Ford Focus C-MAX

One of the more appealing Multi Activity Vehicles, especially when teamed with Ford's excellent TDCi diesel. But, it's not the most practical of small MPVs.

• Comfort

  The C-Max is refined and cosseting, riding well and providing acres of space for five. The larger S-Max ups the ante naturally, but this is far easier to wield in town.

  

• Performance

  The C-Max comes with a choice of a 1.6, 1.8 and two-litre petrol, and the same flavour of Ford's TDCi diesels. Despite being a people carrier, it's still got a great chassis and so needs a reasonably perky engine to get the best from it. The current two-litre petrol is entirely sound, but the equivalent diesel better suits a vehicle as straight up as this. Responsive, quiet, and seemingly never ending amounts of torque makes it quite a performer on the motorway.

  

• Cool

  In the world of the MAV (Multi Activity Vehicle - we don't come up with this crap) the C-Max is definitely one of the cooler ones, primarily because it still looks sharp despite its family-oriented exterior.

  

• Quality

  The new C-Max's interior is an improvement over the old car's, feeling a little bit more solid and robust. Of course if you look closely some of the plastics are still a little brittle in places, but the general fit and finish of both the interior and body panels is pretty solid. There's nothing to work a sweat up mechanically, either, when it's primary use is workhorse. It is a Ford after all and that's what they're designed for.

  

• Handling

  The C-Max is one of the better-performing MAVs in the sector, combining the good bits of the current Focus chassis with extra height. The C-Max was based on the Focus platform before the more traditional hatch came out, so it copes with a British B-road without bouncing all over the place.

  

• Practicality

  Plenty of room in here, but don't be fooled - bigger families will really need a Grand Scenic, Grand C4 Picasso or even Ford's own S-Max since it's purely a five-seater. Bootspace is 550 litres with the seats up (to the roof), but that jumps to a more than adequate 1,620-litre cavern if you plop all the seats flat. The C-Max is also 10mm shorter than the Focus hatch, and visibility is good, so they're easy to park.

  

• Running costs

  As you'd expect, the diesels are the way forward. They all fall into the VED £125-a-year bracket (excepet when the 2.0 TDCi is mated to the automatic box when it goes up to £155) and they all return an excellent fuel economy, the 1.6 TDCi especially at 60mpg. For private buyers the car's residuals are okay at best while for company car users the tax bands are good.