Ford S-Max 2.5 | Barn of the week

All good, as it means Shed can now claim another SOTW debut with today’s S-Max. This mid-size MPV was praised for its style and handling when it was launched in 2006 and Shed agreed. He really enjoyed the 2.0 TDCI diesel he drove for a year. He found it very practical with its folding seats and heated windscreen and surprisingly agile for something of that size. He used it to take Mrs Shed and the family to the Alps for skiing, but their son Potting was lifted from the mountain in the first hour when his knee left a painful imprint like that of a heron.

Thwarted, Shed angrily enjoyed the Ford on the premature drive back to Britain, with the simple addition of noise-canceling headphones drowning out Potting’s shouts from the third row. He wasn’t too keen on the facelifted version of the 2015 gen-two S-Max that he rented for a weekend in 2022. Something seemed to have gone wrong somewhere with the driving behavior. Ford apparently agreed, because the following year they stopped production of S-Maxes, along with the Galaxy, which of course became more known as a chocolate bar.

Fortunately, our shed is an early gen-one (January ’07). Better yet, it is the Titanium model available in the market. And even better than that, it’s the rare and potentially dangerous 2.5, powered by the same five-cylinder turbo engine as the Focus ST. In the S-Max it made 217bhp at 5,000rpm and 236Nm of torque from 1,500 to 4,800rpm, enough with the six-speed manual for a 0-60mph time in low sevens and a family-awful top speed of 140mph if you could afford to keep pouring fuel into it. At 1.9 tonnes it was not particularly light.

In Shed-type use, the official combined average of 30mpg would quickly change to something starting with a 1. The sheet on the wall at Shed tells him that the UK tax rate for CO2 asphyxiation worth 224g/km is £415, but it could be £430. Actually it could be anything. Shed is so fed up with miscalculating these numbers almost every week that he invites you to do your own research.

Interestingly, or not, the 2.0 EcoBoost Sport car that was closest in performance to the 2.5 in the generation two S-Max ranges, despite weighing the best part of 300kg less than the 2.5, was slower than its predecessor at both 0-60 and top speed. That’s progress for you. Or maybe Shed is wrong again. We wouldn’t bet against the latter.

What could go wrong with a 2.5 S-Max? You may suddenly notice that the oil level has dropped to a dangerously low level. This can be due to leakage of electromagnetic seals on the VCT (variable cam timing) units, often due to a blocked bleeder. In general, S-Maxes are quite reliable. They may suffer from electrical problems, but if you can name another car that never has these, Shed will come to your house and present you with his prized collection of Razzle magazines that he is no longer allowed to look at anyway.

Some of you will have noticed that PH Classifieds now have an MOT readout on every car advertised. This huge progress has saved a lot of Amstrad keyboard pounding for Shed, who has until now had to spend most of his waking hours looking up the government’s MOT history site for every car he researches. The only advice during the test last July was ‘undertray mounted’. Most would say that undertrays are a force for good, protecting mechanics and improving aerodynamics, but our cynical government still views them as a nefarious way to hide problems, or “testable components” as they like to call them. To Shed, the phrase “underpant fitting” makes about as much sense as “underpant fitting.” According to him, neither is a problem, as long as you are willing to persevere and have a good torch.

The location of the dealership will no doubt have some of you running for the hills, but we can’t tar all the cars in this city with the same brush, can we? Or can we? Feel free to give it a go.