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Home > Cars > S-MAX > Features > Driving Experience

Driving Experience

Features shown on this page may only be available on selected models. Where available, these features may be optional extras at additional cost. For more info, download price list to view current ROI specifications.

Whether you’re on a quick trip into town or a family excursion to the country, the Ford S-MAX enhances the experience. Advanced driving technologies assist your every manoeuvre. Active Park AssistAvailable as part of Driver Assist Pack guides you into tight spaces. While Adaptive Cruise ControlStandard on Vignale with Stop & Go take the stress out of stop-start city driving, long motorway journeys and plenty more besides.

Extra control during hill starts

Hill Start Assist temporarily stops you rolling backwards or forwards when making a hill start. The system works by maintaining pressure to the braking system for an extra 2-3 seconds, giving you more time and control as you move your foot from brake pedal to accelerator. It’s also useful when you’re stopping and starting on slippery surfaces.

Ford S-MAX Hill Start Assist
Ford S-MAX rear view showing adaptive cruise control

Make light work of heavy traffic

Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop and Go lets you set both your cruising speed, and distance from the vehicle in front. If it detects traffic is slowing, the system will maintain your pre-set distance if conditions don’t allow for your preferred cruising speed. It can even bring you to a complete stop in heavy traffic. Once the road in front is clear, the system automatically accelerates back up to your chosen speed – making it ideal for negotiating the crowded stop-start driving of urban environments.

Keeping you inside the speed limit

Intelligent Speed Assist works with Traffic Sign Recognition to enhance your speed control, enabling you to concentrate on the road. When activated, the system can identify the local speed limit and then automatically adjust your maximum speed accordingly.

Ford S-MAX driving on road by the beach
Ford S-MAX close up of LED lights

Headlights that help you see around bends

Adaptive Lighting with Dynamic LED headlights and daytime running lights deliver a precise and intensely bright light pattern that automatically adjusts to suit different road and driving conditions. In addition, glare-free high beam adjusts itself automatically to avoid dazzling other drivers, and the new system can even read the curve of the road to illuminate corners and crossings before you enter them.

Parking made even easier

Active Park Assist can steer you into parking spaces just 20% longer than your vehicle. Simply push a button and the sensors of this innovative system locate a suitable space as you drive past. Then it automatically steers you in, while all you do is operate the accelerator, gears and brake (following on-screen instructions and audible signals).

Power-assisted steering that responds to every situation

Electric power-assisted steering (EPAS) automatically adjusts to your speed and the conditions. At low speeds, the system makes wheel turns feel lighter and easier, improving maneuverability. At high speeds, when you need greater control, it firms up the steering. Now with drift control, EPAS also takes into account crosswinds and other driving conditions, while active nibble control reduces any unwanted vibration in the steering wheel. 

Sees what’s coming, from either side

A small panoramic cameraAvailable as part of Driver Assist Pack on the front of the S-Max relays a split-screen image to your SYNC 3 display so you can see vehicles, cyclists or pedestrians coming from either side. This front wide-view camera is invaluable if you’re edging out of a narrow parking space, or in a busy road where your view is obstructed.

Ford S-MAX torque vectoring control

Maximum cornering control

Torque Vectoring Control reacts to the road surface 100 times per second. (That’s 33 times faster than the blink of an eye.) Using this information, it balances the amount of power delivered to each of the two front wheels. This maximises grip and sharpens handling, helping you round corners and over undulations in the road.

An extra pair of eyes

Blind Spot Information SystemAvailable as part of Driver Assist Pack (BLIS) senses vehicles hidden in your blind spot to make changing lanes safer*. If it detects a vehicle, the system alerts you via discreet warning lights on the door mirrors. Cross Traffic Alert works with BLIS to increase awareness when you’re reversing out of a space with limited visibility. The system detects vehicles approaching from the sides and sounds a warning alerting you to their presence.

*Driver-assist features are supplemental and do not replace the driver’s attention, judgement and need to control the vehicle

Ford S-MAX Park sensor
Ford SYNC 3 with Emergency Assistance

Ford SYNC Emergency Assistance

An important part of Ford SYNC is Emergency AssistanceFord Emergency Assistance. In the event of an accident, where the airbag is deployed or the fuel-pump deactivated, the technology can use a Bluetooth-paired®Bluetooth Trademark- and connected mobile phone to help you make a direct call to the Emergency Services. You can choose to stop the call, or talk to those services if you need to. Crucially, the system can supply vital information, such as your GPS coordinates, even if you are unable to. For more minor incidents such as tyre damage, FordPass lets you call Roadside Assistance with just a few taps, and track when help will arrive on a real-time map.

A smarter wiper system

Unlike most spray nozzles, Ford’s Clearview Front Wiper System delivers fluid along the full length of the wipers. There are multiple water holes too, so the washer fluid is delivered directly into the path of each wiper blade as it sweeps across the windscreen. The result? A cleaner windscreen that helps to improve your visibility. And because the system uses less fluid, you don’t need to top up quite so often.

Ford S-MAX wipers close up
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