How to Drive a FORD Fusion Hybrid to get Great Gas Mileage

[ptjones]

After 8 years of 2010 FFH ownership in SW FL, I said the heck with it. On hot days, when I go out for lunch, I just leave the car and AC on and locked. It costs 20 cents an hour. The lunch bill for two is usually $25. This is luxury !

Or about 1% of your lunch bill. :) Watch out the Carbon foot print people will be on your case. :lol:

 

Paul

[lolder]

In such a mode the car runs for about 3 minutes out of every 20 at 94º F. in the shade. It burns 0.08 gal/hr.

[ptjones]

In such a mode the car runs for about 3 minutes out of every 20 at 94º F. in the shade. It burns 0.08 gal/hr.

I was coming from point of view of running your car with no one in it, In that case it doesn't matter how much gas you use if you use any. I thought it was funny. :)

 

Paul

[lolder]

I'm also a carbon foot print person but I'm also old and fat and it's hot here. It may not even cost 20 cents because the AC doesn't run flat out for 15 minutes like it otherwise would after an hour in the sun. I've tried to figure out how I could pop an umbrella out the moon roof to shade the top and front and back windows without success. That would really cut down on the roasting. I can often crack the moon roof and all the windows in our low crime town except during the summer thunderstorms. That works pretty well.

[ptjones]

We need a aluminum foil cover that is easy to install and remove. :) Or better a Solar Powered A/C /heater cover for year around use. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Lunch today I went up to Decatur via I-85/I-20, 40 mi. and 8 mi city streets and average 59 MPG's. Speeds were 50 to 80 on FWY. Coming back averaged 60.4 mi. MPG's with OT of 85-90*F. I started the trip with 58.2 mpg average and ended with 58.4 with over 600 mi. on tank. Miles to Empty is 170 mi.

 

And YouTube views up to 2060 now.

 

Paul

[djminfll]

 

 

And YouTube views up to 2060 now.

 

Paul

 

You have me intrigued about your YouTube video with over 2000 views - will you provide a link to it please?

[ptjones]

You can go to #1 Post of this thread where you can click on videos or click on Links here. :)

 

I have made three YouTube Videos for driving a CMAX Hybrid/FFH the way it was designed to be driven, Called "How to drive a CMAX Hybrid/ FFH to get great gas mileage", https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=5uHoZ5QhVXs

also "CMAX Mods to improve MPG's" and "Hypermiling to improve MPG's".

 

 

Efficiency and Aerodynamic Mods: The First thing to do is to raise your tire pressure of your Michelin's to 50psi which is safe to do and I got 64k miles for each set of tires on my CMAX. :)https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=Xmuw6275PRw

 

 

Hypermiling Video not recommended for those who can't focus on situational awareness of traffic around you all the time.

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=s09mywF78g4

 

Let me know what you think, any improvements.

 

Paul

Edited by ptjones, 09 April 2017 - 10:42 AM.

Edited July 20, 2017 by ptjones

[ptjones]

One reminder that if you are stopped for any extended period of time, waiting on long signal, train crossing, drive through etc. even though the ICE stops at least shift into Park or better yet turn off car. Remember you are using power from HVB to keep things going which will bring the MPG's down. With a ScanGuageII you can watch it go down.

YouTube views are up to 2237 now .

 

Paul

[ptjones]

A couple of days ago I found another good reason to have wheel covers. I was going through my favorite roundabout as I was exiting my car slid out and caught the curb with my front wheel and slightly touched the rear wheel. I assumed the worst , but was surprised the wheel covers protected the wheels so their was no damage to wheels. The front tire did get a gash in it from the LEXAN cover breaking, but is still holding air. Front cover was broken, but the rear one wasn't, nylon screw to keep cover from rotating did break off. I ordered a used tire with the same tread depth to replace the front one. The car seems fine so far. BTW the going price for refurbished wheel is around $200 on eBay.

 

Paul

[Waldo]

Bet you that if your tires were at 40psi you wouldn't have slid out in the first place!

[ptjones]

Bet you that if your tires were at 40psi you wouldn't have slid out in the first place!

Won't have made any difference, first my experience is the car corners better at 50 psi and second it's hard to have traction with dirt on the road. Been through this roundabout a few hundred times with no problems. ;(

 

I made 2 new wheel covers and I can feel the car rolling easier(less aero drag) with about 1 mpg improvement in my average on this tank to 57mpg. :)

 

Paul

[Waldo]

It's easy to get tricked into thinking a car can corner better when you sharpen the response by inflating the tires, but the truth is all you're getting is faster response with less overall grip. Lower pressure puts more rubber in contact with the road, which makes it less sensitive to dirt or other imperfections in the road surface. Ask any off-roader and they will tell you lower pressure is always better for traction in dirt.

