Ford Focus C-MAX 1.6 TDCI

Well, here we are, after nearly a year, my new company car has arrived, or rather, I had to go and collect it from Bristol. It is a diesel engined focus CMax 1.6 TDCI Style.
The Style is one of the cheaper versions but is more than acceptable in terms of comfort and equipment.

It is going to be my home from home for the next four working years so I hope I chose wisely.

<<Rant Mode On>>I deliberately ...
...HMRC like to tax the drivers of company cars, as though having one was some kind of benefit. It's my workplace; does anyone else have to pay tax to sit in an office, factory or shop? I think not! Having to pay for the privilege of going to work seems to be the ultimate unfairness but I suppose that's what life's all about. Our government's goal in life seems to be to take the lion's share of my hard toil and to give me little in return. Boo to the ... more

Well, here we are, after nearly a year, my new company car has arrived, or rather, I had to go and collect it from Bristol. It is a diesel engined focus CMax 1.6 TDCI Style.
The Style is one of the cheaper versions but is more than acceptable in terms of comfort and equipment.

It is going to be my home from home for the next four working years so I hope I chose wisely.

<<Rant Mode On>>I deliberately chose a lower emission model as those horrible people at HMRC like to tax the drivers of company cars, as though having one was some kind of benefit. It's my workplace; does anyone else have to pay tax to sit in an office, factory or shop? I think not! Having to pay for the privilege of going to work seems to be the ultimate unfairness but I suppose that's what life's all about. Our government's goal in life seems to be to take the lion's share of my hard toil and to give me little in return. Boo to the taxman.<<Rant mode off>>

The centre console has a 3.5 mm jack socket that is provided to allow you to use an MP3 player with the stereo system. I will have to find a short cable so that I can play all my dodgy downloaded music on long journeys.

Apparently the chassis and running gear is the same as the VW Touran. It certainly seems a bit more refined that the Fords I have driven in the past.

Boot Space a little more than the standard Focus boot. It is a good shape and has none of those awfully shaped corners that make stowage awkward. I got all my stuff in there without a problem, and in the old car some of it had overflowed into the back seat, something that is frowned upon by our health and safety officer. Below the boot floor is the well where a spare wheel can be stowed. On this model they give you a plug in 12 volt inflator that uses a foam cartridge to seal and re-inflate a flat tyre. This means that there is another big storage space to use.
Under the rear carpets are two quite large stowage lockers that could take a reasonable amount of valuables. I put my company laptop in one of them and it fitted easily.

Comfort
When I got in I was immediately impressed by the comfort of the driving seat. It is firm, fully adjustable and easy to get right.
Driveability
The power steering and high seating position make for a great drive. It corners very well, seems very sure footed and handles the narrow lanes that make up many of my best short cuts around Dorset very well. It is roomy inside yet narrow enough to fit through those gaps in traffic. It is well built and all the panels fit together well with no differing sized gaps like the ones I have seen on some of the hire cars I have driven over the last few months - the worst offenders for this were the Vauxhalls, I realise now why Vauxhall drivers feel obliged to slam their doors quite so hard.

Economy
Although I have only done about 250 miles so far, I can report that, on mixed town and country lane driving, the CMAX is returning a whisker short of 50 MPG. I expect it to improve once the new and very tight diesel engine has loosened up a bit. It is fun playing with the on board computer, watching the fuel consumption go up and down as you accelerate and decelerate. The display also shows average fuel consumption and distance to empty.

Performance
I haven't really pushed it so far but it nipped up to 80mph with very little effort, the road noise is well insulated from the interior, at thirty MPH you cannot tell that it is a diesel engine.

The doors and tailgate have all been thoughtfully designed to open wide, allowing easy access, even for those elderly folk who have difficulty in squeezing into smaller cars.

Equipment
Front and rear parking sensors. Where I live the parking is pretty dire and I find myself squeezing into some very tight spaces. Having the car beep at you when you are getting close to the car behind is a valuable aid and I feel more confident about going for those spaces that lesser mortals avoid.

Radio CD with MP3 input socket.
The radio is a decent but basic unit. I don't feel the need to cruise around the town with hip hop pumping out so that everyone in a three mile radius can share my choice of music. I do however have a useful trick to get them to close their windows when I am in a queue of traffic. The stereo is loud enough to annoy the boy racers at the traffic lights. The trick is to have a CD of bagpipe music. When I find myself struggling to hear the radio I open the window, switch to CD and wind it up. After a few bars of Amazing Grace or Scotland the Brave even the most antisocial chav will wind up the windows of his Fiesta and jump the lights to get away from me.

The intermittent wiper function is one of the best I have used; you can adjust the repeat time between wipes about six different ways. The front wipers have a nice samba action that allows them to cover more of the windscreen that the ones on the standard Focus.
The back seats are very comfortable and each has a full three point seat belt. The centre seat folds away and allows the other two seats to be moved inwards to give more comfort. The backs of the front seats are equipped with fold down aircraft style table and large map pockets. The rear windows are equipped with mesh blinds that retract downwards into the doors so that, if you feel like a quick fumble in the back seat, you can do so with some privacy.

There is a very handy flip out mirror in the roof that allows you to see into the back seat without turning round. Above the driver door is a handy stowage space for sunglasses. On the wide dashboard there is a large stowage space for all those bits and pieces that can be very annoying as they slide from side to side on corners.
The two doors mirrors can be easily adjusted by using the little joystick pad that is set into the armrest.
There is plenty of headroom to allow even tall drivers to be comfortable. Although I am only 5'6" I have nearly eight inches of spaces above my head with the seat as high as it will go.

All in all, with the first two days driving under my ample belt, I am quite pleased with my choice on this occasion. The new Cmax is a well designed and comfortable car. 

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