First Drive Overview
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Ford out-sprints the Sprinter, in much more methods than one particular.
For anyone who’s spent time at the helm of a Ford Econoline/E-Series more than the decades, there have been numerous items to deal with: a steep climb into the cabin, oceans of featureless plastic dash and door trim, really awful seats, and, below the hood, wheezy V-8 and V-10 engines that had been far more thirsty than thrusty. But archaic as it was, the E-Series got the job completed. So you dealt with it.
These are all factors you will not have to contend with in the new Ford Transit, which replaces the venerable E-Series in dealerships beginning this July. Currently in production at Ford’s Kansas City assembly plant, the Transit is basically the same, Euro-style box on wheels that is sold in over 100 other markets worldwide. It is 1 of the a lot of content benefits of Ford’s automobile globalization efforts that also produced our current Fiesta, Concentrate, Fusion, and of course, the Transit’s little brother, the Transit Connect.
Take Your Seats
The Transit is definitely not significantly to look at, particularly in taller-roof varieties that visually dwarf its button-nosed snout, and it is so flat on each and every side that an Econoline looks like a ’68 Corvette by comparison. But if the Transit is low on passion, it’s high on functionality—perfect for most van customers. It can be ordered in endless combinations, with 2 offered wheelbase lengths, 3 body lengths, and 3 roof heights, the largest of which consists of far more than 487 cubic feet of cargo space—75 percent more than the biggest E-Series. Like the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, inboard-mounted dual rear wheels are accessible, which in this case add only 4 inches of overall width. Ford expects that 24 % of all Transits will be sold as passenger wagons, with seating for 8, 10, 12, or 15, compared to a maximum of 12 in the Sprinter and, well, just 2 in the cargo-only Ram ProMaster. In its most potent forms, the Ford can pull a 7500-pound trailer and haul 4650 pounds of your business’s enterprise. The point is you can have it your way.
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There is lots far more to appreciate inside the Transit. The seats are supportive and covered with either a sturdy fabric or real leather. (Yes, leather seats in a cargo van!) An optional rear camera tends to make parking and/or mounting a trailer a relative breeze, and the fully functional MyFord Touch infotainment method brings heretofore unimagined technology and comfort to the full-size van industry. The steering wheel does not fairly come down low or vertical enough to really feel something but bus-like, but the same can be said about the ProMaster and the Sprinter.
It does not take much ability to drive the Transit about town. While you cannot see the vehicle’s hood, the massive windshield, low side glass, and slab sides impart a reasonably great sense of the van’s location inside its lane. We drove numerous versions, from passenger models to cargo models—the latter with half of their respective maximum payloads strapped in the back—and every single felt remarkably planted, with a gorgeous lack of body roll. It does not take also significantly to overwhelm the front tires in corners, but the Transit’s aggressive (and non-defeatable) stability manage puts a quick cease to any shenanigans. The steering is heavily boosted and a tiny slow off-center, but with none of that old-van vagueness that plagued the Econoline. An obtainable lane-keeping alert program vibrates the steering wheel to warn drivers of lane drift, despite the fact that it is not offered with a crosswind-compensation method like the Sprinter’s.
Beneath the Hood
In contrast to Transits sold elsewhere in the planet, which can be had with front-, rear-, or all-wheel drive, all Transits sold here are rear-drivers. Motivation is supplied by a 3.7-liter V-6 with 275 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque, a twin-turbocharged EcoBoost 3.5-liter V-6 with 310 horses and 400 lb-ft of torque, or a 3.2-liter PowerStroke inline-5 turbo-diesel with 185 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque. All engines are mated to a 6-speed automatic with rocker-switch manual shift manage. On paper, the base V-6 and the diesel are competitive with the best available engines in the ProMaster and Sprinter—we’ll have to test them to see if the numbers pan out, but in any case, the EcoBoost model is Ford’s trump card.
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After sampling every single engine, we came away impressed, especially with the gas mills. Whereas diesels are usually the go-to motors of any utility vehicle’s powertrain lineup, the Transit’s base 3.7-liter V-6 feels a lot more than up to snuff, even with the aforementioned added poundage Ford loaded in every single van for our drives. Stepping up to the diesel brings further muscle for the heavier vans, but the a single to get, we feel, is the Ecoboost V-6, which does just as exceptional a job here (with that satisfied turbo whoosh) as it does in the F-150. Even better, it does so without sapping even a single mpg of EPA-rated fuel-efficiency: each V-6s attain 14/19 city/highway ratings, some 19 percent better than the E-Series’s base V-8 and a large 46 percent far better than the V-10. We appear forward to driving a Transit fully empty, but even with all the extra weight in the back of the cargo vans—or the added seats of the wagon, which can add up to 920 pounds in the case of the 15-passenger model—we never ever felt as if we were holding up site visitors when pulling away from a stoplight.
Transit rates start off just north of $ 30K, a couple of grand larger than the ProMaster and a bit a lot more than the E-Series it replaces. Upgrading to the diesel or the turbo V-6, heavier-duty models, and premium alternatives can take the cost up over $ 50K with out significantly effort, but in most cases, the Transit remains considerably less costly than comparably equipped Sprinters, and we have no doubt Ford gives highly competitive fleet rates.
The Transit may possibly not look pretty, but with its combination of utility, fuel efficiency, and cabin comfort, we count on its consumers will discover it shines from inside.
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