WPWoodJr

Obama, McCain agree

So does Obama have a FFH?

This is one of many articles on the web. Another article mentioned he purchase a FFH with NAV and MS Sync

 

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McCain swaps Cadillac for Ford Fusion Hybrid

Why didn't he wait for "cash for clunkers"?

I have noticed that the A/C (for me at least) drops the mileage on the hwy but does not seem to around town. My guess is that the A/C is powered mostly by energy recovery when you are stopping once in a while but when you are not it draws juice from the generator during regular driving.

Try this: when driving in EV mode near the limit of EV mode with A/C off on a hot day, turn A/C on. I think you'll see yourself drop out of E/V mode to power the A/C. Also, the A/C draws down the battery, potentially forcing the engine on to recharge it if there's not enough regen happening.

It is amazing to me how much the A/C affects gas mileage. A week ago here in the Seattle area we were having temps a little higher than normal for this time of year, high 80's, and it was sunny (I did say Seattle ) So the car was hot after work. For the few days I used the A/C in Auto mode, temp set to 75) my fuel economy dropped from averaging 45 mpg to 38 - 39 mpg. That is still good, but it got me to thinking that maybe Toyota does have a good idea in the solar powered A/C that the new 2010 Prius is offering. Don't get me wrong, I love my FFH, but that option does make a lot of sense for area's where the summers are hotter and longer.

I believe the Prius doesn't actually have solar powered A/C, its just a fan that blows air out of the car while its parked. Another thing the 2010 Prius has going for it over previous models is quicker ICE warming so you can get into EV mode sooner. I've noticed even in 65-70 degree weather that my FFH takes awhile to heat up - you can tell when its warmed up by looking at the little temperature gauge icon on the left of the driver display - when its green the engine is warmed up.

I'm amazed too, looking at the A/C usage gauge, just how much electricity the A/C takes. I can tell the difference when its on or off because I can't drive in EV mode as much when its on.

That's pretty good! I have maintained an excel spreadsheet for every single fillup on my Prius over 127,000 miles, and the average is 51MPG. I formatted it in a way to calculate the cost of the gas at that MPG, and compare the costs savings against 20, 25, and 30 MPG to see if in the long run it was worth the extra money that was shelled out in the purchase price.

 

I have a copy of the spreadsheet ready to go for the FFH, now I all I need is the car!

Just curious - why are you getting a FFH instead of the new 2010 Prius, since the new Prius gets better gas mileage and has improved handling over the previous generation?

Outside:

http://ffh.squarespace.com/blog/2009/6/9/f...mpressions.html

Inside:

http://ffh.squarespace.com/blog/2009/6/12/seat-comfort.html

I'm getting about 37 mpg in the hilly Philly suburbs but it does take a change in driving habits to get great mileage in the FFH. Luckily the gauges are a big help in that department.

dup post

Remember there are 2 tax incentives in play right now -- first is the current $1,700 credit (figured after you compute taxes owed on the back page of the 1040) which would apply to most everyone (I don't know if there is an income threshold for this) and is $1,700 until Sep 30 then goes down to $850. The the second is the state tax deduction on the federal form (whether that is on the front page of the 1040 or in sched A, I guess we will see; this is deduction that reduces the amount of income that your federal tax is computed upon) which would apply if you actually paid sales tax (depending on your state, of course) on a new car purchased this year (not just the FFH, this should be any new car and again check for the income threshold).

There is no income threshold on the tax credit thanks to the stimulus bill.

Also, Pennsylvania has a $500 rebate for hybrid purchases.

And, the "cash for clunkers" bill appears to be about to pass; too bad I missed out on that, would have been worth $4500 to me

So I put an order in for my '10 FFH. I ordered it in tuxedo black, med light stone leather interior (leather is tan the way I saw it), 502A package w/remote start key for just shy of 30k. I assume from most of what I read that it is a good deal I got?

 

Also, my question is does anyone else have the black with the tan interior and how do they like it / do you have pics. I really like the tan look with the black (my buddies VW) but kinda curios as to why ford chose to use tan and gray trim inside instead of tan w/black trim

 

AND, I asked the dealer if he could take the "front plate bracket" off of the order the day I placed it and he said it wouldn't let him. If I push harder to get it removed is it possible or is it too late? (I doubt it is actually being built already right?)

Good deal! Is that before state taxes? Mine was just over $30k before state taxes and without the remote start.

The dealer put some sort of front plate bracket thingie in my trunk. I don't have anything like that mounted on the front of my car: http://ffh.squarespace.com/blog/2009/6/9/f...mpressions.html

C.) Seat warmers only have two power positions: High and Low. Near the bottom of page 126 the Guide indicates a Navigation-based system (which I have) should have three power settings: High, Medium and Low. Mine only has two as per the DATC equipped vehicle. How many settings are on yours (if you have the NAVI)?

I only have two power positions in my Nav-equipped FFH

Hello Quincy,

Looking at the Aisin PSD and the excellent simulation of the Prius PSD on the eahart.com I spotted a difference in methodology. According to these documents the Ford and Toyota PSD's have the following arrangements:

 

FFH

- Traction Motor (MG1): Ring Gear

- Gasoline Engine (ICE): Planetary Gear

- Generator Motor (MG2): Sun Gear

 

Prius

- Traction Motor (MG1): Sun Gear

- Gasoline Engine (ICE): Planetary Gear

- Generator Motor (MG2): Ring Gear

 

Both arrangements would work. Do you know if indeed there is this difference between the FFH (Aisin) and Prius PSD's? Could this contribute to the smoother transition on the FFH when the ICE kicks in?

