Ford Transit 2014 Review

From time to time we also take the opportunity to spend more time in a vehicle. These longer-term tests can be as short as a couple of weeks or up to six months.

Extended-term tests give our staff writers and contributors a chance to get to know a car as an owner would. While the car is with us, we pay for fuel, pay for the servicing and generally use and live with the car as a new owner would.

Manufacturers tend to have a love-hate relationship with long-term tests. Six months is plenty long enough to fall out of love with the latest and greatest, and start to nitpick -- just like real owners do.

That said, we believe extended-term tests give car buyers an added insight into the vehicle on test. Not to mention the qualities behind the brand and nameplate.

Ford Transit Custom
The Transit was something of a revelation when it first entered the automotive world back in 1965. It was a time when owning a commercial vehicle was a sullen proposition, the choice restricted to clumsy, underpowered offerings from the UK or Europe, a range of (very truck-like) light trucks or smaller sedan-based utilities with exposed and often quite limited cargo areas.

Introducing the Transit – a collaborative engineering effort of Ford of Britain and Ford of Germany – changed the light commercial vehicle landscape for the better. Compared to its contemporaries the Transit Mark I rode and handled more like a car, had decent performance (if modest by today's standards), was reliable and had a secure, broad cargo compartment capable of carrying just about anything you care to name.

Ergo, the grassroots philosophy of the Transit hasn't really changed. It's still a useful, good-to-drive light commercial vehicle that in its latest guise feels as modern today as the Mark I would have in 1965. The level of technology, car-like driveability, noise suppression and safety features are at the top of their class; little wonder then the Transit Custom won trucksales.com.au's recent Medium LCV Comparison.

But would the traits that earned the Transit its win in our six-van comparison hold true in the longer term?

It was a question we were keen to answer, so when Ford threw us the keys to the fifth-generation Transit Custom 290S for a couple of months, the trucksales.com.au team was eager to seize the opportunity.

It's fair to say the Transit has been eased into operation – a form of industrial light duties, if you will. The commute to work, carrying the motorbike and a run to the tip have so far been the Transit's only 'challenges', though in these it's proved an effortless companion.

There's just so much about the Transit that makes sense. The rear is independently lockable and unlockable from the key, leaving the cabin secure while you work from the back. The low, wide cargo area makes stepping in and out a breeze, and from the driver's seat the experience is no more arduous than piloting the family SUV.

Ford's 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine makes light work of day-to-day running, even if it's a whisker slow on the uptake. In spite of claims that peak torque (350Nm) is available from 1450rpm, the reality is the Transit is more comfortable from around 2000 revs and will proceed happily through to 3800rpm before running out of usable puff. Use the engine and the Transit's eco monitors as they're intended and fuel consumption is reasonable, to date averaging 7.9L/100km.

The six-speed manual transmission's ratios are perfectly spaced for the job and the shift feels light and positive. The clutch is likewise well metered, though I found the brake pedal's travel a little too short and quite abrupt on initial application.

It's surprising, and no-doubt a by-product of the insulated bulkhead aft of the cabin, but the Transit is quiet on the open road. There's little wind noise and no 'drumming' from the rear, the front-wheel drive lay-out of the 290S eliminating the diff whine often exaggerated in rear-drive LCVs. The engine is likewise unobtrusive at cruising speeds, and though a little rattly under load, it's still quite civilised.

Anyone familiar with Ford's European passenger range will recognise the SYNC infotainment system and instrument panel array. It's a straightforward system that works as it should and, in view of most LCV competitors, a bit of a boon. The Bluetooth system and voice recognition system are user-friendly – even when on the go – while the inclusion of DAB+ digital radio is a welcomed bonus on longer trips where repetitive commercial radio (or indeed my now-tired iTunes library) becomes annoying. A shame in the case of our Transit, then, that one of the door speakers is blown.

Over the coming weeks and months we'll put the Transit to task with some more serious and bulky loads, and take on some long-distance country runs to see if we can trim the fuel economy even further.

Watch this space...

Related reading:
>> Medium LCV Comparison
>> Ford Transit Local Launch Review