Test drive Ford Focus C-Max 2003-2007 Minivan

Maximum focus

There are rumors that Ford once suspended the development of his compact single -collar due to the appearance of a very serious competitor - Opel Zafira. It seemed very difficult for Ford engineers and marketers then to compete with a seven -seater saline. Perhaps all these are really rumors, as well as the fact that in this case it was not about the Focus C-Max model, but about some other buried project. Because after meeting with Si-Max, we did not have any doubts about the competitiveness of this model ...

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Ford Focus C-Max was created on the new Ford Platform, which has already given the life of the Sedan and Hatchback Mazda3 and the Volvo S40/V50 family. A new focus is soon expected to add on the same platform, and subsequently, several more models of the small middle class, released under various brands belonging to Ford today, can be expected.

By the way, in appearance, Ci -Max actually turned out to be slightly less than a regular focus with a universal body - a car is longer. But then the single crew is higher and spacious - both due to a more vertical landing, and due to the extended one on 25 mm of the wheelbase.

However, the appearance of the car does not give a real idea of \u200b\u200bwhich of the sides the minivan has grown-in different angles the C-Max looks completely different. Either he seems to be a big Van, then - an ordinary sports station wagon. In the stream, when the face of the minivan appears in the rearview mirror, it is no wonder to confuse it with a passenger focus - headlights, bumper and false radiator grille are made in the same style, famous for New Edge.

But feed and profile immediately make it clear what Si-Max is. The vertical strips of lamps located on the rear racks visually make the car narrower and tall, and four windows on each side give out the true dimensions of this car. But for each of these solutions there is its own, quite logical explanation - the large area of \u200b\u200bglazing is very positively affecting visibility, and high rear lights are noticeable from afar. In addition, at this height they are less polluted, and in an accident, when someone will catch up with your car behind, the lanterns will not suffer - the rear bumper will take the whole blow. So the cost of restoring the car will be less ...

A distinctive feature of the minivan is the convenience of landing in the salon. The doorways are very wide, and the height of the seats allows you to go into the salon, and not fall, as is often the case in cars. By the way, due to its growth, a spacious salon and a long Focus C-Max wheelbase, it can be very convenient for people very high or suffering from overweight. Recently, I had to face such a problem: a friend, distinguished by a very colorful figure in the style of a sumo fighter, was looking for a car. And it turned out that in cars, even very large, such people simply do not fit, and in most SUVs they are uncomfortable. But Si-Max with its margin of space would have come up.

By the way, Ford Focus C-Max has a very low price. If we take into account that in the base this minivan is equipped with 1.8-, and not 1.6-liter, like most competitors, the engine, those 13.100 euros that are asked for Si-Max will not seem to the potential client too high at a price. Separate attention deserves the equipment. The list of standard equipment includes four airbags (two front and two lateral ones), ABS with an electronic system for distribution of brake force EBD, on -board computer, air conditioning, immobilizer, central castle with d/y, front electric windows and electric mirrors. In addition, the driver's seat has an armrest and adjustment in height, pockets and a special folding table with cup holders are provided on the backs of the front seats, the steering wheel is abundant with leather, and there are cosmetic mirrors with backlight in anti -alcohol visors. The backlight, by the way, is made very cunningly - it is turned on by a separate button located on the ceiling, and even if you forgot to turn off the light, when raising the anti -loner visor, he himself presses the shutdown button. Cunning!

In a good way, the prices for additional equipment were surprised. For example, for the ESP stabilization system with a system of distribution of TSC traction efforts, only 170 euros need to be paid, and the front seats electric drive will cost 100 euros. Xenon headlights so beloved by our clients will cost 635 euros, and the Sony audio system with CD (can lose mp3 files) is estimated at 225 euros. By the way, a rather good audio system with CD is also installed in the standard. But - not Sonya.

Five or seven?

Five passenger seats or seven - apparently, this question tormented Ford's engineers the most, because the main struggle in this class now unfolds just between five- and seven -seater models. About half of the new minivans have five seats and the same - seven, and most interestingly, both of these groups of models are sold approximately equally successfully. Having followed the dynamics of the growth of sales of each of the competitors, Ford, apparently, came to the conclusion that the number of seats is not the main thing. In the end, buyers, according to numerous research, pay more attention to the functionality of the model than its passenger capacity.

Ford Focus C-Max turned out to be five-seater. Three separate chairs were installed behind, as written in the advertising prospectus, Comfort Seat - the rear seat of three separately folding seats, in a ratio of 40/20/40, with the function of regulating their tilt and dismantling, the possibility of moving the extreme rear seats. It sounds good, it means that the rear seats can be folded together or separately, to dismantle and change the angle of inclination of the backs. But when we started checking in practice, how it all works ...

