Zetec 1.0T Ecoboost 125 S/S 5dr MPV

A great car for the average person

I bought this car to replace my 1.8 tdci diesel estate car. It has a large boot and is a comfortable five and half seater for long journeys and a six seater for shorter ones. Internally the passenger cabin has plenty of leg space.
The instrument panels controls can be confusing when you first drive the car but I soon got the hang of it. The Sync voice control I find good and the female voice does not sound like a Bronx taxi controller.

Steering is superb and so is the handling. The car does not heel over on bends nor does it give you an uncertain feeling when driving in the wet. The suspension is firm not soft but not bone jarring. Braking is light but with careful foot control, progressive. Having a large boot and high cabin roof, it’s fair to say there is more rear road noise than a hatch back Focus, though I find this is not obtrusively offensive

The six speed gear shift is smooth and the boxes ratios well chosen for the car, the clutch light and easy to use. The little 125 p.s Eco Boost engine is extremely willing and emits a most pleasant thrum sound when accelerating.

As most who read this will by now realise, the car gets nowhere near the fuel consumption publicised, I never thought that it would so I am not disappointed by this. At last count we were getting 45mpg when running at 70 mph on a motorway, fully laden with all the stuff to stay in a holiday cottage ( my wife pre-prepares most of the weeks food) for my wife and I, with our dog on the back seat and cans of dog food and his biscuits in the rear foot well. According to other owners this figure will improve with use, as the engine is still has low mileage.

Two points worth considering though.

Point one:-

Zetec trim is more than adequate for most people, but it comes without parking sensors. The rear view when parking is terrible and I think that the sensors are essential.
If buying new it’s worth paying the extra for the rear sensors, it will keep you out of the body repair shop.

Point two:-

The three cylinder engines are very noisy when cold. You do not hear this in the cab but listing to the engine on a cold morning for the first time with the bonnet up can give you a bit of shock, thankfully when the engine warms up the clattering goes away. I have listened to another Eco Boost 125ps engine and it’s the same

In closing I can tell you all that I thoroughly enjoy driving the car, it’s got enough performance to make it interesting, plenty of space for us and it hasn’t broken the bank to buy it.

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