Road Review: Ford B-Max Ecoboost ready for duty

Ford B-Max reviewed in South Africa 2016

What do you want to be when you grow up? A question we’ve all undoubtedly asked ourselves. It’s no surprise then that when Ford’s Fiesta grew up; it wanted to become a B-Max. Ford’s latest little MPV.

But what are the other changes? Well besides stretching the body by some 13cm and boasting a growth spurt of 12cm in height the Ford B-Max shares practically everything with the Fiesta from the slick looking rims to the preppy engine line-up.

The biggest standout has to be the doing away of the prominent B-pillar, in an effort to make way for some pretty tidy sliding doors.

The Fiesta has always been a good looking car thanks to the monstrous front grille that looks aggressive and the sculptured flowing lines. But if you mention to someone that the rear doors have been converted into sliding doors, the vision of a Frankstein monster immediately pops into my head.

Thankfully this wasn’t the case, and the Ford B-Max actually wears its new design attire rather well. And I have to say, when it comes to practicality, the sliding doors allows for easy loading, because you don’t have the limitations of the traditional car door.

The space inside is decent, considering the compact size of the American and the growth of useful boot space up to 318 litres, some 42 litres up on the Fiesta.

While I had no need to fold down the rear seats to make a flat load bay, colleagues can attest that the accessible 2.34 metre roominess will come in handy when transporting, well… just about anything.

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with the inside layout of the vehicle. It’s familiarity of the Fiesta meant it was cozy enough and easy to operate, while the changes like the relocated front seatbelts on the outer edge of the seats mean they won’t get in your way.

Built for practicality, I quite like the B-Max’s readiness to serve. Given the spaciousness, it does have its shortfalls though. The sliding doors result in a few added blind spots, particularly over the shoulder. But not to worry as the parking assist and rear camera fitted to the Ford B-Max help to make maneuvering that little bit easier.

But I have a confession to make. The Ford B-Max is fitted with the award winning 1-litre Ecoboost engine, which is a fantastic engine. Revvy and fun to drive the powertrain allows for quick acceleration thanks to the 170Nm and 92kW, which is packed into such a little powerhouse. But, as much as I adore what Ford has achieved with this engine, I can’t seem to wrap my head around the fuel consumption figures.

Ford claims a decent 4.9 litres/100km when equipped with the five-speed manual gearbox. I, however, couldn’t come anywhere near this figure. Instead on the open road I was getting 8.7 litres/100km. This isn’t my first experience with the revolutionary Ecoboost engine as I got to sample it in the EcoSport a few years back and I was faced with similar fuel consumption figures, despite a long trip to Nelspruit.

I may also add that on the long-haul, the option of a sixth gear is almost expected. So that would’ve been a nice touch. And on the subject of gearboxes, the B-Max is not offered in automatic which is absurd considering this is a car that’s going to be filled with barking, yapping, sniffing distractions.

Overall, I can’t help but feel that the B-Max will have a place in our market, albeit a niche one. It’s pricing is strong and it’s user-friendly nature means those who want a Fiesta size car with increased practicality are in luck. There’s obviously a reason more brands are introducing cars like this, you just need to peak over to the VW stable to know what I mean.

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