C-Max Hybrid a small wonder in its segment

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

Sacramento, California – Small wonder that the Ford C-Max Hybrid has been reviewed so positively by so many.

It’s a small wonder.

My 2017 C-Max Hybrid SE tester with five doors kept surprising me every day I had it.

OK, so it’s considered a small hybrid, and it fits that description when you walk up to it.  Yet loading it up with cargo proved to be a longer-than-usual task.  The back end took in a lot of stuff.  In-floor storage in the back was a pleasant bonus.

This being a hybrid, I thought I would need to mash the accelerator to help get the tester up to adequate speed over 20 seconds from a standing start.

Not so.  The 2-liter, Atkinson-cycle, four-cylinder engine combined with electric motor (188 horsepower equivalent) drove the C-Max off the line with surprising gusto.  And moving the speed curve up the ladder was an effortless thrill.  It was a serious blast from a small front-driver.

My ride was blowing past pretty much everything at light changes and freeway ramps.  And the match up with the continuously variable transmission was flawless.

Very impressive.

Add to the positive side a lengthy list of standard features that included a 10-way power driver’s seat, dual-zone climate control, LED signature lighting and turn signal indicators on the exterior mirrors.

The C-Max Hybrid also has a strong suite of state-of-the-art safety/security features.

In other words, the tester was not stripped and still came in at a most reasonable bottom line of $26,990, a fair number on a vehicle loaded with hybrid technology.

Of course, that technology drives past service stations with ease, with ratings of 42 miles per gallon in the city and 38 mpg on the highway.

Naturally, the C-Max Hybrid competes in a tough school against those Prius variations offered by Toyota.  Still, I thought the tested Ford stacks up well in that competition.

In fact, I was feeling guilty about not getting more C-Max seat time in days past.  Turns out I didn’t know what I was missing.

I won’t make that mistake again.