All new Ford Transit van review: the Big One has arrived

It’s brilliant to drive – like a car. Quiet, and with pin-sharp handling

What’s hot

• Well, where do we start? Just about everything in this van is hot to be honest. On the outside the whole vehicle is swathed in black plastic, which means that when you scrape it (which you probably will at some time) it won’t cost an arm and a leg to repair.
• The Transit is about to go on sale in America for the first time (the Yanks get a stonking V6 twin-turbo petrol powerplant by the way) and that gaping grille is a nod to Yank style – they like ’em big and brash over the Pond. It looks a trifle odd to be honest but I’m sure we’ll soon get used to it.
  

  The dash as well as the kit feels just like a Focus

• Unlike in the old Transit, the driver’s seat is superb and supportive – and the passenger ones are too. We never liked the old seat – it didn’t have any lumbar support and featured a nasty lump that stuck into the shoulder blades.
• The dashtop storage compartment complete with 12-volt take-off is carried over from the old model, which means that when you plug a sat nav unit in, you don’t have wires trailing all over the place.
• There is a handy overhead storage shelf, a fold-down desk in the back of the middle seat and a huge stowage area under the outer passenger seat so valuable items can be hidden from prying eyes. There are two coffee cup holders in the right places so the driver and passenger can reach them safely and two cola bottle bins for White Van Man’s precious two-litre fizzy drinks.
  

  Masses of storage in the cab – overhead, secure under the seats, and with a fold down desk for the paperwork

• In the back the side doors have been enlarged so that loading is easier. There’s a wipe-clean non-slip floor too and four bright lights for illuminating that cavernous 12.4 cubic metre loadspace. There’s headroom enough to stand up too, which alleviates a lot of back strain for people who spend any amount of time  in the back of their vehicles.
• On the road, the 125bhp powerplant proved plenty for the roads around Barcelona, even with a half-load on board. If you don’t need to lug heavy cargo across large distances, we’d be tempted to recommend the lower-powered 100bhp model (which wasn’t available for driving at the launch). It’s cheaper to buy but having said that, fuel economy suffers with the smaller unit so overall costs will probably balance out in the end.
• This Transit is as close as you’ll ever get to driving a big car. The engine is just about noiseless, the steering taut and the handling pin-sharp.
• There are two trim levels on offer – base and Trend – and our test van, being the Trend variant, featured lots of goodies such as Electronic Stability Control, which helps alleviate sideways skids, a heated windscreen, foglamps, cruise control, leather trimmed steering wheel, Ford’s SYNC system with emergency assistance and front and rear parking sensors.

In terms of downsides we’re reduced to asking for more places where you can buy one – only Ford’s new van centres will stock the Transit

What’s not

• We were really struggling to think of anything negative to say about this van but a couple of points eventually came to mind.
• The load-lashing eyes are all placed on the floor, which means that if you want to strap in, say, a single crate and you only have one tie, it can be a problem. Some of the rival panel vans now have additional eyes halfway up the side of the load area, which is much better in our view.
• Of 200 Ford dealers across the UK you’ll only be able to buy a Transit at one of the 110 new van centres. Great of you live near one but frustrating if you are out in the sticks and your local Ford bloke doesn’t do vans.
• Finally wouldn’t it be great if Ford was to build a few “specials” for the UK market with that American V6 fire-breather under the bonnet? We asked if they’d be doing so and the answer was a resounding: “No!”