lolder

I don't want the ride harsher.

Inflating to maximum sidewall pressure will do do harm other than make the ride harsher. Everything else improves; wear, handling, hydroplaning resistance and mileage. The tires are tested to a much higher pressure. I've found 40 psi is a good compromise in a FFH.

Reset all your mileage counters and drive at 70 in the right lane and see what happens as the weather warms.

It's true that the PHEV versions of Prii and FFHs have higher EV speeds and they probably have the same drivetrain. The limitation is the maximum RPM of "M/G1", the M/G connected to the sun gear of the eCVT. In the HEV version, you dont WANT to cycle in the EV mode at higher speeds as it is less efficient. See above. When you operate in EV mode at higher speeds, you start to get efficiency problems because of things like back electromotive force ( EMF ) which means you need higher voltages for efficiency. Ford has variable voltage controls on their 2nd and 3rd generation hybrids but there are diminishing returns with this feature. HEVs have very different design goals than PHEVs and a compromise car that does both is difficult. It's rumored that Toyota engineers did not want to make the Prius a PHEV for this reason but marketing over-ruled. The current crop of PHEVs are not very cost effective.

In HEVs, ( not PHEVs ) all the energy comes from fuel. The "ICE-generator-charge-discharge-motor-wheels" energy path of the EV cycle has more loss than the "ICE-wheels" path so EV should be AVOIDED above 40-50 mph. Higher speeds cost 6 mpg per 10 mph. Lower temperatures cost 2 mpg per 10º F. Headwinds ( and some crosswinds ) cost up to 3mpg per 10 mph. Noisy roads can cost 2 mpg. Heavy rain can cost up to 10 mpg. AC can cost over 10 mpg for a few minutes in a heat soaked car tappering off to 1-2 mpg. These effects are mostly cumulative and the inverse effects are also true. If you drive at 75 mph in 30º F. temperature in Chicago you will get 13 mpg less than at 70 mph and 80º F. EPA highway tests are done at less than 60mph average and 60-70 º F.

When you accelerate moderately with hands off, does it turn to the right?

The Ford hybrid energy scheme is that whenever significant energy is required, they want the ICE to be on and providing it. Don't coax EV except at low speeds and when the HVB charge is above the normal level. The system does that already fairly well. Don't encourage EV during anything except minor traffic acceleration or low speeds. Any time you are using EV, you are less efficient than the ICE except at low speeds. Cold weather is the main factor making all the new owners get below EPA. There are lot's of other minor factors but low temperature and high speed are the largest.

That's true of all cars. They use more fuel when the ICE is cold. If you warm up the car and then drive, you will use more fuel than if you get in the car and drive immediately to the same destination. Short, cold, highspeed trips are detrimental to good mileage of all vehicles. The EPA tests are probably done at 60º F. which is a standard temperature in science and engineering. If you had a non-hybrid that got 15 instead of it's normal 18 mpg. on a short cold trip, a 45 mpg. hybrid will get less than 37 mpg. It is very likely that all this concern is due to cold weather, new hybrid drivers, optional tires and wheels and someone just mentioned a hill assist button. Does the 2013 FFH have one?

Ford does not reccomend that you need to warm the car up. That wastes fuel. Get in it and drive.

Don't fill past the first auto shut off as it may go on the ground as FFH-1's do.

No, they didn't say the non-prius hybrids came close. The Camry's, Lexuses, Sonatas, Optimas and Altimas all missed by a lot and still had lower mpg. than the Fords.

The car lengths look more like five.

The Ford hybrid ICE's with the eCVT spend almost all their time between 1100 and 2000 rpm. They are designed to be most efficient there. The old caveat about small engines being inefficient at low rpms because they need to work harder does not apply to these hybrids. The ICE is run at almost full throttle and the lowest RPM for the horsepower called for by your foot. With the eCVT hybrids, mileage increases continuously with decreasing speed. There is no optimum speed.

US Government testing of first generation Prii ( 2001-2003 ) after 160, 000 miles in service showed over a 60 % loss in capacity. It did NOT affect their mpg. See: http://avt.inel.gov/pdf/hev/end_of_life_test_1.pdf Later models and other vehicles have shown only small losses sometimes less than 5 %. Large losses in hybrid battery capacity only show up in one minute full throttle acceleration tests and long, steep hill climbing. The most important factor is that none of the series connected cells fail in an open circuit mode. Few have. Ford says 6 out of 42,000,000 of the NiMh type have failed.

Most of the car testers are gearheads and even hate automatic transmissions. Their reviews for earlier Ford and Toyota hybrids rarely hit the EPA numbers. Ford hybrids are more sensitive to driving style than Toyota due to the higher power/weight ratio. Also, the Li-Ion battery is more powerful and encourages more EV operation. That is not necessarilly a good thing. EV should not be used when the ICE is more efficient. There are more losses in the EV cycle. There were only about 200K Ford hybrids sold since 2004 and only 70K were the FFH-MilanH-MKZH. The Fueleconomy.gov site show 38.7 mpg for the 56 FFH 2010-12 models listed vs. the EPA 39. If you drive a Ford hybrid like a regular car you will probably not get the EPA mileage. If you drove a Toyota hybrid before, that is no assurance you will get EPA numbers with a Ford hybrid. I am sure Ford sqeezed every drop out of the EPA testing regime. If you may say you should be able to drive a hybrid "normally" for it's benefits to accrue, I can't argue against that but it isn't true for the Ford's. If your driving style changes, you can beat the EPA numbers. If Ford has fudged the numbers, the EPA will find out soon. Hyundai and Kia HAD fudged the numbers ( "human error" ). I guess my main point is new Ford hybrid owners entering the winter will have a hard time meeting the EPA numbers. Spring should tell the tale.