Is the sliding-doored Ford B-Max just a flash in the fad pan?

30 August 2015 - 02:00 By Thomas Falkiner
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The new Ford B-Max
The new Ford B-Max
Image: Supplied

It sounds like the B version of a jail, but the B-Max is even harder to get out of than C-Max. By Thomas Falkiner

Fads. They come and they go. Remember those ridiculous wristbands that everybody of a sporting temperament used to wear not all that long ago? Made-in-China latex strips with a "special" hologram chip guaranteed to revitalise your chi. Sounds absurd now, but at the time people couldn't get enough of them. Like that specialty coffee brewed from coffee beans passed through the digestive tract of some poor Asian jungle cat. Bizarre.

While this craze seems to be on the way out, vaping continues to suck the masses right in: smokers trading smoldering leaves for pocket-sized hookahs that, if anything, just encourage inhalation of more questionable substances.

When it comes to fleeting trends the automotive world comes into its own. SD card slots. Flip-up headlights. Landau tops (google this if you're under 30). Each of these has enjoyed its moment in the sun. Right now unconventional doors seem to be in vogue. The BMW i8, with its radical scissor doors, has taken over where the gull-winged Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG left off. Both the Opel Meriva and BMW i3 sport rear-hinged suicide doors - as does the Toyota FJ Cruiser.

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But it's the sliding variety that reigns supreme. You'll find them almost everywhere: Volkswagen, Kia, Peugeot, Mazda. Now Ford has joined the party with their B-Max.

Like Stonehenge - or Tom Cruise - this MPV appears smaller in real life than it does in photographs. I was expecting something Citroën Cactus-sized but in reality it's marginally bigger than a Fiesta. Which makes sense because it's built on the same platform. You gain 10cm extra headroom as well as an extra 10cm tagged onto the boot. And those sliding rear doors.

Ford is most enamoured of this feature. So much so that trend analyst Dion Chang was called in to wax lyrical about them at the media launch. Indeed, they were mentioned in the same breath as tablets and work swarms and 40m² modular apartments that can be converted into five different rooms at any time. The hype whipped the audience into mild social media frenzy. In no time there were tweets and Instagrams about the life-changing perks of sliding rear doors with no B-pillars.

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Well apart from streamlining the detachment of a baby chair from the back seats (if you're into that sort of thing), I'm still struggling to see any further benefit.

Slipping into extra narrow parking spaces? Perhaps. But then you still have to open up the front doors. Better ingress and egress? One would think so. But when I climbed in and out the back of the B-Max a few times it didn't feel any easier than it would in a conventional five-door Fiesta - a car that feels pretty much identical in every other aspect. Ride. Handling. Interior. Performance. Occupancy space.

If it weren't for the slightly higher seating position, you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between these two machines.

And therein lies the problem. As much as I like the B-Max, and I do, I can't see why you'd pick it over the similarly spacious Fiesta. Especially considering that a Fiesta is not only slightly cheaper but also comes with a wider range of engine and gearbox options. At the moment the B-Max is only available with a five-speed transmission and a 1.0-litre EcoBoost motor.

It's a cautious move by Ford. One that suggests to me that once the novelty has worn off, this sliding-doored MPV could well be on the road to becoming yet another fleeting fad.

sub_head_start FAST FACTS: FORD B-MAX 1.0 ECOBOOST TITANIUM sub_head_end

Engine: 998cc three-cylinder turbo

Power: 92kW at 6000rpm

Torque: 170Nm at 1400rpm

Transmission: Five-speed manual

0-100km/h: 11.2 seconds

Top speed: 189km/h

Fuel: 4.9/100km (claimed combined)

CO2: 114g/km

Price: R271,900

Follow the author of this article, Thomas Falkiner, on Twitter: @tomfalkiner111

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