Passenger & boot space
How it copes with people and clutter
Front space
MPVs are all about space and the S-Max certainly delivers on this front. There’s lots of room for even the longest legs and head room is similarly generous. This is a wide car, so there’s plenty of elbow room for you and your front passenger.
Storage space is similarly impressive. The door bins are wide and deep, and there are two cupholders between the seats, along with a large lidded storage bin that doubles as an armrest. The glovebox is a good size, if a little shallow, and there’s a small cubby in the centre console that’s the perfect size for a mobile phone. The overhead storage console includes a sunglasses holder, plus there’s a handy lidded cubby on top of the dashboard.
If you regularly carry seven adults, the Ford Galaxy is a better bet.
Seat folding and flexibility
Handily, the S-Max lets you fold down the five individual rear seats by pressing buttons in the boot. This makes it simple to extend the size of the load area for those occasions when you need to carry lots of stuff.
However, you still need to pull the seats up again manually, and this involves a fair amount of arm strength. The Citroën Grand C4 Spacetourer and Volkswagen Touran have lighter seats that require less manhandling.
