mgm14grand

I had a similar problem in mine when I had it. Along with needing an ECU upgrade. Came back nice and smooth. I've even noticed the engine seems to smooth out the fuel delivery when you apply / realease the throttle. Unlike my wife's 10 year old golf which lurches when you lightly get on and off it. Like you its my first Ford. 5 years ago I would have never touched them, but then came the Focus, the new shape Mondeo and finally the C-Max, just as I was looking for a new car :-). Simon.

Wow, can't get a better test report than the someone going out and buying their own! No suprise though really, I spent a year reading test reports, comaring performance figures, looking round dealers at the interiors etc and came up with the same conclusion. I'd call it "The thinking persons car". It's not a label, it not a lifestyle statement, but it's proably the most practical car you can buy without sacrificing performance or looks. Simon.

Doesn't sound too good. I was getting around 35mpg in town even before I had the ECU sorted. However at 90-95 you'll kill the economy. Fuel consumption is exponential with speed not linear. Do doing 100mph instead of doing 50mph doesn't go from 60 to 30 mpg, it will be worse than that!. When I've reset the meter as I'm going along at 80, instead of 70 the consumption drops from high 50's to mid 40's!. The funny thing is increasing speed from 60mph to 70mph seems to REDUCE consumption. Must be in the sweet spot for 6th gear. (Just under 2k rpm I think). Simon.

I don't like the Vignale at all. It's another car that looks ugly just because of the CC on a family hatchback concept. The lines from the car from the drivers head backwards are not nice. The only CC that ever looked good is the the Merc SLK and that's becuase it's not a CC it's a roadster and the proportions match up. I wouldn't own one if you gave it to me. Well OK, but I'd flog it immediately. The RS however, I might put my own money on... An understated family saloon, with just a few giveaways for those in the know, topped with hair raising performance, that's my kind of car. Will have

Loosening up was another variable I hadn't considered on why my economy keeps improving... I've got just over 14,000 on the clock now and had my first service last month.

If you want to know about offical figures then you need to read these, so you understand how useless the official figures are to members of the public... http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/inform ... mption.asp http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/faq/ They do them in a lab on a rolling road so there's no wind resistance, no momentum to gather, no rough surfaces providing friction, no hills, no stopping (on the extra urban test) and they are only over a short distance. But they are scientifically consistent across manufacturers/models. Expect to see between 10-25% less than these in most normal

42 at 80mph sounds about right. It's very hard to get into wow! figure economy when you go above 70. When I last went this fast [long time ago :-) ] I was only getting 45. 45ish at 70 sounds a bit low though. You should be getting at least into the 50's at this point. Was the car loaded with passengers & stuff, and have lots of hills, with the occsaional accelerating and stints above 70. When I got 60.3 it was a strict cruise, 70 all the way, with a drop to 50 through roadworks then some uncongested easy going back lanes with no stop starts.

Citroen - it's sytylish as in Vivene Westwood, i.e. anyone outside the industry thinks what an ugly pile of ****. Astra - mmmn, niether exciting or boring, kind of OK, but I'd still never buy one. Maybe if they changed the name to Secco or somethhing. 1 Series - don't know what's going on with this one. It looks crap from all angles, the car is too small for the "flame surfacing" and reminds me too much of the Z3 coupe which I called a rollerskate for people with deformed feet. Golf. Best of a bad bunch? Needs some butt work doing though. Its not angular enough and too soft and rounded.

Not used rapid fit, but my first service [only?] cost £136.14 from a dealer. Included a free valet they owed me as they fitted the wrong number plates.

Luckily Nick Posted above as I was going to say" Is your C-Max fairly new? Looking at your version number I’m guessing its the completely new release of the dash software for the latest model year. Instead of 03xx it’s now 04xx.". So you can ignore that. Note the dash computer (that you can see the version number for) has nothing do do with fuel consumption. It only controls the warning lights and gauges, and has nothing to do with the engine management (ECU) and hence how much fuel is used by the engine. That is controlled by the ECU or Engine Control Unit, another computer that sits in a s

Just thought of something else worth mentioning which may help [may not]. I noticed that once I'd had the ECU updated the throttle was also more controllable. Before the upgrade it used to be an an off switch, i.e. 1mm of travel was all it needed to get the car accelerating. It was difficult to drive sensibly. Afterwards, 0-5 mm will keep the car at a steady speed, and the pedal is now much more progressive. Did you know the C-Max has a fly by wire throttle? I'm guessing they also altered something on that. One thing I do like is there seems to be a kind of smoothing algorithm applied to th

The version number you can see is only for the dash not the engine management unit. So whatever it is it won't affect your fuel consumption. However with those kind of figures on the motorway I'd take it in. I'm getting into the high 50's mpg when sticking to 70mph. I took mine in as I only used to be able to get in the low 40's.

No sorry I don't. But the guy said they kept it in overnight as they were waiting for a reply back from Ford to say which was the right version for my build date. So it may not be the same for yours anyway. I don't even know what the ECU version number would be. It could be somethinn like 0422 (same as the dash computer) or it might be 2004.03v4.11build129. Who knows? Simon.

