Consumer Reports MPG Result For 2013 Fusion & C-Max Hybrids!

DING DING DING We have a winner! Yes, the 2013 is getting far fewer MPG than the 2010. The only time I had a problem with the 2010 is when the MAP sensor failed. When I first got the car it was getting 38-43 easily, then after about 1500 mile, which was 2600 actually, car had 1100 when I got it, the MPG started to drop, slowly over 2 tanks, then I got a CEL, and took it in. They replaced a MAP sensor, and reset the computer, so it was a few more tanks before MPG improved, so that is why it currently shows only 37 MPG for my 2010. Over the summer, it was getting 43 on my drive home, and 40 on the trip in. Short trips on the weekend, dropped it down a bit, but overall I am very pleased with the MPG on the 2010, but extremely ticked over the new one.

I found a dealer nearby that I will take this car to in the morning to document the poor MPG, so I dont rack up an additional 1200 miles, just in case they cant get the MPG resolved, and I wind up LL the car.

they also have 2 Hybrids on the lot, without the Premium wheels, that I may coax a test drive out of to see if they can in fact get over 40 MPG.

 

Unfortunately for me, I bought the damned thing

Well, I can tell you from regular driving, speed really doesn't have much effect on MPG, unless I go past 70, then it does drop a bit. Its pretty consistent at 35-36 whether I drive 30 MPH, or 65 MPH. There are stretches of road where I do various speeds over certain distances, and did note the MPG readouts. Not very scientific as what your asking for, but what I can see from the instant readout, since it NEVER goes over 40 MPG on ICE, and battery quickly runs down, that it doesn't really matter what speed I drive. This morning when I drove on the highway, at 70 MPG, and held the pedal real steady, I found a sweet spot, where the MPG readout was hovering just at the 40 mark, it never did that before, and the MPH stayed pretty stable, over a 13 mile trip, it netted 38 MPG. On the return trip, same highway going the opposite direction however, I found it was because it was so very slightly downhill, the return trip, I barely got it above 30 MPG, no matter how much I tried. I just could not keep it steady at 70 MPH and have the MPG rise above 30 without the car slowing down.

Battery level was the same in both directions too.

 

The only realistic hope is for you to buy a C-Max

 

This is interesting. If I remember correctly, the EPA has a vehicle drag formula that looks like:

a(x**2) + b(x) + c​

​

x - velocity​

a - coefficient for aerodynamic drag​

b - coefficient for rolling drag​

c - fixed overhead​

It may take a little searching to find out where it is located . . . manufactures treat this as proprietary. But I remember once finding it, poorly organized, but I think it was under some CAFE site.

Your MAF experience is consistent with engine efficiency issues that can lead to a 'knee'. Without detailed metrics, it is impossible to diagnose what might be going on. It is an area worthy of some time. More about this at the bottom of this note.

Hummm, does it have cruise control? Does it have a trip meter similar to the Prius?

Cruise control eliminates the human speed management and a trip meter gives the elapsed segment performance. If the Ford only has an instantaneous MPG read-out, we'll need to figure out a better solution.

Everyone's time is important and though some of us have a technical curiosity, spending time diagnosing a manufacture's products is not appreciated by anyone. The owner hates it because they feel they've been had . . . sold a lemon. The manufacturer hates it because it shows them in a bad light and might hurt sales . . . of poor products that will piss off more of their future customers. After all, they have too many customers . . . right?

The reason I advocate 'reproducible procedures is it makes it easier to make a credible case that something is broke. Certainly one report could be one defective vehicle. But when three or more owners are able to reproduce the same problem, there are lawyers looking for 'class action' cases and even regulators 'wake up.' It certainly makes a better 'letter to your congress critter' when there is a reproducible way to show some at the EPA is 'asleep.'

My first Prius segment from Fort Worth to Shreveport got only 39 MPG and I briefly thought about driving back to Fort Worth. But I knew the EPA highway number was 45 MPG (original rating.) So the rest of that 800 mile trip was broken into two hour segments at different cruise control speeds. Since it was sundown the next segment was at 60 mph and I got 52 MPG! The rest was just mapping out MPG vs mph.

