I don't use Eco Mode

[jestevens]

Hmm, well mine used to be a fleet vehicle, it was originally programmed to always have the headlights on ALL the time (like a motorcycle) so maybe they also programmed it to limit the speed.  I got them to unprogram the headlights but I didn't know about the speed limit.  I don't think I'm going to worry about it, with the traffic around here the way it is I can't imagine that I would really need to go that fast anyway.

[jestevens]

I did regen from coming back down off a mountain last night and it was beautiful, I think I went about 45-50MPH over a slightly sloped road at the base of the mountain purely on electric for at least a mile or so afterward.  Really nice summer night with the windows rolled down and the engine not running, crusing through the country.

[stevedebi]

Being able to turn off the HVB charging (going uphill) just to have the satisfaction of charging it going downhill doesn't seem to be worth the effort, in my opinion.

Well, you can't do that with the Energi, can it be done with the hybrid?

[Adrian_L]

You can't.   Snowstorm was advocating for a button where the HVB doesn't get charged, so he could have an empty battery at the top of a hill.

[jackalopetx]

I agree with obob.  It's good that we have these options and different drivers will have different preferences.    I do sometimes wonder "why did you buy a C-max"? when I read that people want to drive 85 mph on the highway or drive aggressively in traffic.    You use a hammer to pound a nail, not a screwdriver.

 

Probably because you get good gas mileage even if you drive 85mph and you also benefit from a car that is relatively quiet. What car is better for cruising efficiently at 85mph? Possibly the Lexus hybrid hatchback

 

 

By driving aggressively in traffic I take it you mean accelerating quickly. That's just safe driving. Being hesitant or accelerating slowly can cause traffic and slowdowns. The electric motor torque makes the C-Max good for that.... As long as you turn off "Eco Mode" or "Eco Select" or whatever it's called

Edited June 1, 2016 by jackalopetx

[Adrian_L]

Um........no--accelerating quickly is not safe driving.  You tend to tailgate more, you have less reaction time to sudden emergencies (like the guy who doesn't see you because you're accelerating quickly when he wants to change lanes).   Obviously driving like a slug is not good either.

 

My only point is that the C-max isn't a sports car--so to drive it like one simply defeats one of the two main reasons to buy one---fuel economy and a comfortable, quite ride.

[plus 3 golfer]

...  I do sometimes wonder "why did you buy a C-max"? when I read that people want to drive 85 mph on the highway ...  You use a hammer to pound a nail, not a screwdriver.

It matters not what vehicle I drive.  Let me tell you "why".

 

I drive 85 mph in TX to save time (80 mph speed limit) and generally 80 mph when the speed limit is 75 and so forth whether in my C-Max or in other cars I own / owned - Passat, Jetta, Maxima, C280, Rogue.  The additional speed on a 2000+ mile cross country trip saves over 2 1/2 hours of driving time and allows me to save one night of lodging on the cross country trip.  Whether when driving the C-Max I get near 40 mpg or 27 mpg in the Passat or 42 in the Jetta TDi, the vehicle or my FE is not material to how fast I drive across country. ;)  :)

[raadsel]

It matters not what vehicle I drive.  Let me tell you "why".

 

I drive 85 mph in TX to save time (80 mph speed limit) and generally 80 mph when the speed limit is 75 and so forth whether in my C-Max or in other cars I own / owned - Passat, Jetta, Maxima, C280, Rogue.  The additional speed on a 2000+ mile cross country trip saves over 2 1/2 hours of driving time and allows me to save one night of lodging on the cross country trip.  Whether when driving the C-Max I get near 40 mpg or 27 mpg in the Passat or 42 in the Jetta TDi, the vehicle or my FE is not material to how fast I drive across country. ;)  :)

 

Out of curiosity, what kind of mpgs are you getting when you drive at 80 and 85 mph? Also, how does the C-Max handle at those speeds?

[markd]

I get around 38mpg at 80 to 85 and the car is very stable.

[Adrian_L]

We're Canadian.  The speed limit on the highway is usually 68 mph (110 km) so driving 85 could get you a hefty fine.  I did drive 85-90 between Vancouver and Calgary to go to a wedding many, many years ago in a Volvo 850.  But I was young and dumb back then.

[markd]

The speed limit is 70 here in Indiana but the fast lane on the interstate runs 80 to 100 the middle lane is 75 to 80 and you get ran over doing less than 70 in the slow lane. I've been well over 120 many times in my youth on 465. I had an Integra that went 140. It isn't uncommon to see cars going that fast on the hiway at here.

Edited June 2, 2016 by markd

[Kelleytoons]

Which is fairly crazy.

 

In my youth, in Nevada (when we had no speed limits on the highways) I drove in excess of 130mph between Vegas and California (once you got over the line you needed to be careful).  And that was insane -- statistics here don't lie, and speeds in excess of 55 promote highway fatalities in almost an algorhymic fashion.

