Geremy13

OK,,,, so I Z6 it again tonite.... 50 miles on the car today and there were bugs and stuff....... Soooooo........... Tomorrow it's going to rain. Do I have to wash it afterwards? I hate washing cars..... Or do I just leave it in the garage and take one of the other cars? Or Z6 it after this bad storm we are suppose to get tommorrow?? I figured after Clay Bar, Z5, Z2 and ocassional Z6 that the rain would be scared and stay away from my car. And just bead off,,,, and dry itself.... and welcome me after work for the drive home. do I need the Z-CS and Z8 to accomplish this? Curious....... (don't want to have to wash the car until mid - 2015)

There is HOPE for my CAR!!! I had to see a client today 14.1 miles from the office. First, after I figured out how to turn off the AC and still run the fans... (took a week to figure this out).... Here is my results: Outside Temp= 81 degrees. Turned off AC, ran on vent fans...... set out on my trip. Drove 14.1 miles mostly flat... eco cruise at 55MPH for 1/2 the distance and 45MPH the rest. Upon arrival the car told me 53.1MPG......... OK..... now the trip back. Exact same roads.... exact same speeds..... 50.1MPG. So a total of 28.2 miles over 50MPG....... Of course NO A/C...... Now on the trip back I did open the moonroof and cracked the driver side window abit. BUT...... I was surprised at achieving this at all....... Since I am currently averaging 36 something. This is with grandma type driving and 3 minutes to get up to 55 with folks behind me....... Normally this would result in 36+....... and now 50+? WOW!!!!!!!! Who would have thought? I just didn't know how to turn off the AC and have the vent fans running.......... BUT........ Damn I am hot and sweating....... This black car gets hot and uncomfortable under these conditions....... So I am going to suffer in the Summer.... BUT maybe the black car will pay off in the COLD winters that we have...... YEAH>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It is nice to have broken the 50 mark on a 14 mile drive. NOTE: My car also reports that I got 36.9 miles for the last tank of gas but fuelly correctly calculated it at 35.0 ....... so that has me a little concerned. But overall happy to discover new possibilities!

Thank you Charrua,,,,,, I have found your advice to hit MAX AC and then AC turns it ALL OFF...... so that I can use the vent's and fan speeds. This is very simple and all I have to do is remember to do this on my small commutes and might get better MPG than I'm getting right now. Most of all ,,,, I appreciate this forum and think that it is GREAT that all people are sharing information that we would not otherwise have......... So,,,,,, now back to the original topic........ I look forward to getting my PCM update on the car in the next few weeks. In the meantime I will continue to read everyone's results...

Well I am damn suprised!,,, and I want to thank you so much. I first set My View so that I could see the climate usage... then messed with every setting I could try.... turn off AC ,,, turn off Auto (hard to get it to stick.)... turn off AC ... but adjust temp up/down always forced AC... hot or cold. BUT THEN... I read your post again..... Simply selecting the 'output location' made your solution WORK!. Who would have thought? AND.... after doing so, you can adjust your temp and it will automatically adjust the fan speed without cranking on the AC..... This could be huge for me to try and get up to 37MPG.... thank you.

Can you Z6 too much? I've been Z6'ing the car after work.... or every other day so far....... to clean up the bugs and crap. Just wondering?

Corncob, Thank you so much. Yes, I will entertain the update. Jamone, thank you as well. I need to learn this AC better. I would have thought turning it off.... would turn it OFF. Thanks

Thank you,,, I will check that out. I was thinking the same thing..... No reason to buy aftermarket covers.... just paint em''' Thanks

Alright,,,, Thank you for everyone's interest. YES,,, I think the car looks great. In fact I don't wash cars or polish them or nothin'.... BUT on this one I'm gonna take care of. So...... after last weekends regiment with the car polishing thing....... I have since, Z6 after work and a full day of driving (12 miles at the most)... and have purchased new polishing rags,,, ( I mean detailing towels). Yes, I will post pictures tomorrow. It is now a priviledge to own this car and I am happy to share it with all. Question for corncobs: Did you black out your car? Your pic looks like you blacked out the grill and what not.... Just curious. My son did this to his brand new Camaro (everything including the lights, tailights, wheels, etc. ) Another Question: Reading, and reading,,, should I WAX this car after doing all this work with ZAINO? Some car forums say YES<<< and some say NO>>> Thank you

acdii... you have been so helpful in the past. Maybe you could help me with this one. On my HY Ti.. when the climate is on I push the A/C button and it has no effect. So..... I might have climate on... and set to Auto...... and the temp gets comfortable... and then I press the A/C button and expect just fan recirculation and hopefully better MPG.... BUT.. pressing the A/C button makes no difference at all. I still get to enjoy a nice comfortable air conditioned car....... but .... What do you think?