Hey, have you heard the expression of the transformation of the salon? - I wanted to ask the developers of this car. Yes, it was not for nothing that the Fords were so afraid of Safir - she has a really multifunctional interior, really transformable. And at Si-Max? The standard, in fact, set of adjustments - almost like a passenger car with a station wagon. But first things first...

The back row of seats, namely, it is obliged to transform with a single -coater, is made not in the form of a sofa, but as if in the form of three separate chairs. Why? Yes, because neither adjusting the angle of inclination of the backs (as written in the advertising avenue), nor the possibility of longitudinal movement of the seats in the Ford Focus C-Max. Although Turan, and Safira, and the scenes (these are the main competitors) without fail have such a function - they have the rear row of seats in the form of three separate chairs, and each of them has at least some adjustments.

However, See-Max is also available for some adjustments to the rear seats. The back of the middle chair can be folded forward, and on its reverse side you will find a small table and two cup holders. The backs of the lateral seats can also be leaned forward, but on their reverse side you will not find anything - the tables intended for extreme passengers are placed on the backs of the front seats.

Well, we will continue the manipulation with the middle chair. After the back is leaned forward, the chair is fixed in this position - both the table and the armrest are obtained at the same time. And pulling the handle from below, the middle chair can be completely thrown back into the trunk. What happened? Two chairs and the opening between them. We go further: at the base of the external seats there are special handles, pulling for which, you can move this chair ... No, not back, as you might think, and not forward - the chair drove back in the depths of the salon, the second external seat also moves to him. It turns out, as it were, a limousine - there is more space for the legs, and both chairs are pushed away from the door. For people with non -standard dimensions, this is probably good - places in all directions have become noticeably larger. But this seems to be all the advantages of the Ford -dinked component scheme Comfort Seat ...

The question arises: why? Will someone really produce all these manipulations with the middle chair, fold it, and then move the side seats only to sit closer to the middle of the cabin? It would be better to apply the same scheme as the above competitors - with three separate chairs and with individual adjustments for each of them. It’s more convenient, and there are much more opportunities for transforming the salon. And it turns out that the only useful function is the ability to separately fold the backs of the seats or even take out one of the seats, which can be very useful when transporting long -sized cargoes. Everything else, including moving the side chairs diagonally to the center of the car, looks some kind of incomprehensible charade. Was it worth complicating the design of the car with unnecessary details - guides, handles, stoppers and mechanisms?

With such sad thoughts, I moved behind the wheel of this minivan. He adjusted the seat, mirrors and steering column for himself, simultaneously noting that mirrors could be larger, but there were no complaints to the range of adjustments of the steering column. It can move in the longitudinal and vertical direction and, in combination with adjusting the driver's seat in height, allows you to choose the most convenient pose for any traffic mode. For example, it is more convenient to sit as high as possible in the city crowding in the city, it is easier to see and control the neighbors in the stream. And on the highway, on the contrary, you need to sit below, slightly back the back of the seat, correctly adjusting the steering column in height-so that the hands during the 4-5-hour marathons do not get tired.

The steering wheel seems to be borrowed from the renewed Mondeo, and the tidy of other models of Ford, but in everything else, the interior of Si -Max is completely original. The mutual arrangement of governing bodies does not cause complaints, especially if you recall the incredible ranging and seat adjustment ranges. Unless the handbrake is located low, which sometimes makes it randomly look for its lever. But the gearbox lever is just a standard for small -class cars. The moves are minimal, the clarity of inclusion is like in BMW! And the shape of the lever head is selected very well ...

A pleasant trifle - the on -board computer speaks Russian. There is a special wheel on the left steering wheel, turning it, you can learn about the average fuel consumption, medium speed, temperature overboard, time spent on the way, etc. And the information that the computer considers necessary is accompanied by a sound signal. True, the squeak is heard for every reason - you do not need it, but still the car will inform you about everything. For example, if you open any door with a running engine, the computer will immediately wrap it and write on the screen about what bothers him. Imagine that you go shopping and every time someone gets out or getting into the wound car, you will have to listen to this hysterical screech. It is good that at least in addition to this necessary information, the computer sometimes warns about really important things - about the same low air temperature, for example.

The legacy of the focus

The new four -cylinder sixteen -valve motor from the Duratec family has a working volume of only 1.8 liters and gives out 120 horses - a little, given that the equipped mass of the car is 1350 kilograms, which is 180 kg more than the focus -universal. If you add here an even higher center of gravity and an increased coefficient of the frontal resistance of a single -luminous body, you might think that Si -Max is a calm family minivan for middle -aged people who prefer to calmly move from point A to the compliance with the speed mode.

No matter how! It is worth only once tasted the accelerator pedal, go through a turn, and the feeling of a minivan disappears - yes this is a focus! The same Ford Focus, which, thanks to a multi -link rear suspension and a well -tuned chassis in turns, makes French GTI, and in a straight line has a comfort of a higher class car. So what, that the si-max is higher and harder. The same experts worked on the settings of his chassis that taught to ride a focus, which means that with handling everything is in perfect order.

