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Ford C-Max Titanium 1.0L EcoBoost - Final Verdict

Topics:  Ford C-Max

Ford C-Max Titanium 1.0L EcoBoost - Final Verdict

Geoff Maxted
DriveWrite
November 13, 2013

The car as featured here costs just £21,270 OTR and there’s a lot for the money. You can read my first impressions here and my thoughts haven’t changed one bit. Here's a look at the standard specification and performance figures:

As you can see, a lot of kit is supplied for the money. In addition to the above our C-Max was fitted with the Ford Driver Assistance Pack and the Convenience Pack that include blind spot monitoring (a brilliant idea that really works), active city stop (that helps to avoid colliding with the car in front at low speeds), traffic sign recognition, lane keeping alert, front and rear parking sensors, Start/Stop and a lane keeping alert for those dozy moments.

It has to be said, as a personal POV, that I'm not entirely happy about so much technological nose-poking in my driving ability but I expect I'm in a minority. Most people will be glad of the safety aspect of these features and, to be fair, they work.

On paper, the performance numbers aren't much to write home about but they are misleading and in reality this car cracks along very nicely indeed. I suspect that because the engine is so small and light the weight saving has added a bit of spring to its step. In any event, keen drivers will appreciate the brisk performance and precise handling. This probably accounts for why I have only obtained 37.6mpg and not the official combined figure of 55.4mpg. The C-Max has a dashboard nanny to indicate the optimum gear shift point but frankly, I was enjoying the driveability of this car too much and paid scant attention to the nagging.

The interior is smart and comfortable, if not plush. There's plenty of room and the boot is capacious. Seats have good adjustment including lumbar support. The Sony CD/DAB/USB/Ford SYNC works well and sounds great and I liked the way it cascades centrally down to the well-placed gear shift. Nice touches too - I especially liked the Easy Fuel system; no more petrol caps to fiddle with. What I would like to see Ford do is to offer the opportunity of a bit more personalisation, something which is popular right now on some small cars, although a few are a tad OTT. There's a good range of attractive colours but the C-Max does seem like a safe, rather staid, choice on paper when in fact it is a much better car than that. Some way to liven up a bespoke selection might give the car more across-the-board appeal.

The C-Max is a car you'd be pleased to live with every day and in my opinion is the ideal car for a family that includes a driver who really likes driving. I'm sorry it has gone.