Well, I went to the dealer today with my 2007 FEH intending to get an oil change, and came home with new 2009 FEH Limited! Pretty much loaded, except for the NAV.

I couldn't believe it, they had 16 FEH's on the lot. Several of them (including mine) had come from a dealer in California. My dealer is in Liberty, MO less then 5 miles from the Ford plant where it was built. So this one really took the long way home.

I've only put 30-40 miles on it since this afternoon, but I am already amazed at how easily it drops in to EV! Any time you take your foot of the pedal under 40mph it goes EV with no effort. No double tap or L needed. My first trip home was just over 40mpg on the dash (about 15 miles). Not too bad in 45 degree temps. It's supposed to be almost 70 degrees the next 2 days so we'll see how things go.

-- Rick

 

Congrats! and that's one expensive oil change, or maybe on dirt cheap FEHL!

 

Congratulations! That is similar to what I did last year with trading my 06 for an 08. I guess we are on the same cycle, just a year off from each other. Once I sat in the 08, I was sold. I know you will enjoy it.

 

Hi Rick

You'll love the '09 FEHL and you don't even have to let off the gas to go EV. It will drop into EV under acceleration (below 1,500 RPM) on its own. I find it's best to accelerate to speed charging the battery with the ICE and then cruise in EV below 40mph. The 2.5L is more efficient and has more torque during low RPM acceleration than the 2.3L, so it's better to stay with traffic from a stop with the ICE running.

The SGII needs to be set at the Tank refill screen to 13.3% in order to match pumped gas at fill-up. I'm sure the dash Econ MPG reading will read 4% high at refill also, but no one has confirmed that it reads high like the '09 Nav sys does.

The ambient lighting button above the ink pen holder on the center console changes the color and turns it on and off at the end of the cycle. Check out the console storage trays (2) that can be removed and cliped on the passenger side of the console or behind the console. With those trays removed you can store some 15" laptops in the large console storage space. Ford had to make the tissue holder smaller to claim this so the 8.4X5.5 Kleenex box no longer fits without being smashed or cut first.

Remember, this FEH has aggresive DFSO and the ICE will start when you shift to "L". When in "L" and decel, you get full fuel-cut so you can plan a stop and charge the battery so the ICE is off when you stop in "D". I'm working on my third tank with over 50mpg now on E10 and flat roads. This is the best FEH yet and the new Fusion Hybrid should be unbelievable.

GaryG

 

Gary,

Thanks for summarizing your findings. I was about to go back and re-read all the 2009 FEHL threads (which I probably should do anyway). I skimmed them before enough to know I really wanted one! We made a step up to the Limited with this one too, so there are a lot more toys to play with.

Man, 40mph and under this thing really WANTS to EV! So much different that the 2007. Last night I was doing a constant 40mph in EV. It also seems like I can climb steeper inclines and not have the ICE come on. It's been in the 60's here in KC that last 2 days. I'll see how it does when the temps go back down.

Do you have a setting for TPS that is working for you yet on the SGII to measure fuel cut?

I'll be keeping track of dash mpg vs SGII and report back.

Thanks again,

Rick

 

Any time Rick

The sync system is what impresses me the most because I can keep my hands on the steering wheel and the shifter while making and receiving calls. So much better not having to dig around the seat belt to get the cell phone out of my pocket.

Looks like Ford programed the '09 FEH to keep the HV battery with as low of a SoC as possible. That's how I hypermile my '05 with the battery between 40 - 42% for Max EV. At lease I've been driving the '05 all this time the way Ford now programed the '09. My '05 battery may be in better shape than I thought.

During break-in (15,000 miles), climbing hills in EV get better, but my '09 is about as good as my '05 right now.

I don't monitor TPS with my SGII but I monitor Open/Closed Loop and instant MPG for fuel-cut. Open Loop and instant 9,999mpg tells me I'm in full fuel-cut. You get full Fuel-Cut in "D" decel over 45mph right into EV. You get part fuel-cut in decel in "D" which can be seen with the Instant MPG on the SGII.

GaryG

 

Gary,

Sorry, I used the wrong term (TPS). What I meant was the fuel cut setting on the SGII. Mine is currently at 18. I was wondering if you had adjusted yours to handle the more aggressive fuel cut in the '09.

I'm headed out to the car to see if I can get sync setup with my iPhone!


Thanks,

Rick

 

Mine are set at 17 but I'm going to set both of them lower this next tank refill to 14 and 12 to see if it has any effect in my MPG averages. I'll keep adjusting lower till I see a reaction.

I have my 3G iPhone Synced in and you let the other person hang up and the iPhone will hang-up automatically. The radio will resume playing if it's On and if it does not, you must hang-up.

GaryG

 

I think I understand what you meant to say, but I'm not sure you understand that what you wrote is not what you meant!

It is the TPS setpoint ( user definable ) that tells the SG when to go to 9999 MPG. Thus, if the TPS setpoint is set incorrectly, the user may be getting 9999 MPG at false times. Setting the setpoint lower than "default" reduces the occurances of false readings, which would be rare already at the default setpoint.

I believe rmcmast was asking if you have found the "optimum" setting yet.

Remember, it is a two part equation. TPS below x and open loop = 9999 MPG when RPM is greater than zero.

-John