WOW, Dave... I picked mine up on 07-11-13 as well. My lifetime is only at 36 after 1300 miles. Being a new car I am driving like a grandma and trying to beat everyone else's MPG....... I drive at 20MPH in the 30.... drive 30 in the 40.... get 100% brake score all the time. My daily commute is 3miles..... with alot of 3 miles in between (lunch, etc.).... I would be really happy at 41.9 too! I'm on my 3rd tank and paying attention to the 'coach' now.... get EXCELLENT on everything... and still only get 36... Great for you!... I wouldn't change anything if I was you...... I, on the otherhand.... may take the plunge.

Deep Red Brake Calipers? Has anyone done this? My son has had beautiful cars and I always remember them having bright deep red calipers... Like Brembo. I am thinking that it would be nice if our calipers were the same color even if they weren't hi performance. Any thoughts?

Yes, Very interesting NAV.... we have a TomTom that we use in our other vehicles.... but the wife was very clear that this car will have NAV built in. I like it..... BUT ,,, it doesn't know where I live. I tell it my home address and it makes me pick a neighbor address (that doesn't exist)... but if I select this non-existent address....... It gets me in the neighborhood. So I guess thats good enough.

OK.... so now I've finished.... Started at NOON on Friday..... Finished up at 7:05 on Sunday. Last 2 coats of Z2.... Z6 all along the way... and just finished the Z6 final....... I do have to say...... that the quality of towels has got to make a BIG difference. I purchased 60 Pure White Terry Cloth towels from Sam's Club just specifically for this job. Washed them twice ( no detergent)... Dryed thoroughly and cleaned the lint thingy twice. Let me just say that these 60 Pure White Towels... are PURE JUNK..... NEVER USE.... WILL SCRATCH YOUR PAINT. I now will be making another purchase.. from Zaino for thier towels. Hopefully I am done spending money on this car. (except I need to get it tinted...) ;)

I look so forward to this. My daily commute is 3 mi... and daily driving is less than 10 mi round trip. Today we went for a 20 mile drive just to try to get the MPG up.... and.... I have to say that I get MUCH better MPG driving 20 mi than my normal trips... got 44MPG on the way back.... 34MPG on the way there...

My experience was exactly the opposite. Spent 5 hours on the clay bar.... and 45 minutes to polish with Zaino... then of course wait and wipe off.

Wow, This has been a Fantastic Post! Now that I have read all of it and researched the Hell out of it,,, Zaino, Youtube, this Forum, etc. Here is my experience thus far: (NOTE: My water spigot is broke so any washings have to be done at the car wash.) 1.) Started at the automatic car wash to get of the dust, etc. 2.) Dried the car thoroughly to remove any dried water droplets, etc. (took about an hour) 3.) Washed the car by hand with Dawn detergent. 4.) Started to Rinse by hand and realized I really need to get back to the car wash to rinse it thoroughly before Clay bar. 5.) Automated car wash again to get ready for clay barring. 6.) Dried the car thoroughly AGAIN to remove any dried water droplets, etc. (took about an hour) 7.) CALLED IN SICK. Wasn't going to get this done before work. 8.) Clay Bar the entire car, every nook and cranny.... (Took at least 2 hours.) Determined a method for each panel with rocker panel's last. (Will use this method thruout my car cleaning process.) 9.) Back to the automatic car wash to rinse off. OH NO!.... The place I go to is 'Out Of Service'. Drive around town, find another to wash the car. 10.) Dried the car thoroughly AGAIN to remove any dried water droplets, etc. (took about 1/2 hour) 11.) Perfectly clean car,,, and PURE PAINT.... Applied first coat of Z5 with ZFX.... NOTE: MIxed up only 1 OZ...... and only used 1/2 of it per ACDII recommendations of a little goes a long way...... ( I was suprised at how easy it was to polish the car VERSUS how long it took me to Clay Bar the car.) 12.) Wipe it all off after 30 minutes or so. 13.) Z6 the whole car. 14.) SPILL A WHOLE BEER ON MY LAPTOP.... While checking YouTube for further instructions. 15.) Apply a second coat of Z5 with ZFX (Remainder of the original 1 OZ that I mixed.) 16.) KISS MY WIFE for Getting Me Another Beer after I spilled the last one. 17.) Wipe off the Z5 after another 30 minutes or so. 18.) A passerby was impressed and offerred $50 bucks if I would do the same to her car. I responded $750 but would give her a $50 discount because she was cute. 19.) KISS THE WIFE AGAIN..... explain that I was just joking. START TIME: Noon............... END TIME: 10:05PM Tommorrows Goals: Put 2 coats of Z2 on the car........ Hopefully before noon,,,, or before it rains. PLUS: My Son is putting a garage door opener on our garage. YEAH!!! MINUS: Well, none really. It's too late to see how nice the car looks. FUTURE: I don't really clean cars, wax, them or polish them. This was quite pleasant. And I look forward to doing it again. IN ABOUT 20 YEARS. This post has been so helpful,,, and I really do look forward to seeing the results after I finish tomorrow. Would never have known about this product or even how to do it if it wasn't for the people on this forum. For that I thank all of you VERY MUCH!

