2013TransitConnect

The biggest advantage of starting with the Transit is it didn't need to have the floor lowered for a wheel chair. A Transit conversion can be made a lot cheaper.

I believe in the first few years the taller van was imported it quickly became the number one handicapped conversion van. Without the high top they lost that market.

I haven't heard anything about a 16 but it wouldn't surprise me if the high roof came back.

I ordered a Curt hitch and wiring kit yesterday.

I bought a Curt hitch and wiring kit yesterday and should have it in a week or so.

I haven't even gotten a hitch yet so no picture of it pulling the trailer. When I do I'll be sure to post a picture.

I just read some information on this and have found that the Curt can be installed with the tailpipe on the TC but the straight hitch needs the tailpipe to be removed first and then installed in the same location AFTER the hitch has been installed. On a side note the spare also needs to be removed and replaced.

Thanks. That makes sense. But what makes me wonder is that diesel fuel uses a cetane number that is similar to octane and a higher cetane number gives a very slight improvement in BTU's. Also some of the additives to gas that gives it a higher octane will increase the BTU's because it displaces some of the gas's volume. But on the other hand some additives like ethanol can also reduce the BTU's per volume. If I had to put money on it I would go with the higher octane being more efficient in burning the fuel and like the article says not an increase in BTU's. Also from what I've been led to believe is that an engine tuned to run on a lower octane will not benefit from using a higher octane but an engine tuned to run on a higher octane will not run as good on a lower octane. The higher compression might require a higher octane but if the timing is changed on a low compression engine you can benefit. But you do have to make specific changes. And thinking about it further I am basing my thoughts on fuel in the 60's which had lead in it that eliminated knocking.

Hey if this golf cart can tow my trailer the TC should be able to. Okay the cart didn't actually pull it.

Thanks for the info. I actually read the thread in your link but didn't read a single word about the tailpipe so I started a new thread. Guess you want all towing related posts all in one thread? I didn't see the other post about the Curt hitch talking about curving around the tailpipe.

I want to add a trailer hitch to my 13 TC but am looking at the tailpipe and it appears it would be in the way. Does anyone have a picture of a hitch on their TC where it shows the tailpipe also?

In this case I'm not doubting the engineers but rather the person that wrote the article. To a writer a figure of 10.00001 might be the same as a 10 but to someone trying to go a quarter mile just one thousands of a second faster than the other guy the numbers are different. I'm trying to read more about it as I'm just guessing on a higher octane having more BTUs. But I'm also thinking the higher octane might just be burning the fuel more complete and thus while it contains no more BTUs it does produce more energy through better burning.

Another tankful of gas and got 24.57 mpg in mixed city/highway driving.

I bought a 2013 not a 2014. The $3,500 deal expired on August 1st.

I will turn the O/D off if I'm driving up a long grade. Sometimes the tranny wants to shift back and forth plus if you keep it off in hot weather it will keep the RPM's up and run cooler. Also going down a steep grade I'll do the same thing but more to save the brakes. But these are more rare occasions and normal everyday driving I leave it on.

I wrote a check.

Johnny, The modern engine will adjust the timing but it still thinks its burning the lower octane and adjusts it incorrectly. You can reprogram the engine for higher octane and get better mileage and performance. I know the article says you don't but they were assuming you didn't make any reprogramming changes. In the 60's some fuel had an octane of 105 and the engines at the time would get better performance but less gas mileage -mostly due to the fact you drove it different. The article also said the octane didn't make a difference on the BTU's but that is not what most drag racers believe.

$3,500 cash back. I paid cash.

Zero percent interest isn't free. When I bought my 13 I could take cash back or zero percent but not both.

Well you were right 99.9% of the time.

My TC manual says some knocking is normal so I stick with 87 octane.

Ford has several hybrid cars with that feature. Another nice feature is when you apply the brake instead of pads squeezing a rotor to stop you an electrical generator kicks in and you charge the batteries. I think it still has regular brakes for hard stops. My fill up today of mixed highway/city got me 24 point something to the gallon. It now has 1,200 miles on it.

Now that I've used the floor mats for a day I would like to add they sure stay in place. I don't seem to feel as much road vibrations in my feet also.

The floor mats arrived today.

I'm impressed.