Twice in two months, HJ publishes a road test and then within a few days somebody chucks me a set of keys for the same model with a cheery "Sithee Fif tell us what you make of this one then."

Happened with the Golf V with a test of a 1.6FSH followed by a 140PS GTD. Now the same thing with the Focus C-Max, though as might be expected the example I've been given to try was a base Studio spec and not the higher spec levels that HJ and other motor-noters get to drive.

Well I wasn't looking forward to it to be honest. Although trying very hard to maintain objectivity after 15 minutes in the car and found that I preferred the driving position in a 70's Transit to that of the C-max and that the CD player sounded very iffy in quality. Not that much later, with steering not all that communicative and the fuel gauge plunging rapidly from full towards the 3/4 mark after only about 30 miles then my initial impressions seemed to be confirmed, I really was determined not to like this car.

Somewhat later, having in the meantime, just got on with driving it and found it just seemed to do the job in that uncomplicated simple way that base level Fords tend to do, found myself confronted with a couple of suicidal deer hinds running across the road immediately in front and then freezing in the headlights. Yikes!

ABS pumping furiously, EBD distributing whatever electronic brake distribution does in its mysterious way, your reporter sawed away at the wheel and the Focus C-Max just...... well went "Certainly Oh master!" and drove round Bambi and sister who were left with however many remaining lives they need intact until the hunting season. No drama, no fuss, just like the Focus advert.

So started pushing things on a bit more and the C-Max does hang on well, nice and pointy with a very clear message that things are getting on the edge when the slip angle of the real wheels increases all in a very controllable way. Well done Ford.

That got me thinking, maybe I hadn't given the Focus C-max a fair shot after all.

OK so the cabin equipment as with all base spec Fords is fairly basic, but by now with a bit of effort the driving position had been adjusted to something quite OK. Even that CD player was sort of OK, setting a bit of fade to the rear sorted it in some strange way.

It went OK, engine not as flat as the Golf 1.6 FSH, and the gearbox was nothing special but never got into that unnerving situation of hunting for a gear, any gear! that one got in the Golf GTD when making a block change from 6 to 4 or 5 to 3.

Speaking of the gear change the C-max has one of these levers which looks like it sprouts out of the dashboard as has been seen on some Hondas but without the advantage of clearing floor space in the passenger compartment.

Another terrible design fault is the Galaxy like arrangment of the front screen pillars which have that triangle of glass at the bottom. This makes the driver pillar very wide indeed and you can be in another vehicles blind spot and they in yours. Plus when driving round housing estates small kids are completely hidden on bends unless you really make a conscious effort and lean forwards and sideways. On the positive side of the visibility front the passenger wiper has a sort of trapezoidal mechanism which allows it to sweep very effectively into the upper corner of the windscreen. Furthermore visibility rearwards is ace for a mini MPV with full headrest complement.

What else didn't I like, seeing as I was determined not to like this car. Well accepting that one journey in particular was in quite mucky weather I'm not sure that a washer bottle that is emptied in around 200 miles is big enough and errr what else? Well I'd agree with HJ about the dopey rear seat system and that's about it.

On a final minor plus point liked the heated seats. First time I've seen a Ford with adjustable heating levels as opposed to the usual two settings, i.e. off and bum about to frazzle. Able to select a heating level which is just about right without any complication or drama.

That comment about the heated seats sums up the Focus C-max for me. One finds oneself warming to it nicely, but it'll never set your pants on fire.

FiF


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This tip comes from Paul Gibbons in an MB W124 discussion group, with his permission. His disclaimer is "this opinion has been formed over 33 years of tinkering with cars, not cast-iron facts passed down from on high". If he's right, it's very useful; if he's wrong, I'm sure we'll hear from some of the technical experts in the Back Room.

"To diagnose where the oil is going, find a long hill and get up to a reasonable speed at the top of it, say 120mph (alright 50 then). Drive down the hill on a trailing throttle.

At the bottom put your foot down and watch for smoke from the exhaust.

If it smokes a lot in this situation it's almost certainly the valve guide seals (but check the PCV plumbing just in case).

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