What is it?
Ford’s big MPV fitted with the new-generation petrol 1.6-litre Ecoboost engine.
The Ford Galaxy and Ford S-Max were the first vehicles in Ford of Europe’s range to be fitted with the larger 2.0-litre Ecoboost unit and the seven-seater offers the toughest test of the abilities of this smaller engine.
The 1.6 Ecoboost is available in Zetec, Titanium and Titanium X trim, with prices starting at £24,645 for the Zetec example. Ford ceased production of the £23,845 2.0-litre, 143bhp petrol Galaxy in September 2010, so the 1.6 Ecoboost Zetec is the cheapest in the range.
Our test car was the Titanium X trim that starts at £29,045. Optional extras fitted to our car – such as touch-screen sat-nav, reversing camera, metallic paint, front variable climate control, a retractable tow bar and uprated seats – pushed the price up to £33,195.
That sounds like a hefty price tag, although Ford’s research indicates that Galaxy customers traditionally opt for high-specced models.
What’s it like?
Married to a slick six-speed manual gearbox, the Galaxy 1.6 Ecoboost is a capable, quiet and relatively efficient MPV.
If the Galaxy is to be used as Ford intended – as an efficient transporter of sprawling families and swallower of luggage – then wisdom suggests a smaller-capacity petrol unit isn’t best suited to the task.
But with 158bhp and 177lb ft, the petrol unit isn’t short of power and torque, however, if you’re likely to make regular use of all seven seats or the maximum luggage capacity of 2325mm (in two-seat mode – one of 32 possible seating configurations), there will be occasions when you are left yearning for the extra low-end punch that most of the diesels in the range possess.
The Ford Galaxy has fairly precise handling for a vehicle of its size – 4820mm long and 2154mm wide – and stability is impressive for a vehicle with such proportions. Not that B-road blitzes will be high on the agenda of many Galaxy drivers, but even on a family trip to the inlaws/seaside/shopping arcade (delete as applicable) it is nice to be behind the wheel of a large vehicle that feels relatively involving to drive.
The driving position and cockpit ergonomics are hard to fault. The driver has an upright seating position that allows clear all-round visibility. Ford resculpted the centre console during the most recent Galaxy redesign to incorporate an integrated armrest and even more storage space than most families could find use for.
Should I buy one?
Although the 1.6 Ecoboost is an impressive engine in isolation, it’s difficult to build a completely compelling case for this Galaxy over its diesel brethren. Most of the oil-burning variants offer considerably better economy against the claimed 39.2mpg of the 1.6 Ecoboost, which features stop-start technology.
On the 1.6 Ecoboost’s side is price: the Zetec version starts at £24,645 and the equivalent entry-level diesel is £25,445. It’s worth downloading the ‘petrol versus diesel’ calculator at our sister website, whatcar.com, to assess whether you’d save on a diesel in the long run.
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Ford Galaxy Ecoboost 1.6 - Failures
We bought this week a new Ford Galaxy Ecoboost 1.6 at our local Ford ( cegeac Brussels ) dealer with great expectations.
It has proven to be a massive dissapointment however.
Day1:on the initially scheduled day of delivery the Galaxy refused to start- the dashboard displaying "motor failure" - the salesperson assured us this'd be an easily repairable minor issue.
Day2 (or Day 1 bis):Received assurances that the problem had been identified &permanently resolved ( they said they replaced a faulty power relay )- & drove the car home. However, the next day the car again refused to start&displayed again the motor failure message.
Response of the dealership: yes we're open but there's no manager or any other senior person present at the dealership on Saturday-call your road assistance...
The salespersons present at the Ford dealership refused to take our calls thereafter as they claimed to be too busy with other clients, but they said they would call us back: they never did!
We truly are shocked & appalled by (1) being delivered such an expensive car which can't even start from day 1 [nor from day 2] , & (2) such terrible customer service (has the economic climate changed over night that they can afford to behave like this?) !
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Re: Ford Galaxy 1.6 Ecoboost
If it is considered more fashionable to drive a Mini convertible then the grandkids will just have to be squashed in, a bit like feet into fashionable shoes
For this sort of money, the badge is everything
Re: Ford Galaxy 1.6 Ecoboost
As mentioned in other posts - the modern DPF turbo-diesel cannot do the school run day in day out without having to keep doing special motorway trips to help regeneration. So we're left with small capacity turbo petrols, which do not currently (and maybe will not ever) give TDi MPG figures.
If I was buying an MPV now, to replace my TDi, it'd be a turbo petrol to avoid the DPF. Then use my other TDi car which is always on the motorway for the long journeys (or sigh and face up to a 30MPG ish motorway run).