 

As I've pointed out several times, 50 psi may seem safe for hundreds of times, but it only takes one event like this make the difference. Lucky you just hit a curb and not some kid running into the street.

[Texasota]

All valid points, Waldo, but some have an incredible capacity to believe what they want to believe and nothing will change that.

[ptjones]

It would appear that some have short memories, we already covered this in Post # 11 on this thread where I talked with Michelin Customer service and explained I was getting even tire wear at 50psi and got 64k mi. on two sets of tires. Tires are warrantied for 55k mi. He said he had no problem with that and would recommend 50psi. I think it makes sense to do what the experts at Michelin recommend. :) The Max pressure on the tire is 51psi cold and it would take about 200 psi to blow up the tire. Some are running 55 psi. on these tires too. FORD's recommended tire pressure of 38psi is only a recommendation and is a compromise between ride quality, braking, handling, gas mileage etc.

 

To give an example I raced a 1986 FORD SVO Mustang back in the day which came with 225/50-16 VR(CMAX 225/50-17) rated tires and stock tire pressure was 28 psi front and back. At that pressure the fronts would roll on to sidewalls and rears not much grip. ;( To get the most grip I ended up with 50 psi on fronts and 24 psi on rears do to the big difference in weight in front and back. Photos of my car and at the track. :)

Paul

[Waldo]

Did you ask the Michelin "expert" how much grip was reduced at 50psi? As someone who's worked in engineering all my life, my experience is the guys who answer the phone for customers aren't really the "experts". I spent several years of my life working directly with the real experts at Michelin, BTW.

[ptjones]

Did you ask the Michelin "expert" how much grip was reduced at 50psi? As someone who's worked in engineering all my life, my experience is the guys who answer the phone for customers aren't really the "experts". I spent several years of my life working directly with the real experts at Michelin, BTW.

It has more grip at 50psi if the tires are wearing evenly, that's the way the NASCAR guys do it. :) I find it interesting that you keep on ignoring my previous Posts. And I actually raced my car. What ever gave you the idea that the tire has more grip at 38psi? Show me proof, you haven't so far. :)

 

Paul

[md13ffhguy]

All valid points, Waldo, but some have an incredible capacity to believe what they want to believe and nothing will change that.

Pretty sure there was an earlier comment about how fast he zooms around traffic circles in his C-max for the thrill of it, I guess... Combine that with overinflated tires...

 

I tried 50 psi briefly in my Fusion. The loss of stability surprised me. I agree that a little more air than recommended can help improve fuel economy, but 50 was beyond the tipping point with safety, IMO. I've stuck with 40 max.

[ptjones]

Pretty sure there was an earlier comment about how fast he zooms around traffic circles in his C-max for the thrill of it, I guess... Combine that with overinflated tires...

 

I tried 50 psi briefly in my Fusion. The loss of stability surprised me. I agree that a little more air than recommended can help improve fuel economy, but 50 was beyond the tipping point with safety, IMO. I've stuck with 40 max.

You didn't say what tires you have. BTW I have been through that traffic circle maybe 500 times without a problem, Michelin rep. said 50 psi was the proper pressure to use, I'll stick with the people who make the tires. :) At 38psi my tires start sliding and 50 psi they don't, Must be a CMAX thing. :)

 

Paul

Edited August 24, 2017 by ptjones

[md13ffhguy]

Original Michelin tires.

 

Michelin guy told you that 50 psi was "the proper" inflation? I call BS.

 

Tires sliding while properly inflated? You're driving too fast.

 

But, whatever. You do your thing. I'll continue to lean towards safety, and encourage others to do so, too.

[ptjones]

Original Michelin tires.

 

Michelin guy told you that 50 psi was "the proper" inflation? I call BS. I didn't know you were a tire expert, You could call Michelin's Customer Support Line and ask if it is unsafe to run 50 psi in your tires, max pressure on the tire is 51psi cold. BTW tell them you're getting even tire wear too. :) We all are interested in what they say.

 

Tires sliding while properly inflated? You're driving too fast. Really, instead of putting the right amount pressure so they don't. How many miles on your tires? I got 64k mi. on two sets, they're warrantied for 55k mi., obviously what I'm doing is working.

 

But, whatever. You do your thing. I'll continue to lean towards safety, and encourage others to do so, too.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. :)

 

Paul

[Mister MMT]

I drive a Mondeo Hybrid (identical to the Fusion) mostly in Germany, the country with the fast highways, France and Belgium (I’m Belgian).

