On The Road
You would be hard pressed to tell whether this was a front or rear-wheel-drive Transit purely from its handling. The van is neutral in just about all conditions, though it perhaps has a bit more stability on the motorway than the RWD version. Ride quality is good too, despite the fitment of 15in wheels with 195/70 tyres rather than the 16in wheels and 215/75 tyres of the 3.5-tonne RWD models.
It’s fair to say that the performance from the 99hp engine is hardly sparkling, but it doesn’t struggle at motorway speeds and is flexible enough for most conditions; we would be in a position to tell you a lot more about the engine if only it had been fitted with a rev-counter, but this is a £50 option. The gearshift is fairly sharp, despite the long lever, and the ratios are sensible. Quite admirably for a front-wheel-drive van, the fully laden Transit managed a restart on a 25% slope, albeit with a load of wheelspin.
The Transit’s brakes are more impressive: peak retardation of as much as 85% was achieved, and each of the ABS-assisted stops was accomplished without drama; lockup was distributed evenly among all four wheels, and the van stopped dead straight each time.
Cab Comfort
The Ford comes fairly well equipped, but you can spend a lot on options before you get what you want – and that has pushed the price of this example well above £20,000. Still, welcome standard features include excellent shielded door locks with remote central locking, and a driver’s-side airbag. The cab is well designed as a whole, and visibility is terrific.
Stowage is an example to most other manufacturers with steep door bins, under-seat space and even a handy “bin” for a mobile phone.
One real surprise with this Transit was the interior noise. Though it only had a half-bulkhead, it beat the Sprinter 311 tested last week by a few decibels. Also, this van suffered less from wind noise around the side window frame than other Transits we have tested.