BTW, this was one of my diagnostic techniques with all of my cars since the 1966 VW MicroBus. I calculated the MPG with each tank and when I saw the numbers weaken, I knew it was time to adjust the valves, clean the plugs, and change the oil. MPG would return and I kept driving until it fell off again . . . pretty basic system.

Bob Wilson

 

Too late, I already took one on a test drive.

The accelerator acted like it was in PWR mode, very sensitive to the point of being twitchy. I measured cruise control working down to 15 mph, a good thing and something the sales-critter didn't know. The test drive including the first of the day, cold-start and a brief highway segment. Sad to say, the sales-critter set the environmental to hold a temperature and this probably hurt mileage. I normally drive using just the windows and vents. The total test drive was about 7 miles and only gave 38 MPG.

I was looking at the CMAX as a possible alternative for transporting my wife and wheelchair around town and highway. I could not see any transportation advantage over the ZVW30 Prius. Sure the driver position was more "North American" comfy chair but I needed to see something unique for transporting my wife and didn't find it.

Bob Wilson

 

Thats about what I saw on my test drive of the Cmax, 38, pretty similar test too, temps were in the 30's though.

Also, I would say 85% of my trip was using Eco Cruise, the other 15% was me trying to maximize FE, and gave up when I could do no better then being on cruise. That was over 1200 miles in 2 days, varying temps, rain and dry weather. AC was off, just low speed fan through the vents. Tires at 45 PSI. I dont know what else I could have done different. It didnt seem to matter what speed I set it at, even at 60 when it would switch to EV, it still only came in around 36 MPG.

 

Ok,

So I took a trip to Ford forum and found an interesting thread:
C-MAX Fuel Mileage. What are you getting? - Fuel Mileage - C-MAX Hybrid Owners, C-MAX Hybrid, C-MAX Hybrid Forum

In the +200 posts, I found two who actually started mapping MPG vs mph:

	Column 1
0	[th]mph[th]MPG[th]who[tr][td]55[td]51.6[td]1[tr][td]60[td]46[td]1[tr][td]65[td]43.15[td]1[tr][td]70[td]40.75[td]1[tr][td][td][td][tr][td]55[td]55[td]2[tr][td]65[td]44[td]2[tr][td]75[td]39[td]2

Sources: C-MAX Fuel Mileage. What are you getting? - Page 9 - Fuel Mileage - C-MAX Hybrid Owners, C-MAX Hybrid, C-MAX Hybrid Forum, C-MAX Fuel Mileage. What are you getting? - Page 10 - Fuel Mileage - C-MAX Hybrid Owners, C-MAX Hybrid, C-MAX Hybrid Forum

So it looks like at least two of the Ford owners have a clue about what is needed . . . facts and data about mph vs MPG. So perhaps the right answer is to suggest that more Ford owners collect and plot their vehicle data. Near as I can tell from these two sources, the Ford CMAX performance is consistent with the EPA numbers BUT it is sensitive to some as yet ill-defined phenomena.

My current hypothesis is the sensitive accelerator allows manual operatioin to lead to frequent bursts of the high-displacement engine. Owners may not be aware of how badly this can impact vehicle mileage especially if the engine does not have ways to preserve high power efficiency such as cooled-exhaust recirculation. A well-tuned, cruise control could easily keep the engine out of fuel inefficient, power areas. It could be as simple as engine acceleration logic.

Bob Wilson

 

Haha!

Side note: At the San Francisco Auto Show, Toyota at their booth had a Sienna retrofitted w/a wheelchair lift or seat for the handicapped. I don't recall the details.

Every time I've gone to Tokyo Motor Show, I've seen a # of automakers show JDM minivans w/a seat that's electrically moved in/out of the vehicle. I tried out one of those electrically operated seats myself.

 

This was the trip to Florida, right?

