So far so good - 2013 MKZ Hybrid

[answrman]

I wanted to chime in and give my review of the 2013 MKZ Hybrid. I picked it up last Friday, from dealer stock (no special order). My MKZ has the following options:

Equipment Group 202A
White Platinum Tri-Coat
Dune Interior
Panoramic Roof
THX Audio System

I'm 6'5 and fit comfortably in the front seats, the back seat is whole other story! I fit, but the passenger seat or drivers seat can't be in the fully extended position. I'm not too concerned, because I rarely have passengers in the back in back seats. This is my first hybrid, I've rented a few hybrids (Ford Fusion and Nissan Altima) at Hertz when travelling for business and I really liked the good gas mileage. My previous vehicle was a Ford Explorer Sport-Trac which owned since 2005. It was a good little SUV, but the gas mileage I was getting was pretty poor. I drive quite a bit for my job visiting clients throughout the state, so I needed to get something that got good gas mileage and I think I've found it.

I have a little over 250 miles on the car and am getting great mileage (in my opinion)...way better than my old SUV. No real complaints so far, other than the antenna on my rear fender. I am going to see if I can find an aftermarket retractable antenna. In my opinion the antenna kills the look of the car on the rear end. I guess I could have avoided the antenna without the panoramic roof, but I really wanted the roof so I had to settle for the antenna.

I've got the driver assist on for the brake coach, find myself trying to get 100% at every stop...not sure if my obsession with perfection will diminish over time after the novelty wears off or if I will keep at it in the pursuit of maximum mpg?

I would say that about 25% of my driving is freeway and the rest is driving on surface streets.

My last trip summary:
Distance 13.1 Miles, 4.3 EV Miles, 0.6 Regen Miles
Fuel Use: 40.6 MPG, 0.3 gal
Brake Score: 94%


Lifetime Summary:
Distance 123.4 EV miles, 18.8 Regen miles
Fuel Use: 31.7 MPG
Brake Score: 91%

269.2 Total Miles on the car

 

[Maxima10]

I wanted to chime in and give my review of the 2013 MKZ Hybrid. I picked it up last Friday, from dealer stock (no special order). My MKZ has the following options:

Equipment Group 202A
White Platinum Tri-Coat
Dune Interior
Panoramic Roof
THX Audio System

I'm 6'5 and fit comfortably in the front seats, the back seat is whole other story! I fit, but the passenger seat or drivers seat can't be in the fully extended position. I'm not too concerned, because I rarely have passengers in the back in back seats. This is my first hybrid, I've rented a few hybrids (Ford Fusion and Nissan Altima) at Hertz when travelling for business and I really liked the good gas mileage. My previous vehicle was a Ford Explorer Sport-Trac which owned since 2005. It was a good little SUV, but the gas mileage I was getting was pretty poor. I drive quite a bit for my job visiting clients throughout the state, so I needed to get something that got good gas mileage and I think I've found it.

I have a little over 250 miles on the car and am getting great mileage (in my opinion)...way better than my old SUV. No real complaints so far, other than the antenna on my rear fender. I am going to see if I can find an aftermarket retractable antenna. In my opinion the antenna kills the look of the car on the rear end. I guess I could have avoided the antenna without the panoramic roof, but I really wanted the roof so I had to settle for the antenna.

I've got the driver assist on for the brake coach, find myself trying to get 100% at every stop...not sure if my obsession with perfection will diminish over time after the novelty wears off or if I will keep at it in the pursuit of maximum mpg?

I would say that about 25% of my driving is freeway and the rest is driving on surface streets.

My last trip summary:
Distance 13.1 Miles, 4.3 EV Miles, 0.6 Regen Miles
Fuel Use: 40.6 MPG, 0.3 gal
Brake Score: 94%


Lifetime Summary:
Distance 123.4 EV miles, 18.8 Regen miles
Fuel Use: 31.7 MPG
Brake Score: 91%

269.2 Total Miles on the car

Thank you for sharing your experience. Lifetime numbers are alright, but I would expect a little closer to the 45 quoted, especially with that brake score.

