Top notch C-Max

Diesel is Ford C-Max cream of the crop

Some time ago we featured the Ford C-Max, but that was the petrol version. Since then, our motoring writer, Michael Moroney, was even more impressed by the new 1.6-litre, diesel-powered C-Max, as it has turned out to be the cream of the crop

Ford's new diesel option, in the Focus C-Max, is much talked about. The new engine is the result of a joint venture with Citroen and Peugeot, to create a new 1.6-litre common-rail diesel engine. The overall target for this new engine was good economy, lower emissions and good driving features. So how much of this has been achieved?

This new engine is ideal for a car such as the C-Max. It provides a good blend of power and torque, with economy and acceleration. So Ford could hardly ask the French engine team for more.

The high torque features of this new engine enhance its acceleration performance. You can get a head start in the C-Max diesel over the competition, where the nearest rival, in acceleration terms, is the 1.5-litre Renault Scenic.

And the C-Max diesel accelerates with ease and smoothness. While the starting noise from cold gives a classic common-rail rattle, this quickly smoothes out to give a car that is pleasant to drive.

The fact that the C-Max is reasonably heavy - over 200kg heavier than the 1.8-litre standard Focus diesel - has not dented its acceleration abilities. This car is heavier than the Citroen Xsara Picasso and the Fiat Multipla and, despite the extra weight, wins out in acceleration terms by the shear fact of its engine performance. What a pity that Citroen doesn't fit this engine to the Picasso; it would enhance its driving feel over the bigger 1.9-litre version and give a more lively drive.

The really big bonus with this diesel engine is the fuel economy. The C-Max diesel is rated at 57mpg for combined economy; that's well ahead of the rest of the diesel competition in this class. And it delivers better economy than the current diesel Focus, which uses a 1.8-litre engine.

What is even more interesting to me is the fact that this diesel engine is almost 35% more economical than the equivalent 1.6-litre petrol engine that's on offer in the C-Max. And, with long service intervals for the new-generation diesel engines, the running cost should be just a third less than the equivalent C-Max petrol models. So, diesel becomes the obvious choice, especially if you intend to keep the car for three or more years and you are even an average mileage user.

The C-Max is being sold as a flexible people carrier; though, in practice, I doubt if many will make full use of these "flexible seating" features. But it's not a people carrier with seven seats, to compare with the Opel Zafira, the new Renault Grand Scenic or Volkswagen Touran. It provides an extension to the features of the existing Focus model: better road visibility and better use of the interior of the car, with lots of neat storage areas. And the C-Max has better handling than the existing Focus models due to a new chassis which, by the end of the year, will be in the regular Focus models.

The outside look is not very distinctive, but it's obvious that it's a Ford. The interior is better, with a dash-mounted gear lever, leaving more legroom and a high seating position for better posture and good road visibility. The build quality seems strong, and it feels like a practical package but, in this case, only time will tell.

The base model in the range, the LX format, comes with front electric windows, with front and side airbags and curtain airbags over the doors. The EuroNCAP safety testers said: "The Focus C-MAX has a strong and stable passenger safety cell, which provides balanced protection for its occupants,'' and they gave it a four-star rating for front and side impact as well as child protection. This is the highest child protection rating in the sector, putting it ahead of the Renault Scenic in this regard.

You can buy a C-Max diesel for about €25,100 (stg£15,490 in Northern Ireland) in LX format and you'll pay €1,500 extra for the Zetec options. The base car costs €3,000 more than its petrol equivalent. That's almost 15% of a price difference, which is too much of a price gap, even against the background of the diesel economy.