Ford Galaxy   Women's view

This Week June Neary Discovers A New Galaxy The Ford Galaxy That Is...

Ive always wanted to do something notable, something exciting that will place my name indelibly within the pages of the history books. Ill let you know if I ever manage it, but in the mean time, Ive been busy discovering Fords latest Galaxy people carrier. Personally, as I dont have any children, I don't really need an MPV. That's in normal every day life. However, it definitely came in handy to have the Ford Galaxy at the weekend when my sister, her husband, their two kids, my parents and Mr Growler (their Staffordshire Bull Terrier) turned up insisting on lunch at the pub. It made life easy, we could all pile into one car and, as a result, we didnt have to form the usual convoy and no one got lost. The interior is more like a small aircraft than a car so there were no squabbles about anyone squashed in the middle or wanting to sit in the front.

Every seat offers the comfort of the front seat. And that airy, glassy cabin allows even the smallest passenger a view of the road, a great help on long journeys to ease boredom.

Loading seven of us into the Galaxy was, as I said earlier, simple. There was no problem with the baby seat, either, as standing on the pavement, you're at about the right height to strap the seat onto the seatbelt - less backbreaking than in some cars. When you have your full complement of people on board it's clear why a roof rack is part of the deal - it would be awkward to load the family luggage for a week's holiday inside the vehicle without having to unload a large part of it every time you made a motorway stop. For me, the Galaxy has come thirty years too late. I have two sisters and a brother and I remember setting off on days out in my Dad's Hillman Minx, a car he adored but which didn't allow much room in the back for four growing kids (this was before the era of rear seatbelts, I hasten to add!). We were pretty fidgety after the first couple of hours, not good for parents or children alike. An MPV in those days would have been ideal for us.

The 140bhp diesel engine in my test car was a revelation to me. There was only the barest hint when I turned on the ignition that the car was a diesel at all. On the motorway the Galaxy soaked up the miles and I was very impressed with its cruising qualities and the comfort on my sixty-mile round trip. The height of the vehicle means excellent all round vision and the wing mirrors are easily adjusted at the touch of a button.

I did have problems with handling whilst driving down the country lanes, either. The only problem I had was in the pub car park. I usually drive a saloon, so parking the Galaxy wasnt all that easy for me. Having said that, the spaces were so small that anyone in a car bigger than a Corsa was having the same trouble.

By the end of the weekend I had a better feel for the size of the Galaxy and had even managed to gauge the front end better - the 'noselessness' meant that at first I didn't drive far enough forward to park, leaving the rear overhanging the space by a generous margin. Practice makes perfect...

This is a heavy car but the power steering more than compensated for that and the extra height was only of concern when I drove into the multi-storey carpark in the town centre - I involuntarily ducked as I went up the ramp, but there was ample clearance.

Fords strengths lie in packaging (hence high equipment levels including air conditioning, ABS and dual airbags) and tight pricing (pitched much as before, between £19,495 to £23,995). The options list is now vast including everything from a fridge to a multi-media system capable of entertaining rear passengers with DVD video or computer games via colour screens mounted in the back of the front seat headrests Ford offer a 145bhp 2.0-litre Duratec petrol engine and a trio of diesels. The entry-level diesel is the 100bhp Duratorq TDCi 1.

8 and theres also a peppier 125bhp version of this powerplabnt on offer. Those looking for the sort of torque that makes short work of hauling seven people up a motorway incline will prefer the 140bhp 2.0-litre Duratorq TDCi that I tried, an engine that delivers a surge of 340Nm in overboost conditions. With a six-speed manual transmission as standard, this engine offers a decent compromise between power and economy.

If I had the family to match, the Galaxy would be at the top of my list. It seems to be generally agreed that in the MPV sector the Ford contender is the best there is. After a highly successful weekend with one, I wouldn't disagree.