Ford S-MAX ticks the right boxes

Ford admirers will rejoice in the real-world capabilities and the driving response of the Ford S-MAX, a car that has an admirable maturity, drives like a Ford should and is unlike any other model on Irish roads.

For those who don’t want to be part of the SUV rat-race yet need lots of space, the versatility of seven seats and the positive driveability which Ford are famous for, then the S-MAX meets the mark in many ways.

In this week’s test car, the latest incarnation of the family-friendly S-MAX Titanium, you get the complete package and a hell of a lot of car for your money. It feels much less bulky than an SUV and much more versatile because of its adjustable seating layout, while still offering the high seating position craved by many drivers these days. It is also easy to get in to and out off with big doors and lots of head room.

I’ve been driving the 2.0-litre diesel Titanium model with 150ps and CO2 emissions of 160g/km. That equates to an annual road-tax bill of €570. This puts it well up the tax table but when you add a very reasonable retail price tag of €37,538 with some added extras bumping that up to €41,188.

That’s not to hefty a price to pay and from where I’m sitting and considering what Ford pack into this model, I would be happy that you are getting value for money here. Day to day running costs seem pretty fair too.

Ford’s catalogue says that the combined fuel consumption is 6.1L/100km. That’s not far away from the 6.7L/10km that I managed over a total of 900 kilometres on all sorts of roads. It also has a huge 70-litre fuel tank that, when full has a total range of over 1,000km.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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