Running reports
Tested by Alastair Clements Price £38,645 Kerbweight 1841kg 85% match 1565kg Towball limit 90kg
The latest update on our long-term
Ford Galaxy – not just a great tow car, but also a spacious people-carrier
IN A NUTSHELL A superb people-carrier (and tow car)
HAVING ALREADY TOWED hundreds of miles with the big Galaxy, I was very familiar with just what a superb tug it is. The high kerbweight makes it a match for sizeable tourers (up to 1565kg if you’re sticking to the 85% recommended by the two main caravanning clubs), and its stability and four-wheel-drive traction mean that it is up to the task of pulling them, too. But when my wife decided she needed a long weekend to herself to finish an essay for her course, – and best pal Alex suggested we take the kids to his folks’ cottage on the Isle of Wight – I thought this was the ideal opportunity to check out the Galaxy’s real raison d’être as a people-carrier. The first plus point was the three rows of seats, which came in very handy when the children refused to sit threeabreast in the middle row. So we could have grown-ups in the front, big kids (Anna and Elsa) in the middle row and the little pickles (Niamh and Luke) at the back: everyone’s a winner. In addition, unlike most MPVS, the cavernous Galaxy still has a fairly useful boot, even with all three rows of seats in use – although once we had wetsuits, bodyboards and all manner of beach paraphernalia aboard, we had to make use of the empty seventh seat for the overspill. Trying to beat the rush-hour traffic down to Portsmouth was made much easier by the Ford’s impressive capabilities as a driver’s car. It’s fast and stable on the motorway, and the powerful two-litre diesel engine, responsive Powershift automatic gearbox and remarkably agile chassis for such a large car makes it surprisingly good when you venture off main roads and onto country lanes. Those qualities made it handy on the island, too, although some of the narrower roads felt a bit of a squeeze!