aceinc

I have always run my tanks as close to empty as possible before filling them. I have never had any problems with fuel pumps, My last bunch of cars have been new Honda's, a Volvo, a Lexus, Chrysler, Chevy, and Pontiacs. I run them low on fuel in order to reduce my time and frequency in gas stations. Regarding sucking up sludge from the bottom of the fuel tank, that doesn't make sense to me. The reason it doesn't make sense is that I would expect that the fuel inlet would be pretty darn close to the bottom of the fuel tank in order to be able to get the very last drop. If that is the case anything that settles there gets sucked up right away. Paul

Regarding the screen intensity change, I believe you have your headlights on "automatic on" and when going into dark places (like under overpasses) it turns on the headlights, and the dash/screens will change intensity. Paul

I would like to see it in flat black. Go gaudy, light the oval, and it would look like it was floating in midair @ night. Paul

Well I guess a garage is a mod.

The purpose of this thread is to share changes that can be made to the FFH/MH that will improve mileage. While Hypemiling is a good thing, this thread is for vehicle changes only, not driving changes. If we keep it on topic, perhaps we can get the moderator to make it sticky. I just bought my FFH and have not had a chance to try any mods, so I am looking for people with more experience to start. After I have tried some things I will post anything worth posting. Paul

I started the thread, which has gone far afield. US car manufacturers and their unions are fighting over a smaller and smaller pie. If they don't figure it out soon when we walk into a dealership we will be greeted with "ni hao." I think I'll start another thread called "Vehicle based mileage improvements" Paul

Regarding unions, is there no blame for management? Management gets greedy, and builds cars that have high profit margins, the unions see management making obscene benefit packages, their greed kicks in and demands more benefits, management decides that a strike will cost them too much, caves in and gives the unions part of their profits. Rather than make less profit, management cuts cost or raises prices, starting the cycle all over again. In the meantime competitors see US car companies charging too much and cutting too many corners on products and clean their clocks. I think their is enough blame to go around. I wanted a white car, but being impatient and cheap, the only car I could get locally at invoice was an "Ice Blue Metallic" which is pretty light colored. Of course my son says I couldn't have gotten a more effiminate car unless they painted it pink. Good news, I don't have to worry about him wanting to borrow it. I wonder how much electricty could be generated by building solar panels into the moon roof? Enough to keep the car cool when parked? Paul

Regarding the display, pardon some of my incoherent whining. I actually paid attention, whilst driving home and the display does show more than I originally thought. On the way home, the battery indicator was about half as I decelerated. Probably went from 70 to 50 coasting, and then braked evenly from about 50 to 0 over a quarter mile. I don't think the battery guage made it to 75%. While watching the HEV display on cruise control at 75 mph, I noticed the display showed the electric motor was supplying power to the wheels. I would have thought power would be strictly ICE at that speed. Any thoughts? If I'm not mistaken the battery is a 1.4 kwh Sanyo. The Tesla Roadster has a 53 Kwh battery. Paul

Is there a way to get a more granular view of how much energy is being generated by braking? Also the diagram that shows the engine, motor and batttery doesn't seem to change other than the engine going grey. Is it supposed to show how the energy is being distributed? The little green blocks all seem to move at a constant speed in the same direction irrespective of what the car is doing. Something that might be nice is some way of communicating how much power is being generated by braking, and how much is being lost to the brakes.. Paul

I also like the look of the LEDs a bit more as well. I personally would like to have a bit more control over how the charge level was handled. Daily I drive about two miles on surface streets, get on an expressway drive 10 miles (70-75 mph), get off drive about 2 miles on surface streets and park. There are a couple of stop signs and traffic lights on one side, and 3 traffic lights on the other. On both sides there are frequent speed traps so I do the limit which is 30 mph. There is generally little stop and go. It would be great if the batteries were substantially (fully) charged when I got off the expressway, so that most of the slow driving was done in EV mode. However the battery indicator is generally just above half. My trip computer is saying I get between 36 and 42 mpg. Paul

Hypermiling is OK, but it requires constant vigilance, and doing things I don't care to do including starting too slowly, coasting to traffic lights etc. Putting the car in neutral at a traffic light, I might be able to do. Florida Law allows up to 72% tinting on Driver's window, and 85% on other windows. I was going to say a smart alec crack about New Jersey, and the air melting the tinting or something, but I remembered how one of the guys I work with from New Jersey might react, and decided against it (it would probably start something like "you talkin to me...."). Paul