 

[Jimflutes]

answrman, Great report,I am waiting for my hybrid (ordered last week). I too would rarely have passengers in the back,I have driven coupes for the last 13 years,and since they have just two doors they are bigger and take more effort to open/close, so I noticed the doors on the Z are smaller and easier to open and close. The Z also has the look of a coupe style ,which attracted me to the car. Are you able to change the interior color of the ambient lights or is that an accessory option? I guess with the panoramic roof you can't get around having the antenna. Good luck,Jim

 

[Serraph]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Lifetime numbers are alright, but I would expect a little closer to the 45 quoted, especially with that brake score.

For a luxury hybrid and a heavy vehicle getting near 40MPG is really good unless you're really trying to hypermile some what. Brake score only means how well you're recapturing the energy. He/she could have floored at every light and have a smooth coast/brake before the stop and still get good brake score. Also, true MPG doesn't reflect til well over 2000miles.

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[answrman]

answrman, Great report,I am waiting for my hybrid (ordered last week). I too would rarely have passengers in the back,I have driven coupes for the last 13 years,and since they have just two doors they are bigger and take more effort to open/close, so I noticed the doors on the Z are smaller and easier to open and close. The Z also has the look of a coupe style ,which attracted me to the car. Are you able to change the interior color of the ambient lights or is that an accessory option? I guess with the panoramic roof you can't get around having the antenna. Good luck,Jim

Yes, I think there are about 6 colors on the ambient light settings, not sure if that is standard or part of the 202A package? Only problem so far is the way the rear window deck lid presses up against the rear window. I went to get it tinted this morning and ran into some issues. See more here: http://www.lincolnforums.com/forums/threads/10883-2013-MKZ-Hybrid-Rear-Window-Deck

 

[answrman]

For a luxury hybrid and a heavy vehicle getting near 40MPG is really good unless you're really trying to hypermile some what. Brake score only means how well you're recapturing the energy. He/she could have floored at every light and have a smooth coast/brake before the stop and still get good brake score. Also, true MPG doesn't reflect til well over 2000miles.

Totally agree, I'm guessing/hoping that once I get through the initial break-in period the MPG will go up a little more. If not, I'm still quite happy...getting almost double what I was in my SUV.

 

[Maxima10]

For a luxury hybrid and a heavy vehicle getting near 40MPG is really good unless you're really trying to hypermile some what. Brake score only means how well you're recapturing the energy. He/she could have floored at every light and have a smooth coast/brake before the stop and still get good brake score. Also, true MPG doesn't reflect til well over 2000miles.

How much of a difference is there at tha level mileage?

 

[Serraph]

How much of a difference is there at tha level mileage?

That's really hard to say it's really YMMV. I've driven hybrids before so I'm hoping I could get at least 40+ lifetime that's well a lifetime reset after the typical break in period. Also MKZ with panoramic roof is going to lose 2-3MPG off the bat because of weight. There are many possibilities and factors in hybrid mpgs. Go to http://www.cleanmpg.com/ and read up on ways to improve and implement some ideas into your daily commute. That's the only advice I can say. MPG really varies.

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[xgman]

Almost 2000 miles and now at 42.4 mpg with what I assume is now summer blend gas. Winter blend will be less.

 

[Maxima10]

Almost 2000 miles and now at 42.4 mpg with what I assume is now summer blend gas. Winter blend will be less.

what kind of miles are you putting on it?

 

[jjbklb]

Almost 2000 miles and now at 42.4 mpg with what I assume is now summer blend gas. Winter blend will be less.

I'm getting around the same mileage at 400 miles.

 

[armtdm]

I have a 2012 Hybrid, as to the mpg you will notice a drop in the winter as the engine has to warm up before it can cycle off and that uses more fuel then in the summer. My 2012 is averaging around 38-40 city and 36-27 highway and slightly less in the city in winter months. No complaints on that score. Ford does refuse to repair a slight imperfection in the manufacture of my dash and a few visits to my dealer for plain ole maintenance has shown them to be terrible but there is one other dealer I can try for service.

As to the mpg, so much depends on how you drive it, my wife gets considerably less mpg than I do and manages to keep it out of elec mode too often it seems

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