 

Yes, I'm an old man, but I drive 5mph over whatever the posted limit is and if folks don't like it they can go around me (I do stay in the right lane when possible).

[jestevens]

I could understand driving fast in the desert because it's -flat- and there's a lot of distance to cover.  Around here the roads haven't kept up with the density of population and demand for goods.  Plus you've got all sorts of folks, some of them not necessarily driving, some want to race, etc.  I guess there are a few times when traffic is lighter but I think going 80MPH for any length of time on a public road around here would greatly increase the chances of an accident.

[markd]

I'm old too and stopped driving like that a long time ago. I use the five mile over rule also. But in my twenties I liked going fast. When I was a teenager I owned a 69 Camero 396 that was very quick, but quick was expensive. My 87 Integra, which was new was very fast. Thankfully I made it through my wreaklesss years!

[jackalopetx]

Um........no--accelerating quickly is not safe driving.  You tend to tailgate more, you have less reaction time to sudden emergencies (like the guy who doesn't see you because you're accelerating quickly when he wants to change lanes).   Obviously driving like a slug is not good either.

 

My only point is that the C-max isn't a sports car--so to drive it like one simply defeats one of the two main reasons to buy one---fuel economy and a comfortable, quite ride.

 

So if you're turning onto a main road and there's a gap in traffic, do you accelerate slowly so that the other cars have to brake for you? What if they aren't paying attention and don't break? Now there's an accident. The cost and energy used to repair the cars is far greater than the fuel savings from driving like a snail

 

You're thinking in terms of sports car vs non-sports-car when you should be trying to drive as safely as you can. Driving like a senile old person isn't safe driving

Edited June 2, 2016 by jackalopetx

[Kelleytoons]

I'm old too and stopped driving like that a long time ago. I use the five mile over rule also. But in my twenties I liked going fast. When I was a teenager I owned a 69 Camero 396 that was very quick, but quick was expensive. My 87 Integra, which was new was very fast. Thankfully I made it through my wreaklesss years!

 

This is why the insurance rates for under 25 year old males is appropriately insane (although then a lot of them drive uninsured).

 

As to the other poster, yes, you need to accelerate in order to merge into traffic, which was what I first said early in this topic (why the Prius is, in my mind, unsafe).  I think the other poster, though, was talking about just accelerating in general (which doing fast isn't a good idea and wastes gas -- I was taught VERY early on to drive carefully and as a result have always gotten great mileage even out of vehicles that weren't supposed to do so.  Accelerating slowly, anticipating signals and taking your foot off the gas before you come to them is just common sense.  Amazing how my wife can't tell that a mile from where we are going at 60mph the light is red and thus she has to slam on the brakes when she gets up to it.  I've given up even trying to educate her).

[raadsel]

Which is fairly crazy.

 

In my youth, in Nevada (when we had no speed limits on the highways) I drove in excess of 130mph between Vegas and California (once you got over the line you needed to be careful).  And that was insane -- statistics here don't lie, and speeds in excess of 55 promote highway fatalities in almost an algorhymic fashion.

 

Yes, I'm an old man, but I drive 5mph over whatever the posted limit is and if folks don't like it they can go around me (I do stay in the right lane when possible).

 

I've read some of what Utah has released from studies done as they've raised the speed limit on their freeways. They have found, with raising the speed limit to 80, that it seems to actually be making things safer (less crashes). 

[Kelleytoons]

If so that's contrary to the (very) large study done by the DOT when they did lower the National limit to 55 (auto fatalities when WAY down).

 

My guess is the study is too small to be of any use (or the sample size is skewed -- no offense to my Utah buddies, whom I have several, but that whole state skews very oddly demographically, for reasons you can probably guess).

[Adrian_L]

This is why the insurance rates for under 25 year old males is appropriately insane (although then a lot of them drive uninsured).

 

As to the other poster, yes, you need to accelerate in order to merge into traffic, which was what I first said early in this topic (why the Prius is, in my mind, unsafe).  I think the other poster, though, was talking about just accelerating in general (which doing fast isn't a good idea and wastes gas -- I was taught VERY early on to drive carefully and as a result have always gotten great mileage even out of vehicles that weren't supposed to do so.  Accelerating slowly, anticipating signals and taking your foot off the gas before you come to them is just common sense.  Amazing how my wife can't tell that a mile from where we are going at 60mph the light is red and thus she has to slam on the brakes when she gets up to it.  I've given up even trying to educate her).

 

Thank you.  That's exactly what I meant. 

[plus 3 golfer]

I think I cited this attachment before in this forum (but could have been another).  It's a long but interesting read.  There's a lot that goes into setting speed limit.  Crashes are only one part as you can't set speed limits to zero and maybe 80 mph makes more sense on some interstates than 70 mph even though the severity of a crash at 80 mph is likely greater than one at seventy.
 
