Fiesta taken to the Max
FORD has well and truly put the miniature back into minivan with its new B- Max.
Launched in South Africa last week, the B-Max is exactly what it looks like: a normal Fiesta hatch, but lengthened and heightened slightly to add some interior space. However, it needs a set of sliding rear doors in order to properly classify as a minivan, or MPV as Ford prefers, and it gets those too – even if they are tiny in comparison to those of bigger people movers.
Unlike most minivans (or MPVs) there’s no B-pillar to divide the two seating rows, so when the front, normally hinged doors are opened together with the back, there’s a rather large aperture to board and disembark from. A guy like me, with no kids, might struggle to see the benefit of this design, but as I was informed by some mothers at the media launch this gaping side hole will make installation of baby seats and the kiddies that go in them less of a shlepp. I’ll take their word for it. At least innocent parking lot sharers run less of a risk of dings from door-slinging youngsters.
But bear in mind before expecting this car to solve all of your baby-toting woes, that it’s quite closely based on a Fiesta so there’s not a huge amount of space for prams and nappies and toys and suchlike. The boot lid opens normally to reveal an average B-segment size boot – although the BMax’s is 28 litres bigger than a Fiesta’s at 318. With back seats folded this grows to a reasonable 1 386 litres, mostly thanks to an extra 10cm in body length and height, and there’s also a false floor with a small storage nook underneath that the Fiesta doesn’t have. From the driver’s seat it’s all Fiesta, which is a good thing if you’re a tech savvy type who ap- preciates modern gizomtronics. The dashboard is heavily stylised
with a prominent centre fascia littered with buttons and a control knob to operate the Sony infotainment and Sync device pairing systems. These things, together with a small colour screen atop the dash, are standard in all models.
The B-Max comes in three trim levels starting with a base Ambiente which comes with cloth seats, 15” steel wheels with hubcaps, power windows, six speakers and a simple climate-control system with airconditioning.
Trend adds two speakers, a rearview camera, Ford’s programmable MyKey (for speed and radio volume limits), 15” alloys, rear-parking sensors, a trip computer and cruise control among others, but you’ll need to step up to top Titanium spec to get leather, rain-sensing wipers, keyless ignition, front-parking sensors, a panoramic sunroof, and a fancier climate-control system.
For now there’s only one drivetrain option which pairs Ford’s award-winning EcoBoost 1-litre turbopetrol with a five-speed manual gearbox, but strangely Ford’s made it available with two different outputs. In basic Ambiente spec the three-cylinder motor’s good for 74kW and 170Nm, while the upper two get 92kW with the same torque. On paper it may seem a bit wimpy for a vehicle categorised as an MPV, but this little triple’s actually quite impressive in the way it delivers torque at low revs.
I drove the 92kW Titanium model on the N1 between Joburg and Pretoria, along with some city traffic at either end, but it never felt underpowered in either situation. Fifth gear in the highway’s fast lane was perfectly comfortable, and there was plenty of guts in the bag for overtaking when slower cars (eventually) moved out of the way.
Ford has created its own miniature van niche with the B-Max, but a modest conveniece factor comes at a premium over the similarly sized and specced 1-litre Fiesta range. It’s hard to put a price on shlepp-lessening, or so I was told by mothers at the launch. I’ll take their word for it.
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