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ABOUT MOTORING
Brought to you in association with
Ford S-Max 2.0-litre TDCi Titanium PowerShift €36,545 This month we have been playing happy families, by driving what is regarded by most as one of the best seven-seaters around, the Ford S-Max. We have praised the S-Max before, because it is one of the few cars in this genre that is good looking first of all and secondly, is good to drive too. You see, up until the S-Max it used to be quite depressing to realise that you had to get out of your standard family car and dip your toe into the world of the MPV. The older generation of 7seaters were little more than converted vans and they were pretty shocking to drive in a lot of cases. With the S-Max, Ford set out to show that they could make something versatile that was good to drive too and dare I day, sporty. They certainly succeeded and together with the Galaxy, the S-Max has dominated what is admittedly quite a small segment here in Ireland for decent-sized 7-seater vehicles. The latest SMax gets some pretty basic styling revisions. There is more chrome on show and LED lights add some bling to the front end. Our test car is the 2.0-litre diesel model which comes with Ford's powershift six-speed automatic double-clutch transmission. It moves the car into 20 | ABOUT SANDYFORD
a higher tax bracket and adds about four grand to the asking price. However this gearbox is really excellent - it is very smooth and makes driving the car in heavy traffic a breeze. In terms of versatility - the S-Max is very good at what it is made to do and that is transport lots of people in comfort. Ford make no secret that if you really need to transport 7 adults in comfort then you need to buy the larger Galaxy, but the S-Max is ideal for younger families, where the rear seats will be fine for kids. Mastering the various combinations of the seats takes some practice, but it is pretty easy. For us, the S-Max remains the best-handling car in this segment and it is also beautifully made. Prices now start at a much more competitive €29,995, but out test model came in at €36,545 with some options and that PowerShift gearbox. Ford doesn't have things it own way anymore and Peugeot's 5008 deserves to be high on your shopping list if you need a seven-seater too, but this remains one of the best around.
For all your new car news and reviews check out www.completecar.ie, there you can ask the experts anything from what they think of any particular model to any advice you might need concerning any motoring problems. Check out www.aboutmagazines.ie