Another new HyTi owner checking in

[ptek]

Off topic, but related-- I bought a new VW Rabbit years ago. I was planning on driving it from Minneapolis to Bismark ND, 2 days before Christmas to be with family.

We started out on a clear, sunny morning, with an actual temp of -30 degrees. We got about 5 miles, and the car died. On a Sunday. Prior to the invention of cell phones.

We called friends to come and get us, and the dealer Monday morning. Turns out that they forgot to put on a device that allowed exhaust heat to warm the fuel system and the fuel froze.

It was known as a cold weather kit. DUH! We were in Minnesota in the Winter.

Once they put the kit on everything was fine from then on.

Oh, a Rabbit diesel? From the late 70's or early 80's? I remember those. Seems like most had either tan or lime green paint.

 

With the temps climbing into the 20s today, I got 39.1 and 39.5 MPG on my morning and evening commutes. Yeah! Had the block heater on for 3 hours over night again, and was able to enter EV mode after 1.5 miles. Nice! I hope the super cold weather is behind us now.

 

Pete

[hybridbear]

Oh, a Rabbit diesel? From the late 70's or early 80's? I remember those. Seems like most had either tan or lime green paint.

 

With the temps climbing into the 20s today, I got 39.1 and 39.5 MPG on my morning and evening commutes. Yeah! Had the block heater on for 3 hours over night again, and was able to enter EV mode after 1.5 miles. Nice! I hope the super cold weather is behind us now.

 

Pete

If you're hitting 39+ now with the weather we had yesterday, you should see 50 MPG on your commute once the temp is 55+. 55F seems to be a tipping point for MPGs. Below 55 or so grille blocking will really help with temps and MPG.

[ptek]

50? Wow, thanks for the encouraging words! With all I've read about the FFH not meeting the EPA estimates, I've decided that I'd be happy getting above 40 mpg. That's what my wife's Avalon was getting last summer (41 mpg) and I am hoping to be able to match it.

 

Pete

[inco]

Okay, I really hate to do this, being Sunday and all, but one of the reasons why I decided to get my FFH was 71 mpg city and 69 mpg highway. :drool:

Those are the numbers that Ford has posted in our brochure and they lured me into all this. Are you jealous now? :happy feet:

 

Doesn't that sound amazing when comparing your lousy numbers. Yes it does. It's Canada - we win. :shift:

 

Now for the truth and the reality. I have no idea what numbers I will get, but I know I won't get those and Ford's numbers might be comparable to those incredible EPA numbers that nobody ever gets.

 

However our gallon is bigger than your gallon and that is part of the difference. We were evicted from Britain a long, long time ago, but managed to convince them to let us stay in the Commonwealth. The 'wealth' part is fiction folks - don't go there because it certainly isn't common. We did get to keep the Imperial measurement system in the process so we have the Imperial gallon, which equals four of ours to five of yours, so naturally our numbers will be higher.

 

We also have lots and lots of other funny things like kilometers versus miles and the C scale instead of good old Fahrenheit. Canada is different so don't be upset at our being able to 'brag' about our higher numbers! And don't mention our diving dollar right now either... :sos:

Signed by ....., Your colder neighbour to the North ( discounting Alaska of course). :victory:

[jeff_h]

Now for the truth and the reality. I have no idea what numbers I will get, but I know I won't get those and Ford's numbers might be comparable to those incredible EPA numbers that nobody ever gets.

 

"Nobody ever gets?" It takes effort and cooperative weather (which I imagine is probably the conditions in which they test), but my average over 65 fill-up was better than the EPA (however when it started getting colder the MPG nosedive began, got up to 48.9 then it backed off to 48.7 real calculation, display on dash said 50.9 so that shows the eternal optimism just like the old Prius did) https://www.fuelly.com/driver/jeffh/fusion-hybrid

[hybridbear]

50? Wow, thanks for the encouraging words! With all I've read about the FFH not meeting the EPA estimates, I've decided that I'd be happy getting above 40 mpg. That's what my wife's Avalon was getting last summer (41 mpg) and I am hoping to be able to match it.

 

Pete

Pete - I'm not sure if you mentioned somewhere already, but how long is your commute? Trips of 6-13 miles that now get <40 for me were typically 55+ in the summer. One of our two most frequent destinations is 6.3 miles via freeway or 6.6 via the city route. The time difference is less than 5 minutes. In the winter we rarely take the city route because of the cold, in the summer we take both routes. The city route usually would yield 60-65 MPG, with maybe 20% of the trips being 70+ MPG. The freeway route is usually about 50 MPG in the summer and 35-40 right now in the winter. Another frequent destination is 11.7 miles via the city route or 12.8 miles via the freeway. In the summer I usually the city route since the time is about the same. The city route yields a very consistent 63-65 MPG. The highway route is very consistent around 50-55 MPG. Right now we always take the highway since the car won't warm up enough in the city. Right now this trip is usually 35-42 MPG. Those are my examples that lead me to believe that you'll see 50+ in the summer on your commute.

[ptek]

Below 55 or so grille blocking will really help with temps and MPG.

