[Auto] Ford Transit Custom

[MehrezVM]

 

Autocar doesn’t dip into the world of light commercial vehicles very often, but when a staple of British roads like the Ford Transit Custom gets renewed for a new generation, we must take note.

 

Don’t worry: we shall leave bin lorries and London buses to the odd Christmas road test. However, for the past few years, the best-selling vehicle in the UK hasn’t been the Vauxhall Corsa or Nissan Qashqai but the Ford Transit Custom.

 

They are everywhere, not just as a work van but also as a leisure vehicle that effortlessly swallows bikes, camping equipment or – in the right specification – up to nine people. So it’s more than worth an extended look by way of a full road test.

 

Our test van was very much a van: a long-wheelbase, high-load-capacity panel van with a single row of seats and a fixed bulkhead. And while it is possible to kit out a modern Transit with most of the luxuries and features available on passenger cars, this one was relatively sparse, so it should give us a good idea of what all those people are really getting.

 

The 2.0-litre EcoBlue diesel engine is available with four different power outputs, and there’s a plug-in hybrid and an electric version too.

 

There’s a choice of weight ratings, two wheelbase lengths and four bodystyles: the standard panel van, the ‘double cab in van’ (two rows of seats and a bulkhead), the Kombi (three rows of seats and windows all round) and the multicab (an L-shaped bulkhead that allows for both two rear seats and a full-length load space behind the driver).

 

Finally, the Tourneo is the passenger version of the Transit and as such is quite a lot like the Kombi but with a nicer interior. It is available with all the same powertrains.

 

The Ford Transit started as a single model back in the 1960s, but over the course of many decades it has developed into a full product line-up. You could even argue it’s a fully fledged sub-brand.

 

Right now, there are four Transit lines, each with their Tourneo twins. Where the Transit is always the working vehicle, the Tourneo is the more luxurious passenger version.

 

The Courier is the smallest, using the Ford Puma’s platform. The Connect is one size up, being based on the Volkswagen Caddy. Then there’s what we have here: the Custom. Often referred to as a medium or one-tonne (referring to the approximate payload capacity) van, it’s the most po[CENSORED]r category because it’s large enough for most businesses, while remaining wieldy enough in cities and down tight country lanes. Standard-height versions are also under two metres, which means they can fit below the barriers of most car parks.

 

This is only the second generation of the Transit Custom. The first was launched in 2012 to more clearly differentiate the medium-van version from the full-size Transit (which has no suffix in its name). That one is also available with rear-wheel drive and dual rear wheels.

 

Diesel still reigns supreme in commercial vehicles, however, and as a result most Transit Customs will be powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder. That engine has largely been carried over from the previous generation and comes in a choice of four power outputs: 108, 134, 148 and 168bhp. A new Ford-built eight-speed torque-converter automatic gearbox is available on some versions, and the range-topper can be specified with four-wheel drive.

 

The new platform pushes the wheels further to the corners of the van, which means that a long-wheelbase van like ours is 110mm longer than before and 200mm longer in the wheelbase. That was probably done more to maximise load volume and length rather than to achieve Mini Cooper-like handling, but Ford has made some updates to the chassis as well.

 

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