Thanks for the post, Vman455! You are right that "skirt" not the correct term. I have attached a couple of photos from my car. It looks like the front wheel air dams are larger on the cmax, but similar enough that they could be retrofitted (maybe even a direct bolt on). Also, the additional deflector holes look like they may already be present in the front. I'd guess you are correct that it would be pretty easy to add those cmax parts to my car. I will have to look around to see who has the best price on those parts.
Another thing I noticed when my wife was following me in the focus last weekend is the rearview mirrors are huge. I think some gains could be found by replacing them with either smaller external mirrors or internal units. Research into that idea is ongoing. I'd prefer to keep the car looking like a "normal" focus, so I'd like to keep any aero changes low key. The C-max parts are very interesting to me from this standpoint.
In other news, my last fill up (half tank) average calculated to 46.1 mpg, which was somewhat close to the computer readout of 45.1. My first fillup came in at 40.1, with an indicated 44.5 on the computer. I'm not sure what is going on there, but I will use the same pump every time in the future when possible.
I also tried the block heater this morning, as it was ~10 F this morning. I put it on a timer for 3 hours before i left this morning. I would estimate the engine was up to temp in about half the time of usual. I am going to experiment with the timer to see if it needs the full 3 hrs. The trip computer said 44 mpg over 30 miles on my way in to work.
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Originally Posted by Vman455
I like these cars--I thought about getting one when I bought my Prius, and sometimes I wish I did just to have a manual transmission again.
Just a terminology note: "wheel skirt" usually refers to a covering over the outside of the wheel arch; what you're referring to are usually called wheel strakes or wheel air dams or similar.
I looked back through my pictures and remembered that I had inspected the underside of the Focus at the 2018 Indianapolis Auto Show. It uses the same wheel strake design as the Fusion and C-Max Hybrid of the same year, which is larger than most cars', made of flexible material rather than rigid, and segmented:
The C-Max has additional fairings on the front and back that would be an easy retrofit to your car:
Ford introduced these in the second year of C-Max production in an attempt to improve the C-Max Hybrid's actual MPG compared to its EPA rating (which owners complained about when the car was introduced--the EPA investigated and the ratings were subsequently lowered from 47mpg combined to 40mpg).
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