"A change in the speed limit almost always changes the mean speed of traffic. However, the changes are not always proportional. For the most part, the change in the mean speed of traffic created by a change in speed limit is around 25 percent of the change in the speed limit.⁷ In other words, a speed limit increase or reduction of 6 mph (10 km/h) yields about a 1.5 mph (2.5 km/h) raising or lowering of the mean speed, respectively. When this statistic is combined with the power formula equating change in mean speed to crash risk, it is evident that lowering the speed limit will reduce crash risk, and raising the speed limit will increase crash risk.
 
Whether the safety gains/losses associated with the change in the speed limit is worthwhile must be examined in the context of maintaining reasonable mobility, and other system objectives. In addition, the policy context must be considered because the relationship between travel speed and speed limits indicates that the percentage of violators increases when speed limits are lowered and decreases when speed limits are increased."
 
fhwasa12004.pdf

[raadsel]

The item that Plus 3 Golfer mentioned, that increasing the speed limit only changes the mean speed of traffic by 25% of the change in speed, is exactly what Utah is seeing. They increased the speed by 5 mph, from 75 to 80 but are only seeing the average speed of traffic increase by 1.5 mph. To further combat this, they are largely doing away with the cushion (10% or 5 mph) that the highway patrol has previously given speeders -- instead they are pulling people over if they are above 81 or 82 mph. Instead, they are finding traffic tends to run at a more uniform speed.

 

It is an interesting point about the study done when the speed was lowered to 55, compared to the studies Utah is doing. It is true that Utah's studies are very limited -- by design. Basically, Utah is requiring a study to be done, each time, before permanently raising the speed limit of a particular stretch of highway. As such, the study is only for a limited section of road and takes into account the actual speeds drivers are traveling. Additionally, the US study was much broader, including not only rural Interstate Highways but two lane roads, urban driving, etc. One other issue is the technological differences in the 30 years since the US study was done -- cars typically can drive higher speeds more safely than 30 years ago, particularly with advances such as Electronic Stability Control and, as they become more common, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, and other automated driving technologies.

 

Of course, the flip side of this is that Utah is talking crashes being reduced, I haven't seen them address fatalities. And there are some interesting arguments about what the speed limits should be, particularly in western states where Interstate highways run through long stretches that are very sparsely populated. For example, you have about 200 miles of I-15 in Utah with minimal towns (maybe 10), and only one of those towns has a population above 3,000 and none with even 5,000. This was a major issue when the 55 mph speed limit was passed, with drivers in the Western States claiming it ignored the empty stretches of highway the frequently drive by forcing them to the same standard used on the much more populous East Coast. It is an interesting debate with some strong opinions on both sides.

 

Of course, with technology advances, it seems like it would make a lot of sense to have variable speed limits, where the speed limit is posted on electronically controlled signs, with speeds that vary, based on weather conditions and even time of day. One of the things I've found odd is how states, like Texas, are getting rid of night time speed limits, at the same time they are raising speed limits to speeds that are unsafe to drive at night.

[jestevens]

Around here the traffic density and hills would make me nervous to drive much faster than traffic on a regular basis.  I think what people talk about with hybrids is the electric torque and probably one of the first cars people experience with a CVT transmission - so there's no lag in acceleration once it does start rolling.  Now that I've driven hybrids I don't want to go back to a traditional car, they aren't sports cars but they are fun to drive in their own right - plus less of a gas penalty and typically a car with more upscale trim.  My dream car would be a Tesla S or X but I would just get into trouble with that, the C-MAX is much more practical and is one of few cars where you can get a panoramic roof for less than $30,000.

[plus 3 golfer]

Out of curiosity, what kind of mpgs are you getting when you drive at 80 and 85 mph? Also, how does the C-Max handle at those speeds?

With eco-cruise set around 85 mph (set with gps), the trip computer will read about 35 to 36 mpg but the trip computers are usually off from actual by about 4-5%. Also, with eco-cruise I'd say the average speed is likely slightly less than 85 mph and there is the occasional slow down passing cars / trucks. This FE is with AC on and about 500 pounds of passenger / cargo weight on the stretch of  I20 in both directions between Monahans, TX  and around  the junction of I10 with I20 about 80 miles.   So, for the 80 miles of trip computer data, I would say that 33-34 mpg is likely closer to the "real" FE at a "true" 85 mph average speed.

 

Handling is good at 85 mph.  I have no issues but it's hard to compare without testing other cars at the same time.

[jackalopetx]

I think the speed limits are getting too high for peoples' reaction time, headlight quality, etc

 

But really fatal crashes tend to be due to drunk driving, no seatbelt, no helmet

[stevedebi]

Out of curiosity, what kind of mpgs are you getting when you drive at 80 and 85 mph? Also, how does the C-Max handle at those speeds?

I get 36 at 78 MPH. Eco cruise will range from 76 to 80. That was on a 1800 mile round trip through the desert.

 

The C-Max handles fine at high speeds.