All - New 2015 ford s - Max - Five interesting facts

The Ford S-Max has been remarkably popular since the first one launched around eight years ago and that's for a variety of reasons: practicality, value for money for example. It's also quite entertaining to drive – for a seven-seat MPV in any case. But, perhaps unusually, this new version is no bigger either inside or out. Instead Ford has gone for a 'The same, but better' approach. Let's see how. Ford has always been proud of the S-Max's sportiness and several of the new visual changes are designed to enhance that. Not only is it ever so slightly lower than the old car but this window line here is little bit higher, which, according to the designers, makes it that bit more purposeful. One of the biggest changes however is these LED lights at the front here. They have a clever system in them very similar to the one in the new Audi TT Mercedes S-Class etc, which blocks out bits of the beams so you don't dazzle oncoming drivers. The safety has been improved in the back part of the cabin in several ways. First of all there is a new airbag in the side of the seat that will protect passengers' sides in the case of a crash. Also there are seatbelt pretensioners which will also kick in in the case of a crash. But the biggest change, which affects safety and practicality, is this new rear seat system. To get in the back you now can tilt the whole seat forward and slide it forward like that. Not only is it much easier to get in, it's also much easier to get out. It's a flatter entry point. Ford is working on the basis that space wasn't one of the issues with the original S-Max, so it's pretty much identical in here to how it was in the previous version. That does mean you can seven people in here but there isn't a huge amount of room back here. These middle row of seats do slide back and forwards to give you a bit more legroom though. Instead the big changes to comfort and space are up here. First of all there is no manual handbrake on this car - it is electronic only - so there is space for two massive cup holders in this centre console here. You also get a load of high-level kit that you normally get on much more luxurious cars - things like heated and cooled front seats, massaging seats, a heated steering wheel and a powered steering column. One more thing is that Ford says it has made this car a lot quieter than the previous version, so it should be a much more stress-free driving experience. Not all of those toys are for the driver, though, and this foot-operated tailgate will be particularly usually if you've got your hands full of stuff. Another thing that will be useful if you're struggling with loads of kit is one little option that you can get tucked in here. You can get five buttons that will drop all of the five seats individually. So you can drop down all five, two of them, just the ones down the middle - any combination you like. Traditionally most S-Maxes have been sold with a diesel engine and Ford reckons that will be much the same with this car as well. There is going to be a trio of 2.0-litre diesel engines with power outputs ranging from about 118bhp up to about 178bhp. All the official tests for CO2 fuel economy etc aren't quite done but we reckon that the entry level will be about 120g/km. There's also going to be a couple of petrol engines - one which being a 1.5-litre Ecoboost - and, on the higher-powered diesels, an all-wheel-drive version. There will also be a Vignale version, which will sit right at the top of the range and is going to add more in the way of interior quality and equipment etc and much more in the way of dealer experience. Take a look our Ford Mondeo video for more information on that. We will be driving it around April/May time next year to keep an eye on whatcar.com for our verdict then. However, there will be many more details in the meantime on the website so keep checking back.