2013 C-max SEL

Hey folks. some of you might know...My 2010 prius iv was killed by tree. I had only had the prius for about 5 months....So it was a bit of a short friendship. I did look very hard at the Prius again and the v as well... But I opted to change up and give the Cmax a try.

I'm sure I'll find things I like and dislike, and I hope to post the good and the bad.

I topped off the tanks and reset all the numbers so we'll see how it goes.

 

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this will be my 3rd ford..... my previous 3.... 1966 mustang, 1987(i think) f150 and a mid 90's escort... of those three there is only one I truly loved more than life it itself... Come to think it of it, out of all my vehicles Ive owned its is still the one I really pine for and wish I could get it back....

I've been a GM guy pretty much my whole life... 8 chevy's 1 saturn, 4 pontiacs.....

 

only paid 100 bucks for the escort put 500 into it and sold it for 1000 to one of my employees.. he drove it for three years.

 

Well had the first "trip"
topped off the tanks on friday morning. drove to work and then saturday headed down to richmond... 230 miles highway

273 miles
44.9 mpg
6.08 gallons
90 ev
tire pressure 40psi f/r

I set the cruise at 65 and cruised.... camped out the right hand lane and let the world go by...

I felt more comfortable in the C-max, the ability to merge and blend with traffic at will is nice, and the visibility is great. 10 way power leather seats were very nice and supportive. handling felt very crisp. It has the same left elbow problem the prius has. the door sill is maybe an inch too far away as a comfortable resting spot. not having the flying bridge felt alot less cramped.

the Mytouch is nice. it does limit some functionality at speed, much like the toyota system. having the ability to trim the fade, balance and base, treble, and midrange is also nice. It is nifty to have the ability to have two USB items plugged in, and SD cards...
I had an Ipod plugged in and a usb flash drive. flipping back and forth was easy while underway.

The throttle seems a bit touchy. I would love to have a way, like on the prius, to desensitize the go pedal with the ECO switch.

It has an "eco cruise control" in that it allows for a greater fluctuation in the speed. IE if you get a mile or two down, like cresting a hill it won't instantly mash the pedal to the floor to keep the speed....

The car is much quieter than the prius...

I did miss some of the storage in the prius. the center console in the ford was probably about the same size as the prius, but its deeper and skinnier. as opposed to shallow and wide (ie take the prius center storage and stand it up on its long end)... so you have to dig through more stuff to get to the bottom. The flying bridge storage area is a nice place to stash phone, munchies, ect. I also miss the toyota under the floor rear storage area. its wide, deep and very usable. It was where I keep all my golf supplies (shoes, extra balls, gatorade, ect.) the same area in the ford is pretty much useless for this. I wish ford had done a better job with this kind of "space management" the Door pockets on the ford are cavernous though. The under the floor storage in the rear passenger footwells are useless, although I will say that i was able to squeeze my jumper cables in one, not sure what I'm going to put in the other one. As it not something you can easily access.

in two weeks I'm planning a trip to Columbus OH by then I would have had about two weeks of commuting on the current fuel tank to get an idea of what my daily mileage is going to be like on an 18 mile commute each way.

 

Cmax- L 14' 5" H 5' 4" W 6' 3600#'s Cargo 24.5 max 54.3
Prius- L 14' 7" H 4' 10" W 5' 9" 3000#'s Cargo 21.6 max 39.6
Priusv- L 15' 2" H 5' 2" W 5' 10" 3300#'s Cargo 34.3 max 67.3

Actually its shorter than the Prius, but taller and wider than both and heavier. Probably a result of extra sound deadening material, larger engine, larger liquid capacities, maybe less use of aluminum. interior space feels much bigger (since it is) than the toyota... based on the cargo capacity I'd put it between the Prii...

Mileage, it compared closer to the v, probably due inpart to the less than aerodynamic shape. the larger engine and 300 extra lbs don't help either.

the prius is slippery and slim, hard to beat that combo....

When I got the prius it was a replacement for my chevy HHR. so I gained milage at the expense of cargo. with the C-max, I'm getting some of that cargo back...with a small hit to economy when compared to the prius, but still much better (almost 2x better in the city when compared against the hhr and 10-15mpg better highway than the hhr)

 

sabby,

Yeah the bridge is one of those love/hate kind of things... nice place to put the charger and phone while driving down the road, and a handful of snacks like gum, candy bars ect.... but hate it for the way it really closes off the front cabin area...

Also the glove box on the ford is HUGE... and it has a shelf in it. so I'd put the capacity very similar to the the prius dual one..

 

cmax Interior- around the dash there is a "glossy" surface in several spots. I see this getting scratched and being very visible.

Temperature control knobs. Either too small or too slippery. there is no "feel" I might try to find a small rubber band to put on the knob to make it easier to turn. It needs to be knurled.

 

Turning radius..... a bit bigger than the prius...noticeable difference...

feels like a much bigger car...

Why can't american car makers get the tight turning radius thing down...

 

yeah... I know but a thirty second dialog with a car seems pointless when a small twist of the dial...

Much better than the toyota voice system...

hit the voice command button... "Climate set temperature XX*" then the car responds back. "Set temperature 68* is this correct"
"yes" setting temp to 68*