You can find what version the dash computer is at the moment by holding in the stalk button, inserting the key and turn to position 2, keep holding and after a couple of seconds all the dials will flick to max and back. You can then use the wheel to scroll through the diagnostics menu. One of them gives the version. If it's 0422, then take it in and get them to upgrade to 0424. However this is just the dash computer and will only fix things with the fule light coming on, EPB warnings, immobiliser lights coming on, etc etc. You can NOT find out what version your engine management computer has

Thanks for that. At least now I'm happy there's a useful reason for it. They must have done a survey of company car drivers at some point. Shame they didn't make it 2 minutes though instead of 15/30.

If your gonna buy one you may as well get a good one... http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/product_te ... _kits.html http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/product_test/?id=49328 (fire extinguisers) In case you can't be bothered to register FIRE EXTINGUISHERS (1kg give about 5-6 seconsd instead of 3 from a small one) 4 stars Kidde All Puspose £12.98 from B&Q (Budget Buy) Firemaster 1000 PR £24.99 (Best Buy) Guardian VAN 103 £24.99 from Halfords (check the expiry date) Fire Master 1000 DP £19.99 Recommended choice. This test was a rout for Firemaster, with the company taking the top two place

That's what I was trying to say. They use words like strongly recommended and advisable. You have to spot the legally required from the sales speak. Which is difficult to do when the boat leaves in 20 minutes. Best to check it now, for the whole of Europe, and get your car kitted for wherever you might go in the future. Checked the Rac site under http://www.rac.co.uk/travelservices/european_advisor/ Assuming you are going thru France you do need a set of bulbs, fire extinguisher, first aid kit and triangle. And of course the tape on the headlamps. Anyone know where to stick this yet?

Just realised I didn't make clear what they can't fix. That is the speedo light and radio light not going off. They can fix the petriol warning light. This is done by upgrading the dash computer. You can find what version it is at the moment by holding in the stalk button, inserting the key and turn to position 2, keep holding and after a couple of seconds all the dials will flick to max and back. You can then use the wheel to scroll through the diagnostics menu. One of them gives the version. If it's 0422, then take it in and get them to upgrade to 0424. I haven't had the same problem sinc

Try a run on the motorway [at least 5 miles without too many hills and keep it at 70] and see if you can at least get into the 50's. If not then you definetley have a problem. Check my recent post I just got 60.3! Mine's done over 13,000 miles now and I had the ECU updated in Feb. What kind of town driving are you doing? I've noticed that the economy keeps falling on mine until the engine is warmed up. Takes about 5-10 minutes. After that you should be able to get high 30's if your moving along and just stopping occasionally.

I asked Ford my delaer if there's anything they could do about this. Apparrently not. There's nothing on the WDS system that lets them change it. And it wan't a fob off, any work they did would have been chargeable back to the warranty. It was was of the thing on my snag list. Weird feature to have if you ask me, it makes you think you haven't locked the car. Presumably it's so theives can see how many miles you've done and know whether the car is worth nicking!

Heartlands Ford in Tamworth sorted mine out. Had it in over night and had to wait for a mail from Ford to tell them which version of the ECU software to load on it. They also updated the dash computer & adjusted the boot catch. All successfully first time. The only thing they failed on - they forgot to put the plastic engine cover on. As soon as I pulled off the forecort I thought the engine was self destructing becuase of the noise of the vibration :-( .

No new updates that I know of. Mine was done in Feb. However the tech did say they had to wait for a mail from Ford to say which version of the engine management software was right for my build date. I bought a used March 04 plate in Jan this year. My average of 43 is mainly my 15 mile commute, which has a 5 mile motorway section in the middle, but the rest is extra-urban but with loads of roundabouts where you have to wait for the 2 cars in front to move off first, plus one stretch of queueing traffic for about 2/3 mile. Plus a couple of short trips into town. Everyone I know says their d

As most of us diesel owners have been dissapointed with the inital results of our new purchases I thought I'd post the following... The official figures are [almost] achievable. Warwick - Worcester. Filled up with Shell on leaving the sister-in-laws on Saturday. Cruise set at 70mph on the M40, M42, M5, a few bit of back lanes at the end. 60.3 Mpg (indicated). :lol: This route does include some decent gradients too. To compensate there were some road works where the limit was 50 so I obliged. I have the C-Max 2.0 TDCi and my usual commute is getting around 44-46 and my overall average is

Whatever you do don't leave it till you get to Dover, there's a place at the port selling all sorts of stuff like maps, triangles, headlamp sticky deflectors and fire extinguishers. They give you a hand out to scare you into buying stuff you "might" legally need. And guess what, the prices are'nt particularly competitive. So check the laws for the country you're going to a few weeks before, so you have time to get on the net and buy it cheaper.

That sounds significant! Did you ask for the upgrade? I'm wondering if someone finally worked out how to tell the engine to put the fuel in to the engine before the exhaust valves open! What kind of drive was that? Anystops on the way? Is your dealer at the top of a hill? Best I've EVER seen was at 55mph on a flat part of the M42, steady speed, 54mpg.