GreenBlackFFH

Just over 33,000 miles, and long term is 46.6 MPG. Needless to say, I am very pleased. Per tankful, I have gotten as high as 49.3 MPG. The best I ever did with the Toyota Camry Hybrid was 47 on a tank.

Did you buy the car new? Have you had the car in more than 3 times for this issue? If so, your car is now legally a lemon, especially if it has only 7000 miles. Make them give you a new one.

Could have been worse. You might have seen this (caution: not for the squeamish). ht tp://wins.failblog.org/2011/06/10/epic-win-photos-safety-check-win/#comments

Gasoline back in those days was rated according to the Research Octane Number (RON). When unleaded came out around 1974-ish they switched to an average of the RON and the Motor Octane Number (MON). The resulting number is about 4 to 5 points lower for the same quality gas. So the old 98 RON gas of 1970 would be about like the 93 Octane of today.

As usual, I have to be different from the crowd. My "toy" is a 2003 GMC 1500 4X4 pickup. Outside it looks like something you'd take fishing or hunting. Under the hood I've stuffed a 6.0 L (364 CID for us old folks) engine, and topped it with a Magnusson MP112 blower. The result is a 0 - 60 time of just under 5.2 seconds. Not sure what the 1/4 mile is. I hope to get to the track sometime this summer.

Many years ago when I was a kid, our family had an old 1956 Buick with a Dynaflow automatic transmission. It always fascinated me because it never seemed to shift gears like the automatic in our Mercury did. Later I found that this was because the Dynaflow was basically a torque converter on steroids, and relied on torque multiplication in the hydraulic coupler to get the "lower gears". The other day I was thinking that the user feel of the Dynaflow must have been much like the eCVT in the FFH, although the technologies are, of course, completely different. I was too young to drive back then, but has anyone with an FFH ever driven a Dynaflow-equipped Buick? If so, how do they compare as to feel, etc.?

I like this the best, although I like my 2010 better. I'm just not a fan of the "large mouth bass fish" look on Ford's newest cars.

Here are some stats I found on 348-409.com for some typical cars in 1959. Note that these are not hot rods or muscle cars, but what the average person would have bought back then. Ford 4 Dr. Sedan Weight: 3648 Engine: 292 CID V8 0-60: 13.1 Chevy 4 Dr. Sedan Weight: 3885 Engine: 283 CID V8 0-60: 11.1 Plymouth 4 Dr. Sedan Weight: 3680 Engine: 318 CID V8 0-60: 12.5 1965 wasn't much better. Ford Galaxie 500 Weight: 3610 Engine: 352 CID V8 0-60: 8.9 MPG: 15.8 Chevy Impala Weight: 3750 Engine: 283 CID V8 0-60: 12.8 MPG: 14.9 Plymouth Fury III Weight: 3875 Engine: 318 CID V8 0-60: 12.1 MPG: 16.3 I think I'll keep my FFH. As they say, nothing accounts for the "good old days" like a poor memory.

row one row two row three col 1 col 2 col 1A col 2A results: rows work, columns don't.

Based on the above info, it would not surprise me if they are stepping on some of Eaton's patents.

I just got an e-mail from the dealership notifying me of a "recommended minor service" at 15,000 miles, which includes oil and filter change, tire rotation, numerous "inspections", etc. I was surprised, and checked the owner's manual. As I had thought, service is every 10,000 miles except for one at 5,000 miles, so my next service should be at 20,000 miles. Of course, if a dealer can con someone into coming in twice as often as necessary, then they can make double the money. Watch out for these guys!!

I used to own a Toyota Camry Hybrid, and one issue with both it and the Prius is that it is possible to run out of gas, and then drive in EV mode until the HV traction batteries were run down to the point that they could not start the ICE once it was re-fueled. Since these batteries are on the order of 275 Volts, special equipment was necessary to "jump start" the vehicle, which required an expensive tow to the nearest Toyota dealership. So is this also a problem with the FFH? Or does Ford incorporate some "smarts" which will disable EV mode before the HV batteries get run down that low?

Hmmm... Last I knew it was the driver's responsibility to make sure the pedestrians were out of the way before moving. Anyway, making lemonade out of lemons, I think the sound of a diesel railroad locomotive would be cool. Oh, and include the horn (at full volume) too.

I have noticed this on both the FFH and the Camry hybrid I owned previously. I believe it is an inrush current protection mechanism which keeps the electronics within safe limits. The new railroad locomotives with electronic traction motor controls have a similar issue, and the engineers often complain about it on the railroad forums.

Thanks for the welcome, Darksider.