How to Drive a CMAX Hybrid/FFH to get Great Gas Mileage

[C-MaxA2]

Thanks Paul.  227,000 miles wow!  We hit 50+ mpg on a couple of tank fulls until it got hot here (Michigan) and we had to use the AC.  Mid 40s now.  Was reading the latest news on Ford and their Focus/Fiesta transmission disaster (Detroit Free Press).  What a total disaster.  Doesn't inspire trust in Ford. 

 

Just out of curiosity I checked my dealer's used (and new) car inventory to see how they were dealing with the fall out.  #1 dealer in Michigan for sales volume and there wasn't ONE Focus or Fiesta for sale AT ALL.  Looks like they got out of them a while back.

 

Checked on C-Maxs on inventory: zero.  Interesting. 

[ptjones]

They used up inventory and there aren't anymore. :headscratch:

 

Paul

[ptjones]

I drove about 3k miles this past week and had 4 fill ups which covered 2437.7 miles, mostly FWY's and averaged 54.4 mpg with Actual distance and gallons used, with minimal rain and A/C use. First tank was from Valdosta, GA to Deltona, FL via I-75, FL St. Route 42 and back to Valdosta, GA.  Second tank was from Valdosta, GA to Newnan, GA to Charlotte, NC via I-75/SR16 / I-85  to VA I-77 exit #1. Third tank was on I-81, I-76 to Philadelphia then I-95 to VA I-95 Exit 104. Then back home via I-95/ I-85. This is just an example what can be done with temps 65-85*F. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Filled up today and went 762 miles/ 13 gallons and 58.6 mpg with temps 70-94*F about  50% City speeds here are mostly 45-55 mph. About a perfect two weeks for local driving, some times work in your favor gas mileage wish.  :)  Just an example what can be done.

 

Paul

[ptjones]

In two months My Fuelly has gone up another .1 mpg. to 49.5 mpg, my Life Time average for the last about three years has been 54 mpg. This is an example of what can be done if you want to make the effort. :)  I currently have 233k miles on MADMAX.

 

Paul

[joshg678]

Went up to 48.1 today after today’s trip to customer site.

It’s Northern VA so I don’t always have the ability to get to 100%, people here are jerks.

Edited September 3, 2019 by joshg678

[ptjones]

Keep up the Good Fun. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

For newer owners of CMAX/FFH's with temps in the 80-90's*F if you use Premium Gas and 50 PSI in tires you should be getting 47 Smart Gauge MPG if you keep your speed bellow 70 mph and don't use A/C. I know that can be uncomfortable, but I'm trying to make a pretty exact prediction and A/C is a big variable. :sad:  Have Fun improving your mpg's. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Views on my videos are up to 17k now with 471 in the last month, so more and more Hybrid drivers are interested in saving gas/money and having FUN doing it. 

 

Saving Gas can be FUN! 

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Drove up to Knoxville, TN on I-85/I-285/I-75 Friday afternoon to see Grandson and Daughter spent the night and gassed up in the morning at Sam's for $2.649/ gallon for Premium, got 56.4 mpg. Had some tailwinds. I drove up I-75 to Cincinnati,OH to deliver some optics to a customer and then back to Newnan,GA a total of 742.3 miles/54.58 mpg. All HWY driving with some head winds coming back, I had some difficulties finding drafting partners, less Semis going 60-70 mph is what I like to drive.  So part of the time I was doing it pretty much alone or catching Truckers doing 70-75 mph which meant I was going 65-80 mph to try to keep up. :sad:  That's probably a 4 mpg hit, I started out coming back  with +30 miles to Empty but by the time I got to Atlanta I was 0E with 24 miles to go.  :sad: I know I can go at least 25 miles past 0, but going farther becomes more challenging, I have gone 70 miles without running out. Then again I gone 26 miles and ran out.  Getting close to Atlanta my average MPG's had started to go up and with two traffic slow downs my average had gone up .5 mpg's  I knew if I made it to my off ramp with about 5 miles to go mostly down hill I would be fine. And sure enough it worked as planed, but my SOC was 32% when I got home. This could be a problem if I ran out of gas I wouldn't be able  to EV very far.  This morning when I turned on the car the SOC had gone up to 50% :) so now I have a safety margin and I have 3 stations along the way to BJ's 5.3 miles so I can EV to any of those. :) BTW  I know that it is next to impossible to run out of gas going uphill, pick up is at the back of the tank, so I only used the ICE going uphill and EV on the level and coast down hill. Well my plan worked Great. I put in 13.6 gallons after a few clicks so I had .3-.4 gallons left or 15-20 miles. I went 30 miles past empty and could have gone 50 miles. :)

 

The Main Thing here is you don't  have to stress out if you screw up and run low on gas.

 

Paul

[ptjones]

 

I forgot to add pics of my fill ups for Knoxville/Cincinnati trip from above Post

To determine actual MPG for a fill up I multiply miles on trip gauge times 1.018(the % of difference between trip and GPS) then divide by actual gal. used at the pump. Then I post in on Fuelly.com :)

 

Paul

Edited September 26, 2019 by ptjones

[ptjones]

Just filled up today and got 741.9 miles/13 gal/ 57.1 mpg. My Fuelly.com Life Time average just went up to 49.6 mpg  and 236k miles total. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Made quick trip to Rochester, NY and back home last week using Interstate HWY all the way.  Filled up in Gaffney, SC got 55 mpg, then filled up in Carlisle, PA got 56.2 mpg.  Drove up to Rochester with weather conditions deteriorating dropping down to mid 40's and raining. Things got worse leaving with heavy downpours, headwinds and in the 40's, needless to say that killed my gas mileage getting 47.9 mpg filling up in Lexington, KY. Now With about 600 miles on current tank I'm back up to 56 mpg. :)

 

 

 

Paul

 

 

 

[joshg678]

My AVG MPG hit 48.2 before I went on my trip.