I've read that increasing the tire pressure to 40 psi net's 2-3 mpg. Recommended to use Nitrogen, as the expansion rate when hot is less. The ride is a bit harder. As a driving habit, putting the car into neutral at traffic lights allows the eletric motor to stop spinning reducing electrical consumption. While miniscule, I am looking at replacing all interior and convenience lights (things like dome lights, map lights courtesy lights under the O/S R/V mirrors, license plate lights) with LED equivalents. Since I live in a sunny climate, I will be investing in spectrally selective window film. It is my understanding that since it is clear, it can by installed on all windows including the windshield. I will be investigating further before I decide to put it on the windshield. Paul

I believe that a lot of the vehicles from the 1970s and 1980s produced in the US were designed with profits as their first priority and all other concerns secondary. This contradicts management 101, which says "A business' primary goal is to produce a product or service, and profit is a residual." I believe that the US auto industry may be learning, but in my opinion many people in their management still believe that their purpose is to make money, not vehicles. I am familiar with regulations having consulted in both the Medical and Insurance industries. I understand that engineer/employees are severely constrained by regulations. They are even more constrained by management/corporate culture that stifles creativity. I would think that after 33 years in that environment you would want to let your creative energy free. By way of an example, in 1969 GM developed and built a prototype of a hybrid vehicle. Management decided not to produce the vehicle. I suspect the decision was based in large part on profit margins, focus groups, etc. Had they built that car, even if they lost money, where would the state of the art hybrid technology be today? Consider that they would have probably been in limited production in 1971/1972. When the 1973 oil embargo hit, they would have been selling those cars like hot cakes. The Volkswagens and Toyotas that began flooding the market would have gained less of a foothold. See this link; http://www.finkbuilt.com/blog/hybrid-car-ready-in-1969/ Engineers as a group of people are creative and innovative, the US auto industry, not so much. Blame it on regulations, corporate greed, corporate inertia, it doesn't matter, the cars that were produced over the last 35-40 years with a few exceptions have not been technological marvels. Again you hijack this thread to talk about unrelated topics. Since you are/were an engineer do you you have anything to say that might help anyone improve the FFH? Paul

I was just looking at the bread crumbs for this thread "Ford Fusion Forum > FUSION, MILAN & MKZ MODIFICATIONS | TECHNICAL FORUM > Fusion, Milan Hybrid." Note "FUSION, MILAN & MKZ MODIFICATIONS | TECHNICAL FORUM ," it seems to me that modifications is what we should all be talking about. Paul

Sniping benefits the forum in what way? I am not asking FoMoCo to develop anything for me. I like this car, I spent my money on this car, what I want to do is in no way meant to disrespect FoMoCo, its employees, the designers of the FFH, or anyone. Say I choose to take my brand new FFH to a body shop and ask them to add a "Boat Tail" to it which could potentially add 10% or more gas savings to the vehicle. Would you say I shouldn't do that? What if I took golf ball "dimple skin" and glued it to the entire body, am I allowed to do that? Can I inflate the tires to 40 psi? Just what am I allowed to do and not do with something that I just paid $30,000+ for? The point I was trying to make is quite simple; My goal for my car may not be the same as your's or Mary down the road, or FoMoCo. When FoMoCo puts out a car it must perform well and last in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado and Florida. My car will probably never need to run in -40 degree weather. It will probably never need to run day in and day out in 100+ degree weather. Perhaps there are optimizations that can be made that will allow me to tune the car for my environment, my goals, my life. I live in one of the flatest areas of the country. My daily driving includes no more than 100 feet of elevation above sea level, and that includes bridges and parking garages. The software designed for the FFH must take into account people that live in Colorado. You said it yourself, "...good common sense compromises to get a good product on the road..." I may not like some of the compromises that they made. I believe I have the right to change what I like to best suit my needs. Perhaps to just suit my whims. Why hijack this thread? I am looking for people that are interested in stretching the limits of this vehicle. Chipping is one alternative. Improving aerodynamics may be another. Replacing devices that use a lot of electricity with more efficient devices may be another. Replacing the oil with synthetics may be another. Inflating tires to 40 psi with nitrogen may be another. Heat reflecting film for the windows may be another. I am not looking for arguments about why I should leave well enough alone. If you have some insight on things that can be done to improve the FFH, I'd love to hear them. Paul