I think it's fantastic that everybody is getting great MPG. I am trying to get good MPG as well. Doing everything I can to catch up with everybody's MPG results. My wife asks me why we're only doing 30 in a 50MPH zone and I explain to her that I'm trying to keep the engine from kicking on........ She had a great idea and now turns on the Hazard lights to help us achieve our goal. ;)

Cool, Thanks for sharing the info. I really did want to buy the Energi but our local Ford dealer is NOT Energi authorized or certified or what have you. And I thought the 47PMG would be good enough. I just had no idea that 47 city, 47 highway= 30 something. I understand that EPA estimates (at least on the highway) are generally best case scenarios. But when you are told average for ALL driving that's what you accept and try to accomplish it. (At least in my case since I wanted to get ahead of rising fuel prices.) Other than that the car is Fantastic!... with a big question on the MPG.

Thank you hybridbear for your post. On the 20MPG: I have a 2003 Sonata with 2.7L V6 that gets 20MPG consistently over the last 10 years with this exact driving that I do everyday. (Get's 30MPG consistently if traveling long distances, but we rarely travel long distances). You do bring up a good point on the warm up though..... Each morning my wife and I leave for work I have to wait in the car at least 15- 20 minutes for her to finish getting herself ready. During this time the car was always running (therefore warmed up by the time she got in.) In the Hybrid ,, I am afraid to even listen to the radio without it running because of the poor MPG I will get. 30 Day Return Policy?.......... Hmmmmmm. Never heard of this one. Thanks again for the input.

Damn, Damn, Damn,,,,,, You are confirming exactly what I am experiencing. I have no idea how this will work to trade in a 2 week old decked out Titanium for a decked out Energi,,,,,,,,, Only purchase a car every so often and may have made a BIG mistake thinking I was going to get 47MPG...... Thank you so much for sharing. Energi should have been my purchase and I passed it up..... screwed up thinking 47MPG was good enough but not even coming close.

Waldo, Thank you for your post, and I certainly do appreciate it. BUT, you got to remember that I'm traveling several 3 mile trips daily. So no 45MPG for me (as advertised). Or I should say 47MPG as advertised....... Other than that I love the car. But also Hate it... because I already have cars that do 20MPG on 3 mile trips. It's a Love, Hate relationship. ;) .... Darn, I really wish this car could do 47MPG. Someone please help!

Very well put.......

Oh No,,,,,,,, The more I read the more I am second thinking my purchase. We thought long and hard and almost purchased the Energi..... Really wanted it for the same reason... Now, it's too late. And I have always read that Hybrids get better gas mileage in the city.

Picked up our car last week. Now, after reading and studying, and researching, and studying and reading........ I just purchased the Zaino kit. I am not one to wash and wax regularly but am willing to put a full day into making this brand new car looking better than the day I purchased it. And then I'll do it again a couple years from now.... :)

Just verified it. You are correct. It doesn't happen. I just noticed ealier when accidentally putting in 'Low' that the engine was running when I didn't expect it. But tried it on purpose and the motor doesn't start. Sorry Waldo, didn't mean to insult you. The theory is that a warmed up engine get's better MPG than a cold engine. (not simply to charge the battery)