Meet the new Ford C-Max

Ford has today revealed the new versions of its C-Max five-seat compact MPV and the slightly bigger seven-seat Grand C-Max. Wait, come back!

Though news of a facelifted compact MPV might not excite as much as say, a modified twin-turbo truck tearing up a drag strip, the C-Max and Grand C-Max have always played the family card well.

So, these new cars get the carmaker's ‘One Ford' design language: fresh head- and fog- lamps, a smoother tailgate and a restyled bonnet. Inside, there are fewer controls and switches, simpler functionality and a redesigned centre storage console - about time, as Ford interiors were starting to feel dated and cluttered. You can of course, spec higher quality trim finishes too.

There's a new 1.5-litre diesel on offer with 118bhp, replacing the old 1.6 diesel, a revised 2.0-litre diesel with 20 per cent fewer CO2 emissions, and the lovely three-pot 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine, available in 100bhp and 125bhp guises.

In a bid to make both cars smoother and more comfortable, Ford has fitted thicker glass and more absorbent seals around the tailgate to reduce noise, vibration and harshness levels, along with acoustic damping for the engine bay and yet more noise reduction for diesel-engined cars. There's even a retuned flywheel and new engine mounts to lessen shaking forces and improve refinement during stop-start cycles.

Tech-wise, you're looking at ‘active park', which steers the C-Max models into the space (now with extra sensors at the rear), improved ‘city stop' crash-avoidance systems, active braking and adaptive cruise control (allowing you to maintain a set distance from the car in front). You also get the ‘Sync 2' voice-activated connectivity system too.

This system allows you to simply bark "I'm hungry" at the C-Max, for example, and it will pull up a list of nearby restaurants. This is excellent. And dangerous, especially in the hands of TG...