So it turned out. One and a half hours spent by the wheel of Si -Max, only strengthened the faith in the omnipotence of the Ford Penfoists that can optimally configure any car - at least a car, at least an SUV, at least a minivan. With a single -embrane, they generally performed a miracle, since the car will steer like a good hatchback, without annoying neither the rolls nor the excessive rigidity of the suspensions. If it were not for the ballast in the form of a clear family orientation of this model, it could easily be positioned as Driver Car - you really enjoy the wheel!

It all starts with a transparent steering - the steering wheel is light, but there was enough information content even on the icy site, where we slipped a little. A clear zero, with the slightest deviation from which the force on the steering wheel grows, good feedback with the wheels: when the car slipped from the trajectory, at first the driver felt it, and only then all the others. It is a pity, it’s a pity that at this time of the year, and even after recent snowfalls, it is impossible to find a decent platform with pure asphalt - it would be interesting to travel on Si -Max along the picture highway. Something suggests that there this car would surprise many ...

But even in the snow, on summer tires, the car did not give a single reason to doubt that professionals were working on setting up the chassis - it was going as if it were designed on the platform of the sports compartment. Of course, the combination of snow+summer tires greatly affects handling, but during the test, Focus never gave the reason to regret that the test was not postponed until spring. The non -compliance of the type of tires was remembered only once, when the car began to bury in deep snow, and the rest of the time we simply enjoyed the driving. We did not have any complaints about the smoothness of the course: the car is gently on the road, and irregularities do not knock it down from the course. Even small joints, which usually cause booming blows from below, are powerless in this case: Si-Max rides further. But on the potholes, more, unfortunately, sound files that indicate the intense operation of the suspension are already starting to arrive from below, you can especially hear how the back multi -link works. However, this is rather not even a suspension, but a large trunk - its volume in this case plays the role of an amplifier of low -frequency sounds.

However, more often than the suspension, in the cabin you can hear the engine - at medium and high speeds, he likes to die due to his vocal data. It is especially audible on acceleration, when the tachometer arrow every now and then reaches the four thousandth mark - then the sound of the motor even drowses the noise of the conde. But this is nothing compared to how this motor goes - the feeling that under the hood is at least a 2.0 -liter engine! A little sluggish bottoms are completely compensated by a fervent pickup for about 2000-2200 rpm - as soon as you touch the gas pedal, the car immediately breaks forward. And if you take into account that the gearbox lever is clearly and pleasant, then there is nothing surprising in the fact that before the cruising 60-80 km/h, Si-Max accelerates like a bullet. I myself was very surprised when I noticed that the tachometer periodically shows the arrow that caught in the maximum engine speed. Ba, yes this car starts!

But even before street racing began with the participation of a new Ford single -raised, I managed to notice: in addition to temperament, this engine has another undeniable advantage - elasticity. In a calm rhythm, the fourth gear is almost everywhere - the car is on it and accelerates well, and literally from 40 km/h, and the engine, due to low revolutions, is not heard at all. In the third gear, almost the same thing happens, only the dynamics of acceleration improves significantly, and the engine becomes more hearing in the cabin.

Swift wagon

In general, everything is clear with Si -Max - it’s more likely a five -seater, a groove station wagon than a single -combor in the usual sense of the word. Because this car took this car (or got it?) More than from multifunctional wagons - it is just amazing and the chassis, and the steering wheel is surprisingly sensitive to such a large -looking car. And it is generally impossible to talk about the motor in general - the lighter is just some! The same language with a 1.8-liter engine speaks a 5-speed checkpoint-the moves of its lever will cause envy of the owner of any French GTI. And the knob, it seems, was borrowed from the central-motor Ford GT, only the overlay was made another ...

And what does Si-Max with minivans have in common? Spacious, you can’t take it away from him, with a large trunk, tall, but in appearance it is very similar to Touran & Co. But that’s all - then you can only compare with cars. And the fact that Ford did not try to outline competitors regarding the transformation of the salon - the designers paid more attention to other things. In particular, handling and setting up the chassis. And what happened? The first truly sports universal collector. Not just a sports version, but a family car, on which you can step aside in corners and enjoy it. For the running qualities and handling of Ford Focus C -Max, it rightfully receives the highest score and approximately the same high rating - for the dynamics of acceleration, as well as for the elasticity of the motor. For the space in the cabin, functionality and a large trunk, you can put a solid four, perhaps even with a plus. But with the transformation of the salon ... However, why do we have this transformation, if the car has such a cool chassis and a motor?

Pavel Kozlovsky
 

A source: Auto -Gazeta / N 2 (441) dated 01.27.04