On the way back, try breaking it up into two hour segments at different cruise control speeds. Also, see if you can run without any form of defrost, just heat, on the way back. You may need to make sure outside air is coming in to be heated and only use defrost to remove fogged windows as briefly as possible.

Bob Wilson

 

For me in the 2013 Fusion, the engine is under powered. My 2010 has a 2.5 L engine, and has plenty of power and is easy to keep it in a FE range. This new 2.0, seems to be working harder just to maintain speed. Either that or my pedal has a flat spot, and is just an on/off switch at best.

While I didn't write it down, I do know that for one tank I cruised no faster than 65, and another 60, and another 70, and the results were pretty much the same, crappy MPG.

so 60 netted about 38
65 about 36
70 about 34.

I will log it better on my return trip, provided I dont get screwed up by Ford today when I take it to a dealer near here to get it documented in case I wind up going the Lemon route.



Not in sequence for some reason though, The 30 MPG tank was right after the 40 MPG tank, and I noticed that I might not have had a full fill on the third tank, since the following tank was only 30 MPG, and I dont recall getting 40 MPG other than on 2 trips, and have not been able to replicate it. Majority of the trips had been 35 or so. The book said not to top it off, so I haven't, which makes me wonder about the varying tanks.

 

HEAT? Really! LOL Its been 78 degrees! On the way down, the only time the AC was on was for defrost when the windows fogged. I probably wont be needing any heat until Saturday when I get to Kentucky.

 

It is possible since the backside of this cold air mass is a southern flow. I tend to use this weather source:
Weather Forecast - United States - Local & Long Range | Wunderground | Weather Underground

BTW, try to record your exits along with speed and MPG. The reason is we can use Google Earth to find the altitude changes across each segment.

SAFE TRIP!
Bob Wilson

 

Consumer Reports has a tendency to miss some important details in my opinion. For example, they recommend many models of Bosch dishwashers but Fail to mention their racks are about 2" shorter than just about all other brands. Bosch repair parts are apparently hard to get. Also, they were too clueless to mention the 2nd Gen Prius has an awkward driving position and is very sketchy for tall drivers. Edmunds gets it on interior design in the liftback.

Anyone noticed where Prius liftback sales have gone in the last two months? Under 9k units for 2 months straight. AFAIK, the C-Max is digging straight into liftback sales.

I don't see how C-Max could get anywhere near 47 combined. It has 225 width tires, 180 something net HP.

What's with Fusion hybrid sales? Like 9k units so far this year compared to about 37k for Camry. 39 MPG seems decent for FF hybrid.

 

Fusion sales are only down due to delivery, they are all on hold back, something like 25K units. Something to do with the headlights.

39 MPG for the 2010 FFH is about right, but not when the new one is supped to be 8 MPG above it, 43 would be more along the lines, and pretty much what I would have expected the car to get. I did squeeze 41 out of it today.

Drove 10 miles or so between 98 and just before 75 on I4, set the cruise at 60, and got it to I think 43, but dont remember exactly. I stopped to top off the tank, and got a whopping 29 MPG for the last tank.

Return trip, set to 65, same road but in the other direction, but also mixed in some city of 35-45 for a few miles, did not seem to make much difference, it returned 41.

Temp is in the 60's, around 63 currently. My other Fusion, would have seen 50 easily with how I drove.

 

Wow, CR actually got 47 MPG from Prius V at 65 mph.

 

I don't think so, but I'm not sure how they use there tests to calculate. They do 65mph cruise control and combine it somehow with a 150 mile loop to get highway. If someone knows the specifics, let us know.

For highway
The prius liftback gets 55 mpg in their testing
civic hybrid 50 mpg
VW passat tdi and jetta wagon tdi get 49 mpg

The prius liftback seems very skewed from epa
hwy 55 versus epa 48 (+7)
city 32 versus epa 51 (-19)

 

In the Consumer Reports highway test, we record the average fuel usage in two directions at a steady 65 mph on a specific section of highway.​

​

It doesn't matter what you think. 47 MPG is what they got from Prius V. C-MAX hybrid got 38 on the same test.