Ford Galaxy 1.8 TDCi 125 Zetec review
by Tom Stewart (3 August 2006)
It could be that my household thrives on spontaneity, or maybe it's that we're plain disorganised, but whatever, we left ourselves precious little time to plan for this year's summer break - six days on the Cote d'Azur followed by another four in the sleepy Limousin region in central France.
Although our six-year old, battle-scarred Fiat Multipla JTD would probably cope with such a trip, that isn't the way we motoring hacks do things. Instead, calls are made for the loan of a manufacturer's press fleet test car.
The young, free and single book up all the swish sports cars and convertibles for their holidays, while those with families soon nab all the big, diesel SUVs and MPVs, and these bookings are usually carved in stone by April at the latest in any given year.
Slim chance for me, then, with three weeks' notice to secure anything remotely spacious, practical and economic for my tribe's vacances. However, as luck would have it, Ford soon came up trumps with an all-new and good-looking Ford Galaxy 1.8 TDCi 125 Zetec.
And so it was that on one Sunday morning in July we comfortably missed our 0925 Dover-Calais departure and instead boarded another P&O ferry two sailings later - the priority boarding and luxurious ambience of the Club Lounge and a Langan's breakfast alleviating apprehension about our imminent but already-behind-schedule autoroute trek.
As has been previously reported, the all-new Galaxy still features seven seats in a 2-3-2 arrangement, but the second and third row now stay in situ when folded flat on the new model. This means that three kids prone to bickering (eg mine) can be seated apart, but with luggage for five plus assorted beach paraphernalia also on board, I opted for a more conventional 2-3-0 "estate car" seating configuration and hoped that the inevitable three-abreast sibling squabbling didn't get too out of hand too often.
Everyone soon noted that seat comfort was good, and with such a capacious rear loadspace and luggage loaded as much as poss towards the tailgate, the three middle-row seats can recline, thus theoretically helping occupants to take a well-earned nap.
Although the Zetec model isn't the best-equipped Galaxy available - satnav, climate control aircon and adaptive cruise control would have proved useful, as would electric rear windows controllable from the front - this Galaxy does at least have manual aircon and a useful trip computer showing, among other things, fuel range (over 600 miles on a full tank) and outside temperature (already in the mid-30s Centigrade, even in northern France).
Optional extras on this particular car were, in order of desirability, a Panorama roof (six fixed roof windows with blinds), metallic paint and, last and least, heated front seats. It's also possible to have a six-speed manual gearbox, presumably for caravaners (no auto is available), but our five-speed manual was proving adequate for the most part.
As you may know, the autoroute south as far as Lyon makes for a pretty dull drive with vast, flat, intensively farmed fields specked with the odd conurbation and only the occasional tollbooth and radar gun-toting gendarme to jolt driver and co-driver back to full consciousness. Of course, one way to stay alert (and get to where you're going sooner) is to run the speed trap gauntlet and so, with a comfortable 3000rpm and 100mph showing on the clocks, we continued south stopping only once for fuel, and to answer the inevitable calls of nature.
With Lyon now well behind us the light, though not the temperature, was beginning to fade but we only had a few hundred kilometers to go before reaching our first destination, a friend's holiday home up in the hills midway between Fréjus and St. Maxime. By now we'd heard "How much further is it?" from our eight-year old several hundred times and, with short naps completed sooner than we grown-ups would have liked, tempers were, I will admit, beginning to fray.
But on the basis that tempers also fray on any normal day at home we press on and, having left home in London at 8am, we reached our destination some twelve and a half hours later. Not at all shabby for a laden 1.8-litre diesel MPV, m'thinks.
All well and good, except that by now we'd long been aware of this model's Achilles heel, namely a tricky, knife-edge clutch action coupled with a motor that wants to die if called upon to perform at anything below 1500rpm. This power void requires driver technique even when pulling away from a standstill on the straight and level, but on tight and twisty hill roads the clutch took frequent but necessary punishment while the consequent whiff polluted not just the car's interior but the immediate neighbourhood. The closer-spaced ratios of that optional six-speed box might not just be for caravaners . . .
Fortunately the clutch endured and so, re-packed, we set off several days later for our second destination, another friend's house in a tiny hamlet in the Creuse department of the Limousin. On our north-westerly route, which passed through the spectacular Ardèche region, the Galaxy proved itself a decent driving machine tackling corners, gradients and heavy braking with aplomb.
Over the next few days all seven seats were pressed into action but, unlike the old Galaxy, rear loadspace proved adequate for day trips with two adults and five children aboard. And with temperatures still nudging 40 degrees C the car's manual aircon was working hard, but thankfully up to the task.
Four days of quiet R&R proved the ideal antidote to the hustle, bustle and heavy traffic of the south of France, and put us in good mood for our seven-hour slog back to Calais, which passed without incident, save for a €90 speeding fine (159km/h) on the autoroute a little way north of Paris. Yes, we know, we had it coming.
So, thirteen days, 2170 hard miles, and all at a very reasonable 39.7mpg. Would I buy one? Quite possibly, but it would more likely be the 138bhp 2.0 TDCi version.
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