Business Car Manager road test verdict
We like the Ford B-MAX, just as we did when we first drove it in 1.0-litre EcoBoost form back in August – see Ford’s new B-Max – the small little big car.
The car’s pioneering back doors, which were engineered at Ford’s Dunton R&D centre, give this compact MPV a unique appeal: seeing them in action, and the amount of space they afford in and out of the cabin, has to be seen to be believed.
On the road, the B-MAX generally drives well although sparkling dynamics are probably not what this ingenious little mini MPV is really all about. It’s the functionality that counts and in that department, it works. Good quality materials also help to give the cabin something close to that coveted ‘premium’ feel.
In the B-MAX world, the question of whether the 1.6-litre TDCi diesel is preferable to, say, the 1.0-litre, 100PS petrol EcoBoost is open to question. The diesel has lower CO2 and much better combined economy, offset by higher purchase price, heavier weight and marginally inferior performance.
The diesel version also carries a 1% higher banding on benefit-in-kind company car tax – thanks to the 3% surcharge applied to diesel cars for company car tax purposes.
So a Ford B-MAX 1.0T Titanium 120PS EcoBoost Start/Stop carries a 13% company car tax banding in 2012/13 giving rise to benefit-in-kind taxation of £2358. For a 20% company car tax payer, that’s £472 a year in tax.
The Ford B-MAX 1.6 TDCi Titanium 95PS, on the other hand, carries a 14% company car tax banding in 2012/13 giving rise to benefit-in-kind taxation of £2638. For a 20% company car tax payer, that’s £528 a year in tax.