Review 2013 Ford C-max Hybrid Sel Wagon 4d
We beloved the Toyota Prius. No, really, we practise. And not simply as a de facto punch line for our most conventional moments of automotive enthusiasm. Priuses are the fluoride in the automotive h2o—and we're happy for the upstanding 2 percentage of citizens who avail themselves of such superb applied science, thus benefitting us all.
But as gas prices rise again and cylinder counts continue to drop—and even BMW engines now clatter portentously to a halt at stoplights—we can't help but wonder why some other car company has not stepped upwardly to punch Toyota in the Prii. Preferably with something more than engaging in drive, a hybrid that produces similar mileage only superior dynamics. If nosotros are all forced to drinkable the Kool-Assist one day, can nosotros at least accept ours laced with a slug of something harder?
Enter the 2013 Ford C-Max hybrid, a European people mover based on the same architecture as the Focus and mated with the 188-hp hybrid powertrain developed for the new Fusion. On paper, the idea seems like gold: A $25,995 Focus-ish wagon (that's $1350 less than a base Prius 5) that nails 47 mpg in EPA fuel-economy testing across the board? Make our electrification end-times cocktail a Pimm'southward, delight.
Ford is keen to position the C-Max hybrid every bit a 'tween—bigger than the standard Prius but smaller than the Prius Five—despite the fact that the C-Max's 104.3-inch wheelbase and 173.6-inch length are both shorter than that of either Toyota. Merely the C-Max is wider and taller than the Priuses, which makes it slightly roomier for passengers—Toyota'due south only edge is a bigger cargo hold in the Prius V.
Our first dry run reinforced the notion that, much like its platform-mate, the C-Max can be fun to drive. Information technology proved powerful enough to do 0 to threescore mph in 8.viii seconds, which merely seems boring until you commit the aforementioned crime in one of the Toyotas.
Inside the C-Max, the apple didn't fall far from the tree, with a conventional cockpit and gearshift lever similar to the Focus's. The instrument panel does feature a new "Restriction Charabanc" display, furthering both thrift and the game-ification of driving, simply not helping stopping distance: The C-Max took 191 feet to halt from seventy mph, 16 more than than the Prius Five. Our preproduction C-Max also demonstrated the strange ability to initiate regenerative braking nether low-cal pedal awarding without disengaging its cruise control. Ford assured the states this defect would not be present in production vehicles.
While our scales told us that the C-Max was stubby at 3658 pounds (269 more than the Prius V), hustling through some corners confirmed it. At slow to moderate speeds, the C-Max'south steering feels light and communicative, and the suspension does a proficient task soaking up bumps. In one case you lot approach the machine's pocket-sized limits, all the same, its weight and peak become more than noticeable every bit the body motions are no longer and then well controlled. Despite feeling more engaging than whatever Prius and wearing decent-size tires (225/50R-17 Michelin Energy Savers), the C-Max registered merely 0.77 chiliad on the skidpad, right at that place with the 0.78 g of the Prius 5.
With data mitigating our initial enthusiasm, we proceeded to collect more. Our primary surface area of investigation was that 47-mpg EPA highway rating. Of grade we'd find the bureaucratic number optimistic, but nosotros wondered how the C-Max could flatten out the typical hybrid inversion of having better city mileage than highway, while purportedly flattening the Prius V as well. Given that the ii.0-liter, four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle engine in the C-Max hybrid makes 141 horsepower all on its ain—seven horses more than than the output of the Prius V's total hybrid system—getting seven more highway miles out of every $iv spent at the Vanquish station seemed an extraordinary feat.
The secret sauce to Ford'due south new hybrid recipe is to fit a larger traction motor than the Toyotas' in its continuously variable transaxle (118 horsepower, versus 80 in the Prius V). This, along with a larger and more powerful lithium-ion battery pack (1.4-kWh capacity), enables the C-Max to get full EV all the way to 62 mph, some 20 mph college than the Prius. This power to close down the engine at higher speeds helps in four of the five EPA fuel-economy schedules that have summit speeds reaching no higher than threescore.
Back in the real globe, however, we ran a 67-mile out-and-back drive with the prowl control set at 75 mph, and the C-Max's trip figurer reported merely 34 mpg. At 32 mpg, our overall observed fuel economy in the C-Max was even lower than the 35 mpg we saw from the last Prius V we tested.
Nosotros did actually top 40 mpg in the C-Max by driving really slowly and advisedly—you know, similar in a Prius—confirming a larger truth. Ford may have adult a amend hybrid, but even in the C-Max, having more fun inevitably burns fuel.
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Source: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15118348/2013-ford-c-max-hybrid-test-review/
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