Recumpence Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Hey Guys, Long time since I have been around this forum. For those of you who do not know me, here is a quick background; My C-Max is 2013. At this point I have 115,000 miles on my car. I bought it in late 2012 (October) for my business. I carry about 250 to 300 pounds of equipment in my car and do mostly town to town driving. I was the first on this forum to achieve a 700 mile tank of gas. My best day was 110 miles at 61.5mpg. Paul has since radically eclipsed my mileage in individual runs. But, my lifetime mpg is an even 50.0 (even through northern illinois winters). I had been running three grille blocks on the nose of my car and smooth wheel covers to maximize MPG. Now, two years ago I was rear ended badly and the body shop removed my grille blocks and replaced the nose of my car. Then I replaced my tires. These two things dropped my MPG to an absolute max of 53 to 54mpg if I really work on it. For grins, I decided to reinstall the original nose section and restore (repaint and refresh) my old grille blocks. The difference is staggering. My MPG went up from the 53 to 54mpg I have been working hard to achieve, to 59.6mpg in my first 8 mile test run (after warming the car up). This is great to achieve. When I made my first grille blocks, they were made one at a time. So, it was difficult to quantify exactly how much improvement I was seeing because one or two MPG here and there is not super easy to quantify. However, adding all three back at once made a massive difference. It is awesome to see a 5 to 6mpg improvement all at once. I plan on reinstating my MPG research now that I have the bug again. :~) Matt ptjones, obob and C-MaxSea 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowStorm Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Welcome back Matt! Looks like I really need to get with this grill cover thing - been putting it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxSea Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Ditto Snowstorm, welcome back Matt - I need to get the grill cover thing going as well. (I've been losing a little ground on MPG's lately) Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 Welcome Back Matt, it's nice to get more interest in MPG's again. I currently have life time of 48.1 mpg. and 133K miles, 83% HWY, but I'm still going up. :) At this point I know how to get 1K mi. tank on a slow trip(72mpg), but haven't had the opportunity to do it. :) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recumpence Posted May 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 If driven at 30mph or less with no elevation change, smooth pavement, areo mods, high PSI in the tires (and some decently broken in tires), and proper hyper miling techniques, yes, 72mpg seems to be the max possible. I am lucky that I do very little expressway driving. My driving averages around 45mph with LOTS of stop and go. Oh, I have a Model 3 reserved. I am one of the early ones (I stood in line for 3 hours before the store opened). I plan on getting all the performance goodies on mine (dual motors, big battery, performance package, etc). But, I plan on keeping my little C-Max. I love this car. Matt ptjones and obob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted May 30, 2016 Report Share Posted May 30, 2016 On my record run speeds were in the 35-55mph with about 35mph average which means I was doing alot of 40-45mph to make up for the stop and go. ;) It took us 4 days to do it sightseeing in FL. I don't need to slow down to break my record, just be more efficient, not have traffic problems and weather problems(wind and rain). Hard to have everything go your way for 4 days. ;) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted June 3, 2016 Report Share Posted June 3, 2016 (edited) If driven at 30mph or less with no elevation change, smooth pavement, areo mods, high PSI in the tires (and some decently broken in tires), and proper hyper miling techniques, yes, 72mpg seems to be the max possible. I am lucky that I do very little expressway driving. My driving averages around 45mph with LOTS of stop and go. Oh, I have a Model 3 reserved. I am one of the early ones (I stood in line for 3 hours before the store opened). I plan on getting all the performance goodies on mine (dual motors, big battery, performance package, etc). But, I plan on keeping my little C-Max. I love this car. MattI've thought about moving over to Tesla, but the cost keeps driving me away. I see all Tesla models by the hand full everyday since I live only 10 miles from the factory Edited June 3, 2016 by mtb9153 ptjones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevedebi Posted June 3, 2016 Report Share Posted June 3, 2016 I've thought about moving over to Tesla, but