPGs post 15,000 and lets just see where this breakin all goes. I know these high MPGs are skewed somewhat with my terrain change to surface streets. The weather has no real impact for me, SoCal has very consistent and stable weather - sunshine, sunshine and the worse weather here: sunshine. Plus no Santa Anas at this time. So a bad weather here is summer for you guys on the NE and I still totally believe these new CMaxs are just HOT on the MPGs, way hotter than mine was at that odo. :) Edited June 1, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METROMAN Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 Had ours less than a week but we are already showing 44 & up mpgs, displayed on the screen mind you. Wife did a 26 mile run yesterday on rural roads, ac on 76 & got 47.6. I believe the differences are mostly weather related. I own some Geo Metros & belong to the geometroforum.com We also discuss many different ways to increase our mileage. Grill blocks, adding air to the tires, aero mods, total removal of ac systems, etc. Cold weather totally robs those cars of mpgs. Typical loss of 5 to 9 mpg in winter with winter blend gas is not uncommon. SOMD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adair Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 The weather has no real impact for me, SoCal has very consistent and stable weather - sunshine, sunshine and the worse weather here: sunshine. :) :redcard: SOMD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METROMAN Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 :redcard:Tough life you have out there. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisMax Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 (edited) We've had our C-Max for about three and a half weeks and are very happy with it. Previously we owned an 08 Honda Civic Hybrid so driving a hybrid is nothing new. The C-Max drives very much like the Honda Civic so right out of the dealership we were getting the mileage, (the Honda however doesn't have an EV mode). One important note is to reset the mileage averages as soon as you get it at the dealer makes a big difference. On our third tank of gas and are getting 47+ mpg with the AC on and not driving like granny. The commute is 40 miles round trip at speeds between 25 and 65 mph. It's about 30% city driving with plenty of hills though no interstate driving. Our criteria for a new car was that it had to get 40+ mpg, had to have a hatchback and fold down rear seats. We really liked the way the Honda drove and handled and wished that they made a hatchback version of the Civic Hybrid (no the Insight wasn't the same). So it came down to the C-Max or the Prius 3. When I opened the door on the C-Max it felt solid unlike the flimsy feel of the Prius. Then there are all those buttons and that rear view window of the Prius it was more like (to borrow a phrase) driving an appliance. The C-Max was shear pleasure to drive with an uncluttered dash. Indeed the only hesitation was all the blogs with the stories of horrible mileage and the Consumer Reports test. The test drive however proved to me the C-Max was capable of getting the 40+ mpg and that something was not jiving with all the bad reports. I knew about the effect of weather on mileage having owned the Honda so being well informed and expecting to get 40+ and not 47+ we bought the C-Max. It was a little bigger than the Prius 3 and so much more comfortable. After getting in and out of a Honda Civic for 5 years getting in the C-Max is shear joy! Just today a guy came up to me in a mall parking lot to ask about the C-Max. Interestingly he was stuck on a choice between the Prius and the C-Max just as I had been a month ago. He really liked the C-Max but all the bad press about the mileage was making him hesitate just like me. I put his mind at ease by showing him my trip 2 display which had 48+ mpg over 80 miles ( I reset it with every tankful). After answering his many questions he said I'd just sold him on the C-Max. I think Ford must have tweaked things a bit because so many people were in the low 30's even the Honda Hybrid was hitting the high 30's in winter here in the Hudson Valley with temps in the low teens (without snow of course). Our total mileage is 1043 with a lifetime average of 42 mpg and rising. Edited June 4, 2013 by ChrisMax salsaguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testdriver Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 The lack of MPG complaints from recent buyers is telling. I think we'll know this winter whether the car or the weather/fuel is the reason us new C-Maxers are getting good millage. If we're struggling to get 40 MPG come December, then we'll know it's just the weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubaDadMiami Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Welcome aboard! Great to have experienced drivers like you here. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salsaguy Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 great post/story Chrismaxwe hope to hear more stories like this. wish you could have steered him to this owners forum as well but you did a great thing to steer them to the better car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisMax Posted June 5, 2013 Report Share Posted June 5, 2013 Got another person to buy a C-Max today! One look at my trip 2 display with 47.9 mpg over 250 miles settled it. Yea I drive a lot! ScubaDadMiami and Adair 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riddley Posted June 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2013 Got another person to buy a C-Max today! One look at my trip 2 display with 47.9 mpg over 250 miles settled it. Yea I drive a lot! You should start getting commissions for those ChrisMax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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