 

I have been driving it now for 5 months and about 8000 miles. My 9 miles drives to work in the warmer season yield 55 - 59 mpg, and on the highway at 90 MPH max, 34 MPG. I drive about 50/50 this type of trips, and my mean and measured consumption so far is 40.50 MPG.

 

Paying at least twice what you do in the USA for gas, fuel consumption is of real concern here. I was driving a 2^nd generation Prius for four years before, and got used to driving as economically as possible and also read everything I could in order to understand how the hybrid system works. The contributions by hybridbear convinced me I could drive the Mondeo/Hybrid too in an economic way.

 

I like using Hybrid Assistant, a free Android App that displays on a phone or tablet several useful parameters and allows creating the same type of reports as produced a few years ago by hybridbear, which made this forum so interesting for me. I already used it on my Prius, and priusfan of the HA team has been so kind to adapt it for use with the Ford HF35 hybrid system. So all owners of a recent Fusion Hybrid or Energi could use it.

 

You can learn more about it on their YouTube channel

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZJ5eWI8vAY0haksRkFsbGQ

 

Using an online translator, you could follow my frequent reporting on for example the German language Mondeo-Mk5 Forum.

 

http://mondeo-mk5.de/index.php/Thread/602-Ford-Mondeo-2-0-Hybrid/?pageNo=1

 

The Dashboard page of their website explains very well HA.

 

Braking quality and forcing battery-ventilation are not available for the Fusion Hybrid (no PIDs available), but the first is well implemented in the Fusion Dashboard. Of course, the reports produced by Hybrid Report remain an excellent complement.

 

HA helps me a lot with optimizing my driving and provides on the side a lot of fun.

 

In my case, everything is in metrics, but HA allows also displaying miles and gallons.

 

Recently, I have been mounting an iTracker mini0086-Pro dashcam. I have set recording in 720p normal resolution, which still gives very clear images. I am in addition using Mobizen for recording screenshots of the HA app while running on my smartphone. On my PC, I use VideoMeld for mounting everything in a HD video. In Germany, the law requires censoring the licence plates and recognizable faces. I do this with the YouTube video editor. It is a bit tedious and takes some exercising, but it works quite well. I have added text indicating when I used the ACC and at which set-speed. I do appreciate VideoMeld for this type of work.

 

I have uploaded some pictures showing how the smartphone and the camera are mounted in the car.

 

You can view my first videos of town driving here. For best viewing quality, please select 720p.

 

 

 

The Hybrid Assistant window is the essential one. The trip video is there to help with understanding the context.

 

The HA reports made with Hybrid Reporter can be downloaded from here. Specialists here may wish to study the data on BFSC in g/kWh, a good indicator of engine burning efficiency. The system manages to do this very well, also by staying at the 2 bars, as explained by ptjones here and before by Hybridbear.

 

For downloading them, click on the download button behind the three dots in the upright corner.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nbq60htl31sdufd/Report_2017-08-11_14-10-52.html?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e1b3m5ouxian5is/Report_2017-08-11_16-34-39.html?dl=0

 

I would appreciate any feedback and will answer questions with pleasure.

 

Jan

Edited August 13, 2017 by Mister MMT

[ptjones]

"How to drive a CMAX Hybrid/ FFH to get great gas mileage" YouTube videos views are up to about 2500 now, :) and still going up.

 

Paul

[Mister MMT]

Hi Paul, thanks for the excellent videos. Your mileage is impressive!

 

Which camera did you use and how did you place it at that position?

 

I often use the ACC set on ECO and then, it is the system that decides. The ICE is always kept below the second bar. Since it does not have the stop & start functionality of Sync3, my starting in EV is done like you show. When not using it, I drive much like you, but on highways like those in the video, faster ;) .

 

Enhance is very helpful, but the gauge is a bit small and placed deep.

 

I'll follow your advice and inflate more my Hankook Ventus Prime3 K125 215/60 R16 95V tires.

 

Jan

Edited August 14, 2017 by Mister MMT

[ptjones]

Hi Paul, thanks for the excellent videos. Your mileage is impressive!

 

Which camera did you use and how did you place it at that position?

 

I often use the ACC set on ECO and then, it is the system that decides. The ICE is always kept below the second bar. Since it does not have the stop & start functionality of Sync3, my starting in EV is done like you show. When not using it, I drive much like you, but on highways like those in the video, faster ;) .

 

Enhance is very helpful, but the gauge is a bit small and placed deep.

 

I'll follow your advice and inflate more my Hankook Ventus Prime3 K125 215/60 R16 95V tires.

 

Jan

I used a GoPro 3+ and used suction cup GoPro accessories to mount on side window to the side of me. It takes some experimenting to get it right. I'm glade you liked it. :)

 

Paul