C-MAX Fuel Mileage. What are you getting?

[fbov]

There are alternatives...

 

I used three different approaches

- Lexan behind the top grill; easy to slide it in after removing the plastic rivets across the top (pull center plunger and the rivet releases)

- a bicycle inner tube in the middle grill (needs wire T's to keep air pressure from pushing it through the shutter baffle; it's fairly hard to see and you can deflate if overheating)

- foam pipe insulation in the lower grill, for ease of removal mostly... ran out of Lexan big enough, and had the pipe insulation

 

I did mine progressively, so it's hard to say what level of improvement resulted, but I am running far higher (15%) than my baseline mileage (pre-PCM update) in my rural route commute.

 

And lest Paul remind me... I'll do an immersion heater next year, when the warranty's up and I've got a winter running with improved mileage, regardless the source. My summer mileage has consistently amazed me, so I want to see what happens this winter, without external heating.

 

Have fun,

Frank

[Marc Smith]

598 miles

349 EV

48.8 indicated

12.24gal used indicated

 

13.1 gallons pumped

45.6 calc.

 

I had my daughter with me  and I took a longer roundabout route coming home trying to get over 600 miles.  but no such luck.

[keving]

I drive the C-Max like any other car, and I'm a leadfoot.  I get 38 avg.  My wife likes a challenge and does everything she can do to get the best mileage.  She averages around 42-44.  We live in Kentucky - not real flat.  Also, our driving has a lot of 70MPH limits, so that's bad for mileage.  Seems to do better in the summer than winter.  We have 41,000 miles.

[SPL Tech]

I am at 43 MPG with 400 miles of 90% city driving in moderate to heavy traffic. A bit of AC use, maybe 25% of the time. I am light on the throttle, although I have to climb a 1500' hill every other day twice.  Car is well beyond broken in. I run door spec PSI in tires, so 38 or whatever is printed on the door. Temps are 75 - 80F.

I dont really see the 47 MPG happening that others claim, not in serious traffic. Maybe if I maxed out the PSI on the tires, never used AC or opened the windows, and drove slower than a grandmother, but under normal conditions it's not going to happen. Not for a full tank of fuel.

Edited December 1, 2014 by SPL Tech

[Marc Smith]

nota great tank  nearly half of it highway and it was sub 40*

 

520 miles

271 ev

44.1 indicated MPG

11.75 Indicated Gallones

 

41.6  mpg Calc

12.5 gallons Pumped

[wab]

:nonono: Low to mid 30's till 13B07 then high 30's with a few low 40's.

In July the Body Control Module and all the corrupted software were replaced, tech said only took 1 software install, ALWAYS took 2,3 or 4 attempts in the past.

Now we're getting low 40's with a 558 mile tank last week :thumbsup:.

We still get 33.7 at 78 mph.

 

Tuesday we got this on the way back from San Antonio.

20+ head wind most of the way

speed limits are 75, 80 and 85, we drove at 80, 87 and 92. 

Edited December 26, 2014 by wab

[Kelleytoons]

Wow -- this is a long thread.

 

Something I noticed over the last two days.  First a little background: here in Florida (where I've only turned the heat on once so far this winter) when I was driving to my PT today (which I've been doing three times a week the last six weeks, so I'm pretty familiar with the route and mileage) I got 44 mpg which startled me since I've been averaging at least in the low 50's every single time (I usually get the high 50's/low 60's coming back, which I attribute to more EV and/or engine warmer -- it's about a 15 mile trip one way, and I'm at therapy for a little over an hour, but going there even when it's colder I seldom get less than 52 mpg or so.  I average about 45 mph, with a 4 mile 60 mph stretch).  However, the lights were on the whole time (it was overcast this morning).

 

Is it possible the lights caused the drop in mileage?  Or, I guess more to the point, has anyone determined the effect the headlights have on mpg?  As a rule I drive with the lights off (they are on the auto setting).  I still ended up averaging 50 mpg since I got 56 mpg coming home (a bit low but I attribute that to the cold -- it was about 50 degrees for the whole morning, which is cold here in Florida).

[ScubaDadMiami]

Is it possible the lights caused the drop in mileage?  Or, I guess more to the point, has anyone determined the effect the headlights have on mpg?

I don't really see any change when I run the headlamps.