the cost keeps driving me away. I see all Tesla models by the hand full everyday since I live only 10 miles from the factoryI work across the street from the LA Tesla distributor. See them all the time, sometimes being hauled back for service by a Ford heavy duty pickup (ironic). ptjones 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obob Posted June 3, 2016 Report Share Posted June 3, 2016 If driven at 30mph or less with no elevation change, smooth pavement, areo mods, high PSI in the tires (and some decently broken in tires), and proper hyper miling techniques, yes, 72mpg seems to be the max possible. I am lucky that I do very little expressway driving. My driving averages around 45mph with LOTS of stop and go. Oh, I have a Model 3 reserved. I am one of the early ones (I stood in line for 3 hours before the store opened). I plan on getting all the performance goodies on mine (dual motors, big battery, performance package, etc). But, I plan on keeping my little C-Max. I love this car. Matt So I assume you have not had transmission problems. That's good information. So 115,000 45mph average, lots of stop and go, grill blocks and no transmission problems. 50 lifetime average speaks for itself. Hey Guys, Long time since I have been around this forum. For those of you who do not know me, here is a quick background; My C-Max is 2013. At this point I have 115,000 miles on my car. I bought it in late 2012 (October) for my business. I carry about 250 to 300 pounds of equipment in my car and do mostly town to town driving. I was the first on this forum to achieve a 700 mile tank of gas. My best day was 110 miles at 61.5mpg. Paul has since radically eclipsed my mileage in individual runs. But, my lifetime mpg is an even 50.0 (even through northern illinois winters). I had been running three grille blocks on the nose of my car and smooth wheel covers to maximize MPG. Now, two years ago I was rear ended badly and the body shop removed my grille blocks and replaced the nose of my car. Then I replaced my tires. These two things dropped my MPG to an absolute max of 53 to 54mpg if I really work on it. For grins, I decided to reinstall the original nose section and restore (repaint and refresh) my old grille blocks. The difference is staggering. My MPG went up from the 53 to 54mpg I have been working hard to achieve, to 59.6mpg in my first 8 mile test run (after warming the car up). This is great to achieve. When I made my first grille blocks, they were made one at a time. So, it was difficult to quantify exactly how much improvement I was seeing because one or two MPG here and there is not super easy to quantify. However, adding all three back at once made a massive difference. It is awesome to see a 5 to 6mpg improvement all at once. I plan on reinstating my MPG research now that I have the bug again. :~) Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recumpence Posted June 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 (edited) Nope, so far no transmission problems. My understanding of this transmission is that it is not a shifting or variable ratio unit. The ratio between engine and wheels varies by varying the speed of the electric motor in relation to the engine. The issues I have heard of its a bearing going out in the transmission. So far so good for me on that front. Edited June 4, 2016 by Recumpence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted June 4, 2016 Report Share Posted June 4, 2016 From what I've seen it has been a high percentage of highway driving causing the problem like in my case. (83%, 98K mi.) ;) Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxHeadroom Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 (edited) Oh, I have a Model 3 reserved. I am one of the early ones (I stood in line for 3 hours before the store opened). I plan on getting all the performance goodies on mine (dual motors, big battery, performance package, etc). But, I plan on keeping my little C-Max. I love this car. My C-Max is a perfect complement to my Focus Electric. Built in the same Wayne Michigan plant, on the same platform, the Focus is just a shorter (height) C-Max really. Short trips: Focus Electric; Long trips: C-Max, it's all optimal. body shop removed my grille blocks and replaced the nose of my car. Then I replaced my tires. These two things dropped my MPG to an absolute max of 53 to 54mpg if I really work on it. For grins, I decided to reinstall the original nose section and restore (repaint and refresh) my old grille blocks. The difference is staggering. My MPG went.... Tires alone can change efficiency by 2 MPG, if LRR or not. The grill blocks seem to be the big difference. Edited June 5, 2016 by MaxHeadroom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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