 

Family and I went to Disney World (1,600 miles round trip) and drove her car (19 Chevy Traverse) no way we would all fit in mine and averaged about 25 MPG doing 80 MPH on the interstate.

[ptjones]

My AVG MPG hit 48.2 before I went on my trip.

 

Family and I went to Disney World (1,600 miles round trip) and drove her car (19 Chevy Traverse) no way we would all fit in mine and averaged about 25 MPG doing 80 MPH on the interstate.

I know you didn't want to ruin your CMAX  MPG average. LOL :)

 

Paul

[joshg678]

I know you didn't want to ruin your CMAX  MPG average. LOL :)

 

Paul

Yea that would have set me back a bit haha

[fbov]

... Drove up to Rochester with weather conditions deteriorating dropping down to mid 40's and raining. Things got worse leaving with heavy downpours, headwinds and in the 40's, needless to say that killed my gas mileage ...

That's one reason I'm only at 41.5 MPG...

[ptjones]

Filled up today and even with about 100 miles in the rain, temps 35-80*F I was able to average 53.2 mpg with 718.2 mi./13.5 gal. of Premium at $2.65 at BJ's.  With temps going down MPG's will go down too. :sad:

 

Paul

[ptjones]

It's been awhile,  filled up today and got 53 mpg actual Fuelly mpg, Smart Gauge said  54.1 mpg with 652.5 miles/ 12.3 gallons used.  I had driven up to Knoxville and back, 500 miles and Smart Gauge had 52.4 mpg and 152 miles local driving to get average up to 54.1 mpg. I did about 70% extended drafting and I wasn't in a big hurry with temps 45-65*F.   So with 245k miles on the Odometer I'm still getting great MPG's.?What a Great Car.

 

Paul

[ptjones]

For New CMAX Owners this thread is for giving you an idea what is possible to get Gas Mileage wise using the MPG Mods and Driving techniques to improve your Gas Mileage.  Go to  Post #1 and watch 3 You Tube videos that explain what to do to improve you Gas Mileage.  

Yesterday I drove to Atlanta and back (90 Miles) on I-85 and I-20 and averaged 55 mpg going up and 56 mpg coming back on the Smart Gauge even with temps in the low to mid 50*F using the info from the videos.  As you will see improving MPG's can be fun.?

 

Paul

 

 

[ptjones]

I just filled up and got 52 mpg. with 676 mi./13 gal. with 35% City, temps 30-70*F and 30% rain, not bad.  ?

 

Paul

[ptjones]

It's been a month since I've posted on here. I filled up today for $2.339 for Premium at BJ's Newnan, GA  and got 49.6 mpg actual fuelly.com mpg. With temps here in 40's to 50's*F with some rain. 

 I usually see 2 mpg loss in mpg's in the rain. This time of the year it is hard to get the ICE up to operating temps of above 202*F even on the Fwy with the Grill Covers on and City driving you can't even get close.

 

Paul

[bigqueue]

On 2/28/2020 at 5:15 PM, ptjones said:

It's been a month since I've posted on here. I filled up today for $2.339 for Premium at BJ's Newnan, GA  and got 49.6 mpg actual fuelly.com mpg. With temps here in 40's to 50's*F with some rain. 

 I usually see 2 mpg loss in mpg's in the rain. This time of the year it is hard to get the ICE up to operating temps of above 202*F even on the Fwy with the Grill Covers on and City driving you can't even get close.

 

Paul

 

Paul,

 

This is one of the most valuable posts on this site. There are so many, but this one was the one I found so useful right off since fuel economy was one of the main reasons I looked at the CMAX. But I have to say the think I love about a Hybrid vs a pure Electric car (I had a Honda Fit EV) is that while you can drive it "carefully" to get MPG, and can also drive it as you "need" to say get to work on time or even in the coldest weather without fear of incredible range anxiety. The Hybrid auto is a lot more like the car a non-hybrid person is used to.

 

Even so, learning the secrets to squeezing out MPG is something most Hybrid drivers would love to know....so this thread, and your video (linked to below) are absolutely top notch for learning the techniques for this car:

 

 

I post it again so people looking for it might find it more easily.

[ptjones]

I filled up yesterday at Sam's for $2.18/gal Premium for 12 gal./ $26.18 getting 53.2 fuelly.com MPG.  Smart gauge said 53.4 mpg and 638.2 miles actual miles. I could have made it to 700 easily, but couldn't pass up the Great Gas Prices. Warmer temps 65-75*F have bought mpg's back up even with the rain.

 

Paul

[ptjones]

It's been awhile and I haven't been traveling like I usually do for obvious reasons. (Corona virus) Filled up the other day at BJ's for less than $20,  12.5 gal./$1.55/ gal. for Premium, the lowest price for a tankful of Premium in 7.5 yrs that I have had MADMAX.

That works out to 55.3 mpg, not bad considering lower temps and some rain. For those New to this Forum you can go to Post #1 to see my 3 videos on how to do it.? It will give you something to do with all your spare time.?

 

Paul