Top Van: Ford Transit Custom Sport
Thursday, 3 December 2020
Here’s something you should ask yourself: when was the last time you exclaimed – either inwardly or out loud – “Woah, that’s a good-looking van!”?
Chances are if you have, you’ve probably just spotted a Ford Transit Custom Sport.
Don’t hastily label this as some sort of embarrassing guilty pleasure: we wholeheartedly agree. The Ford Transit Custom Sport really is a good-looking thing. Sure, the 17-inch machined alloy wheels do a fair bit of heavy lifting in this regard, and you should never underestimate the power of a go-faster racing stripe…
No one except Ford has any real right to apply the word ‘Sport’ to a light commercial van. It’s fitting that the best Transit in years provides the base architecture for a sub-model that continues a performance-flavoured legacy that began with the thrilling Transit SuperVan of the 1970s and SuperVan II of the 1980s.
**READ MORE:
* Top Sports/Performance Car: Ford Fiesta ST
* The little big winner: the Stuff Top Car for 2020 is the Toyota Yaris
* Top Large SUV: Land Rover Defender
**
No, there’s no Cosworth tuning available off the showroom floor here, but the Transit Custom Sport still provides practicality with a distinct edge over anything else in its category.
But at its core, the Transit Custom is a great package, offering plenty of power, plenty of safety kit and plenty of tech up front in the cab too, thanks to key bits of comfort and convenience like Ford’s very good SYNC3 smartphone-focused infotainment system. Oh and yes, it’ll carry plenty of stuff too.
Take a tape measure to the Transit Custom Sport and its load width of 1351mm between the wheel arches trumps that of the Toyota Hiace ZR’s (1265mm), and although the Transit’s maximum load length of 2554mm is no match for the Hiace ZR’s 3395mm, the Transit will tow more than the Hiace: 1700kg braked over the 1500kg braked capacity of the Toyota.
But put it this way: the Transit Custom Sport comes in an optional exterior colour called ‘Race Red’. Enough said.
What else was in the running? Renault’s Trafic comes close, even though it suffers a deficit of racing stripes. More conventionally designed than the Transit, the Trafic doubles down on the big box aesthetic of most such vans on the market, but offers a surprisingly engaging steer on the road: even unladen it’s compliant, comfortable and feels gruntier than its 85kW/300Nm stats might suggest.
Essential details: 2.0-litre turbo diesel inline four with 135kW/405Nm. $59,990.
Safety: The Ford Transit Custom Sport has a 5-star ANCAP safety rating.
At a glance: The rarest of all things: a cool-looking van. But behind the racing stripes and fancy wheels is simply an excellent van with car-like comfort and driving dynamics. And Ford do actually give the Sport more power than the standard Transit Custom too!
Who should consider it: Anyone with stuff to lug about, but not necessarily palletised boxes of printer paper or plumbing parts. This baby is always going to look its best with a race trailer on the towball (hauling a classic Ford Escort Mexico, natch), or at least stuffed with mountain bikes, kayaks and all the other toys that act as useful shorthand for a life lived to the fullest, mainly at the weekends. Or, failing that, an actual plumber with actual plumbing parts to shift, but who simply wants to stand out from the white box crowd.
Things to consider: It’s not the biggest van in its segment, nor is it the cheapest. But stripes.
What else could you buy?: It isn’t until you start looking at the market that you really take on board just how many vans are available to industry. From the perennial Toyota Hiace to the joined-at-the-hip offerings of Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, your choice will no doubt come down to what sort of load space dimensions you require, what sort of configurations are available straight out of the box, and what sort of fleet or lease deal you might be able to get.
Does badge loyalty extend to the world of the light commercial van? We’re not sure, although racing stripes and sports body kits must surely help.