 

I blocked the upper grille today (see post here) using the pipe insulation method and will see what effect it has. One day last week, I was stuck in stop-and-go traffic when the air temp was below zero, and the coolant temp dropped pretty quick. Traffic was moving slowly and I was in EV mode, but the engine came on every few minutes to supply cabin heat.

 

Pete - I'm not sure if you mentioned somewhere already, but how long is your commute?

 

I have a 44 mile commute (each way). Going to work, the first 8 miles are 55 mph rural roads. Then about 4 miles of 45 mph with several traffic lights sprinkled in. Next is about 30 miles of 55 to 70 mph freeway. Finally about 2 miles of 40 mph city streets with 3 traffic lights. With that much high speed driving, the car generally warms up and stays warm, unless I get into a traffic slowdown and the car stays in EV mode for several minutes.

Edited January 13, 2014 by ptek

[acdii]

 

I blocked the upper grille today (see post here) using the pipe insulation method and will see what effect it has. One day last week, I was stuck in stop-and-go traffic when the air temp was below zero, and the coolant temp dropped pretty quick. Traffic was moving slowly and I was in EV mode, but the engine came on every few minutes to supply cabin heat.

 

 

I have a 44 mile commute (each way). Going to work, the first 8 miles are 55 mph rural roads. Then about 4 miles of 45 mph with several traffic lights sprinkled in. Next is about 30 miles of 55 to 70 mph freeway. Finally about 2 miles of 40 mph city streets with 3 traffic lights. With that much high speed driving, the car generally warms up and stays warm, unless I get into a traffic slowdown and the car stays in EV mode for several minutes.

With that drive, 43 MPG average summer, 39 Winter. It is very close to my drive of 34.9 miles, but no freeway. The freeway will knock it down a bit, or I would expect higher than I posted. With grill covers and remote start for a few minutes, you should be able to hit those numbers.

[hybridbear]

I have a 44 mile commute (each way). Going to work, the first 8 miles are 55 mph rural roads. Then about 4 miles of 45 mph with several traffic lights sprinkled in. Next is about 30 miles of 55 to 70 mph freeway. Finally about 2 miles of 40 mph city streets with 3 traffic lights. With that much high speed driving, the car generally warms up and stays warm, unless I get into a traffic slowdown and the car stays in EV mode for several minutes.

I thought you had a city commute. Acdii is right then. You might get 45 MPG in the summer then. When I've driven from Minneapolis to Owatonna for work in the summer I usually get 45-48 MPG for the round trip. In the winter it's right around 40 MPG round trip.

[ptek]

With that drive, 43 MPG average summer, 39 Winter. It is very close to my drive of 34.9 miles, but no freeway. The freeway will knock it down a bit, or I would expect higher than I posted. With grill covers and remote start for a few minutes, you should be able to hit those numbers.

Now that the temperatures are in the 20s, I am seeing 39 to 40 MPG (indicated). That fits right in with your winter value of 39.

[acdii]

Now that a few of us have a year of driving these under various conditions, we are starting to get a range of what to expect when driven well. Good to see you are falling into the expected range. Getting 47 all the time would be wonderful, but very unrealistic. They still do better than a TCH.

[corncobs]

Now that a few of us have a year of driving these under various conditions, we are starting to get a range of what to expect when driven well. Good to see you are falling into the expected range. Getting 47 all the time would be wonderful, but very unrealistic. They still do better than a TCH.

Nice to hear that from you ... ;)

[acdii]

Nice to hear that from you ... ;)

Well I always expected 38-43 from the 2013 FFH, and I am getting just that. That first one was well under what I expected out of it. When the older car got better, and rated much lower, than the newer car, something was wrong, still have no idea, or care for that matter, what was wrong with it, but its history now, and I now have what I had hoped the first one would have been, but even better. With all the miles I have driven, you get a feel for these things.

 

BTW I saw a DIB FFH SE yesterday, both my wife and I thought the same thing, hope that wasn't the BD, poor sap if it was.

 

 

Off Topic:

 

Prior to the BD I had a 2012 F150 EB, and I had complained about it not getting near its expected MPG, which I had thought to be roughly 18 MPG. It had some other problems too that were in that list of dont know, problem not found category, but were documented issues others had had reported. Ford's answer to the low MPG, run Premium fuel. Well I raised a stink about that, because it clearly states you dont need Premium fuel for the EB. Well I tried it and sure enough I got my expected MPG, but wasn't happy that I needed Premium to do it. After figuring out cost per mile differences, the Premium wasn't costing more, but actually worked out to be a few cents less per mile. I took it on a trip to Chino California and I was pleasantly surprised at the 24 MPG it got on the Interstate. For the documented issues with no fix, such as stumbling under load up a grade, and misfires, they extended the warranty to 75K.

 

So like I said you get a feel for these things, I expected around 18 in the F150(but at 87 not 91 O), and it delivered. I expected to hit EPA in the 2010 FFH and it did it, actually passed it during summer. I was really surprised at the 13 Flex, I expected 19, and got 21.