[spyburn]

Three things kill my mpg's.....well actually four, but we won't talk about when I'm driving like an idiot.  Cold, wind and water.  I drive rural highways and interstate highways about 95% of the time.  Been taking the same route to work for a year and a half with this car and notice that my fuel efficiency drops pretty significantly when it is cold - but less if I only use the seat heater rather than the heater and blower.  Water on the roads seems to cause an even bigger drop.  Windy days also result in a drop.  On days when it is raining, cold, windy and I'm running the defroster I drop from an average of about 45 mpg on my commute to around 33.  I've actually considered taking the husband's vehicle on cold rainy days just so I don't screw up a "good" tank.  Yeah, I'm a little off.  ;)

[SPL Tech]

:nonono: Low to mid 30's till 13B07 then high 30's with a few low 40's.

 

In July the Body Control Module and all the corrupted software were replaced, tech said only took 1 software install, ALWAYS took 2,3 or 4 attempts in the past.

 

Now we're getting low 40's with a 558 mile tank last week :thumbsup:.

We still get 33.7 at 78 mph.

 

Tuesday we got this on the way back from San Antonio.

20+ head wind most of the way

speed limits are 75, 80 and 85, we drove at 80, 87 and 92. 

Damn, that is bad. 27 at and average of about 85 MPH? I think I was getting about 40 MPG in my Jetta TDI diesel at 70 MPH. That said, 85 is really fast. You probably need about 40% of the capacity of the engine to hold that speed.

 

What is typical for say 60, 70 and 80 MPH? What are others getting for those speeds?

Edited December 30, 2014 by SPL Tech

[RockwallRick]

My Wife's average MPG is slowly creeping up.. now at 44 mpg probably due to not running the AC as much although we have had temps as

high as 85 degrees for the past week! I have been getting 50 plus just about every time but I don't drive it that much. :rockon:

[Kelleytoons]

85?  Come on, they haven't been THAT high (I think we got to 82 but I'm pretty sure it didn't get to 85).

 

Then again, there ARE microclimes (we often joke that we should have weather reports for each street in our development).

 

Haven't had the air on since October and have averaged well into the high 50's (and low 60's) for each and every tank (yep, made it into the 600 club twice now). 

[SPL Tech]

Since we are talking about arbitrary BS trips and bogus trip lengths, I'll throw some in there too. I got 999.9 MPG on my last trip of 4.2 miles. The ICE dident come on one. I think that makes me the world record holder. I'll by myself some champagne.

Edited January 1, 2015 by SPL Tech

[shinytop]

On my Thanksgiving and Christmas trips to my daughter's I drove 70-75 and got 40-42 on the highway.  Was in the 30's part of the time.  

[RockwallRick]

85?  Come on, they haven't been THAT high (I think we got to 82 but I'm pretty sure it didn't get to 85).

 

Then again, there ARE microclimes (we often joke that we should have weather reports for each street in our development).

 

Haven't had the air on since October and have averaged well into the high 50's (and low 60's) for each and every tank (yep, made it into the 600 club twice now). 

It was down here!! My Wife wanted to turn the AC back on but we got by without it! :rockon:

[Kelleytoons]

I wasn't out in the hottest part of the day, but I do listen to all the broadcasts and none of them said more than 82.  But, as I said, microclimes.

 

The warmest it was for me in Maximis was about 75 (early morning PT) so I was able to get by without AC (if MY wife had been in the car she'd have wanted the air on as well, though :>).

 

Temps now back to normal (although I notice that tomorrow is supposed to get into the low 80's again, but then back to low 70's and even slightly colder the rest of the week.  And that's when we're going away to Sanibel.  Sigh).

[RockwallRick]

We may get into the Upper 80's today! Forecast High calls for 85. My Wife is wanting to turn the AC back on in the house. We watch the Tampa Bay Weather Forecasts but you can generally add at least 5 degrees to that. Also, we live about 70 miles farther south from where you are and that probably makes a difference as well.

 

Getting back on topic as for Gas Mileage it really depends on who is doing the driving! My Wife has yet to get 600 miles out of a tank! If I was the primary driver of this car I am confident I would be able to get at least 600 miles out of every tank of gas!! :rockon:

[Kelleytoons]

Yeah, it will be interesting to see how our trip down south (to Sanibel) goes in terms of mpg.

 

I intend to take the shorter mileage/longer time route, because I'm sure it will be at speeds less than 70 (and it only results in 15 minutes more out of a 4 hour trip.  Honestly, I can't understand folks who want to get somewhere over that distance even 30 minutes sooner.  And I'm at an age where life is much shorter than others :>).  I'll certainly report back here with the results.