Category: Large MPV 
Price Range: £18,595 to £28,745
Good fun to drive, excellent 2.5 turbo engine, sporty yet practical, cheap to buy and run.
Not quite so much fun for passengers with the hard-riding, stiff suspension. Not that much rear headroom or luggage space.
Drop the kids off at school and then have a blast on the way back. But if it's sheer practicality, space and comfort you're after, you'd be better off with the Galaxy
For a tall, heavy one-box vehicle, the S-MAX is very neat indeed in and out of tight corners. Its suspension a MacPherson strut/multi-link design is tauter than that of the more comfort-biased Galaxy, which leads to even quicker responses and precise handling. The steering is accurate and well weighted, the gearbox easy to use, and the brakes very sharp indeed.
A three-mode active suspension system, with a choice of Comfort, Normal and Sport settings and continuously-variable damping according to driving style and road conditions, is optional.
A six-speed gearbox is standard in the 2.5 and 2.0 TDCi versions, and optional with the 1.8 TDCi engine, which, along with the 2.0-litre petrol, gets a five-speed 'box as it comes.
The lower rear roofline and thicker rear pillars mean that visibility to the back isn't that great, but the huge door mirrors go some way to compensate and the S-MAX is otherwise an easy vehicle to drive and manoeuvre: its wheel-at-each-corner design and short overhangs make it easy to park. All the controls are within reach and arranged in a self-explanatory fashion. The electronic auto-release parking brake takes a little getting used to, but works fine once you're used to it.
The 220bhp 236lb-ft turbocharged 2.5-litre petrol-engined version is a great drive, if not the most economical choice. This engine delivers strong power with no turbo lag, gives excellent mid-range acceleration and, in sixth gear, cruises quietly and comfortably at motorway speeds. It's good for 143mph and 0-60mph in 7.9 seconds.
The 140bhp 2.0-litre diesel engine is a pretty good real-world option: while it might not be quite as quick off the mark (0-60mph in 10.2 seconds) its torque (also 236lb-ft) should give very similar results when it comes to in-gear acceleration and overtaking. The 125bhp 1.8 TDCi promises to be only a little slower (0-60 in 11.4 seconds), though the 2.0-litre petrol is probably a bit weedy, despite a claimed 10.9-second 0-60 time.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Ford S-MAX
wrote on 01 05 2007
wrote on 21 09 2006