Category: Large Family 
Price Range: £16,495 to £24,335
Spacious, smart image, well-built, AWD option, all the assets of the V70 in a scaled-down package.
Stiff clutch of T5, premium prices.
Not cheap, but excellent quality and a practical family vehicle.
The V50 feels like a larger car than the closely-related Focus estate, mainly because it feels so solid and substantial. Handling is enjoyable; even though you never quite lose the sensation that there's a large load-bay behind you, the V50 benefits from sharing its platform with the class-leading Focus and has the same predictable directness and confidence-inspiring feel. It's responsive and easy to drive, with an excellent driving position and very well laid-out cabin, plus good visibility all round.
The T5 - available in front- or four-wheel drive form with Haldex clutch and automatic torque distribution - is much easier to drive than the old 850Ts (all torque-steer and front tyre scrabble) but the AWD system is an undisputed aid to transmitting all that power to the road without too much fuss and burnt tyre-rubber. Its traction control system (standard-fit, along with Dynamic Stability Control) intervenes all too readily, though, which, along with the high-set, springy clutch of the six-speed manual versions, can make a quick getaway awkward though you can switch it off. It's not a car to drive in anger, but for calmer-natured drivers, it can be immensely rewarding once you get the measure of its character.
The entry-level 1.8i (125bhp) models are fairly workaday, but the 2.0D (136bhp) manages to be both strong and economical. With a six-speed manual gearbox, it delivers relaxed low-rev performance - yet 49.6mpg. At a steady 80mph cruise, noise refinement is first-rate with barely a whisper audible from the engine bay. Under heavy acceleration or pulling up steep hills, the engine note does become gruff, but no more than usual for a small-displacement turbodiesel. It's a better all-rounder than the 2.4i, and has the same torque output (236lb ft) as the range-topping turbocharged T5 petrol (220bhp) - which can be great fun, though it excels bests as a high-speed long-distance cruiser, its flexible engine and well-spaced gear ratios making motorway mileage effortless (best not to study the fuel economy figures too closely, though).
