rhwinger Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 I have managed to find a way to cruise at about 55 - 60 mph at 47 - 53 mpg. Setup conditions: Put the display in Engage mode where you have the two curved bars showing on the left hand side.Engine warmed up to normal operating temperature.Only works if the battery nearly fully charged.Relativley flat road to enter this operating condition. If the battery charge is nearly topped off, you can induce a steady engine on cruise condition by very gently manipulating gas pedal pressure. Pulse the gas pedal and ease up on the pedal to get the engine to run without EV. You might have to do this a couple times to get the feel of it. Once the engine is warmed up, on a relatively flat road, you are at about 55-58 mph and EV is off, slowly and GINGERLY back off on the gas pedal pressure. Watch the instantaneous mpg (impg) indicator climb above 40. Continue to gently reduce pedal pressue. You might have to repeatedly apply a slight amount of pressure and then back off. After awhile the impg will start to climb to the high 40's/low 50's. (pic was with display in Empower mode - Engage easier to use) Just gently maintain pedal pressure to continue in this condition, but you will have to ever-so-slightly adjust pedal pressure to compensate for gentle grade changes to keep this going. It's very easy to reduce pedal pressure too much and cause EV to kick in. Watch the power demand threshold bars on the left side of the display to keep out of EV. Pretend like you are stepping on an egg shell. If Ford would open up the deadband between engine on and EV on conditions, along with battery charge requirements, this operating condition would be a lot easier to establish and maintain. I think a software patch allowing this would help them improve overall mpg for this great vehicle. Jus-A-CMax 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generalbeluga Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 (edited) I agree, but who in their right mind would drive a car in this fashion over the long haul? Sure it's a novelty for a while but, after a week or two, it becomes a pain in the a-- and you go back to your old driving patterns and your mileage drops to 39 mpg, if you are lucky! Edited January 18, 2013 by Generalbeluga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F8L Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 The guys on CleanMPG.com were saying that a software change to reduce throttle tip in and detune power would go a long ways towards increasing efficiency in the CMAX. Maybe a user-selectable ECO Mode? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 I think I have seen this at higher speeds when I drove back from Mammoth, the key here is to keep it in the ICE mode and nearly a full battery. The latter is hard to achieve unless you are a) going down a huge hill b) use ICE all along without the temptation to use EV. My question is whether this "stealth" high-mpg-ICE mode will bring any savings in the longer runs considering and realistically, most of us start with 1/4 or 1/3 batts and keep away from b). Great tip, appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwinger Posted January 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Generalbeluga Why would anyone drive like this? Didn't we all pay a bit of a premium for this vehicle? Isn't the very fact that we purchased a C-Max an indication that we all are motivated, to some degree, to reduce fuel consumption? I'm not proposing that everyone drive like this all the time. But there are times and situations that, if you are so inclined, where this technique could help. There are all kinds of ways to reduce fuel consumption. This probably isn't the best, but it is one way to try. I also think the fact that we have demonstrated that this vehicle can cruise at 50+ mpg is as indication that if Ford chose, they could make a software change to make this condition easier to happen for everyone. And it might help with their mileage problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F8L Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 Generalbeluga Why would anyone drive like this? Didn't we all pay a bit of a premium for this vehicle? Isn't the very fact that we purchased a C-Max an indication that we all are motivated, to some degree, to reduce fuel consumption? I'm not proposing that everyone drive like this all the time. But there are times and situations that, if you are so inclined, where this technique could help. There are all kinds of ways to reduce fuel consumption. This probably isn't the best, but it is one way to try. I also think the fact that we have demonstrated that this vehicle can cruise at 50+ mpg is as indication that if Ford chose, they could make a software change to make this condition easier to happen for everyone. And it might help with their mileage problem.If you are new to hypermiling then such techniques may appear odd but to the rest of us they are a genuine technique for extracting all you can out of your vehicle. It is also another form of entertainment. Some people enjoy WOT freeway runs or canyon carving. Those without crazy horsepower on tap prefer video game mode and go for high score (high mpg). As a former drag racer I have switched from my pursuit of low ETs to high mpgs. DR61 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generalbeluga Posted February 13, 2013 Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 (edited) I would agree for those of us high mileage enthusiasts that haunt this website but, IMO, most who buy the C Max will most likely be persuaded by the high EPA MPG figures and are not inclined to jump though hoops to obtain them. I personally enjoy the challenge but, I would not think that the average hybrid driver would, but I could be wrong. :) BTW, I am now getting about 43 to 44 AMPG with combine city/FWY driving on short local trips, usually under 20 miles round trip. This is very good IMO considering that the ICE hardly has a chance to completely warm up. Edited February 13, 2013 by Generalbeluga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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