On the Prius MG2 is the traction motor (not the generator motor) and is connected to ring gear.

I need some help from people that have upgraded their sync. I think this website is more active than the Sync website and it looks like several members have upgrade so I thought it would be better to ask here.

 

I have a FFH with NAV and am trying to upgrade to ver 3.0. I know that I don't get much in functionality but I would like to upgrade so that I know I have the latest.

 

I have tried to install the update and I have tried to install the program that confirms what version of sync you have neither will install.

 

I have confirmed that the files are downloading to my USB drive. I have a LST file and then a SyncMyRide folder. I turn the key past accessory to run and made sure the radio is on. I am trying to install by going to Phone - Setting - Advanced Setting - Install. Everytime it tells me that it doesn't recognize the file.

 

What am I screwing up? Could someone give me some insight because I am a little disappointed in the directions from the Sync website because it says to push NAV and then choose setting but the picture shows the phone set up and NAV does not have a setting button.

 

Thanks

Does Sync recognize the USB drive for playing music? If so, it should find the upgrade files.

I'm pretty sure that's only for non-Nav systems though. The 2010 Nav Job2 software will have the capability though.

What is Job2 software? Will FFH owners be getting that? I hate having to say "USB" all the time.

Wow, that really sucks! :heartbreaker:

The only tricky situation is where you don't actually pay in/owe taxes up to the tax credit amount, or you are caught up in the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax.)

Grey, the recent stimulus package removed the AMT exclusion for hybrid tax credits

Hey all I got my FFH about 3 weeks ago and already have 5K on it! Lots of traveling and also moving to a new state. anyway I have noticed that when on the hwy with cruise on sometimes the car feels like a rubber band kind of surging back and forth and if I look at the display for power it will show the up arrow then down arrow back and forth. Also I have noticed that it seems to kind of shutter when the engine goes off when I drop below 47. It did not start doing this until about 4K miles. I just had the oil changed at a ford dealer at the 5K mark. I am old school so I like to do the first one early. but this issue was happening before i got the oil changed. wondering if anyone else has experienced this. I wonder if maybe it might just need a software update or something. thoughts?

I just drove my new FFH to the airport with cruise on at 55 mph, didn't notice any rubber-banding though. You have much more experience than me though, I only have 100 miles so far

I got 46.5 mpg on the way to the airport!

I found this in the back of the 2010 FFH Nav System manual....

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Michael

Thanks, good info. I must admit I find the disconnect between Sync and the Nav system to be a headache that should be hidden from the customers. Why should you have to update things from different web sites? Another example is Sync V3 not working with the Nav system. Can you even imagine Apple allowing that to happen? Ford should do everything it can to provide a seamless interface.

I ordered mine April 23rd and it arrived on May 26th. Not too shabby. It was two weeks from order to production and two weeks more for a train ride and delivery to the dealership. Guess the stars were aligned just right.

Wow mine took 10 weeks total - Mar 31 to June 8.

Can I leave my ZUNE or any USB media player plugged in when the car is off?

Yes, but you might want to just buy a large flash drive and leave that in there. No point in subjecting your Zune or i-Phone to excessive heat/cold.

I started loading some of my favorite CD's into the 10GB hard drive. I noticed some of the CD's do not have cover art and album metadata. Any ideas why new popular albums would not have it?

 

I am also using my ZUNE and IPHONE with no problems. I still would like instant access to some of my tunes via the built in 10GB hard drive.

 

Thanks,

 

Abe

The Gracenote CD database is not up-to-date. I thought that loading Sync V3 would load a new db but it did not. I wonder how you can upgrade it? Mine is currently at 1055.

Just drove mine from CT to Montreal - probably averaging 70-75 mph. The computer readout is saying that I averaged 35.0 mpg for the trip which included going through the Berkshires on the Mass Pike and Adirondacks mountains on the Northway in NY.

 

I topped off the gas tank before heading out this morning and only needed 2.1 gallons to replenish the tank after driving 104 miles which works out to 49.5 mpg. (I learned the lesson that you don't want to try to squeeze any extra gas into it - it tends to shoot all over - when it is full, it is full!)

 

You won't be disappointed - I do need to spend more time learning about the Sync and Nav setup - although at least the basics are pretty straightforward.

That reminds me - I should go top mine off so next time I can measure how many gallons to fill-up and compare that to the computer's MPG readout. Sounds like your tank was over-filled initially, or you under-filled it, or your computer is way off!

Thanks for all the documentation and what not. I've been using my waiting time to read up on everything.

 

Still no word yet on production date or VIN. I don't care if it's being built slowly, but I'd just like to have a timetable of when to expect the car.

It took mine 10 weeks total - 7 1/2 to build it and 2 1/2 to get it to the dealer and prepped. Just picked it up today! :happy feet:

I got a nice surprise when I picked it up too - Pennsylvania is offering a $500 rebate on hybrids, you just send in the paperwork and they send you the $500.

I was just out washing my FFH for the second time since picking it up. I got it May 21st. Well, I did the stupidest thing... I had the windshield wipers up, and forgot. Then while I was drying the car, I popped the hood to dry around the edges, and hit the wipers!!! ARG One small scratch on the hood crease near the passenger side wiper blade!!!

Rob, sorry to hear about that! A possible silver lining, its now been baptized with a scratch so you can stop worrying about it ;-)

I have to go on a business trip this week; will have to leave my FFH (which I'm picking up tomorrow) at the airport; that's making me very nervous!