Ford C-MAX TDCI Diesel Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Ford C-MAX TDCI diesel range
Prices: £16,145-£21,395 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 7E-10E
Emissions: 119-148g/km
Performance: [2.0 TDCi] Max Speed 125mph / 0-60mph 9.3s
Fuel Consumption: [2.0 TDCi] (combined) 50.4mpg
Safety: Twin front, side and curtain airbags, ABS, EBA
Dimensions: Length/Width/Heightmm 4333/1825/1558

FOCUS GETS THE MAX FACTOR

Our Rating: 7.4 / 10

With three economical common rail diesel engines available, Ford’s C-MAX aims to take the fight to the mini-MPV class best. Andy Enright reports…

When designing a mini-MPV, there are a vast array of options open to car manufacturers. They can maximise interior space but this normally comes at the expense of driveability and style. Ford’s recent renaissance has been built upon making cars that are a delight to drive, so it’s no surprise that their C-MAX mini-MPV doesn’t resemble a hulking breezeblock. So subtle are its lines that many would have to glance twice to distinguish it from its hatchback sibling. With a frugal TDCI common rail diesel engine up front, the C-MAX proves both economical and acceptably quick. But will it be enough to steal sales form a well-established bunch of rivals?

Ford have thought long and hard about this car since its original launch, hence the recent styling changes and the dropping of the ‘Focus’ name from the title. The looks are a good deal less introverted these days with a redesigned front end that includes design elements from the S-MAX - most notably, the lower trapezoid front grille, a redesigned upper grille, headlights and tail lamps. Specify the optional bi-xenon lights and a light strip runs across the top line of the lamp unit. It’s all rather Audi, as are the LED tail lights.

The 1.6-litre diesel that props up the C-MAX TDCi range we’re looking at here is a development of the Fiesta’s 1.4TDCi common rail unit and, like the 1.8 and 2.0-litre TDCi powerplants, was developed in conjunction with Peugeot and Citroen, drawing on both company’s shared expertise in the field. Ford’s Centre for Diesel Excellence at Dagenham has become a well-respected think tank when it comes to state of the art oil burning engines and the latest TDCi units do its reputation no harm. The 1.6-litre engine is primarily aimed at customers with an eye on fuel economy, and will return a very creditable 57.6mpg on the combined cycle while emitting just 119 grams of carbon dioxide for every kilometre travelled.

Despite the focus on frugality, it’ll still zip to 60mph in 11 seconds and run on to a top speed of 116mph. Torque is delivered from very low in the rev range and this makes the C-MAX TDCi 1.6 agreeably quick off the mark when you need to accelerate out of a T-junction into flowing traffic. The 1.8-litre TDCi engine develops 113bhp, is fractionally quicker to 60mph and has a 125mph top speed. Choose this option and you can expect 52mpg fuel economy.

If you really want to take advantage of the Focus C-MAX’s excellent dynamics, the punchy 134bhp 2.0-litre TDCi engine makes a capable partner. Backed up by a six-speed gearshift, this unit develops more torque than a Porsche Boxster S. This means that as long as you keep the needle in the sweet spot around 2,000rpm, you’ll have plenty of acceleration in reserve whether it’s just you at the wheel or even if the car is fully stacked. It gets to 60mph in 9.3 seconds and will hit 125mph where conditions permit. Despite this muscle at the command of your right foot, the 2.0-litre model still manages an average of just under 49mpg and emits 154g/km of CO2.

Prices start at around £16,000 but the thing that may prove a deal breaker to some customers is the fact that whereas the Volkswagen Touran can be specified with seven seats and the Renault Grand Scenic is also thus equipped, the C-MAX only offers five seats. This raises a perplexing question. Just as the Ford Fusion has found little favour with buyers who couldn’t really see what it offered over and above a normal Fiesta, there may well be a significant proportion of potential C-MAX customers who can’t see the point of a car that seats no more bodies than a cooking Focus hatch.

If the exterior may still be a little low key, the C-MAX more than makes up for it with the ideas factory that is the cabin. Although it’s not available on entry-level versions, Ford’s rear seat flexibility system really is the ace in the C-MAX hole. A 40-20-40 "tip and tumble" rear seat sees the centre section flip rearwards into the luggage compartment, leaving the remaining two seats to slide diagonally along a runner towards the centre of the car, giving unprecedented levels of space for four. The rear seats are set high, which does away with the usual mini-MPV complaint of virtually sitting on the floor and means that the kids get a great view forward. The flipside to this is that if you’re regularly carting taller passengers about, that