Ford Transit Custom much more than your stereotypical panel van

The new Ford Transit Custom features a total load volume of almost six cubic metres, a maximum load length of over three metres and a payload of almost 1.3 tons.

As motoring reporting is a full-time job not allowing any agricultural, manufacturing or service-providing related side hustle, we could not not use the van for its intended purposes during it’s recent weeklong stay. But, we did find that the Ford Transit Custom can actually come in very handy should you have to use it to juggle between your commercial enterprises and daily commuting.

The huge cargo space was perfect for taking a big dog to the vet without the worry of mishaps on upholstery, loading plenty of bags of groceries and an impromptu driveway-bound camper van for the children.

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Easy access to cargo

The cargo area is kind of like a bakkie with a permanent canopy featuring a much higher roof. The floor is 100mm lower than before and the sliding door now bigger to accommodate cargo loading. A side step has also been integrated into the sliding door for easier access.

The two barn doors at the back can fold out 180-degrees for optimised loading, while there are eight tie-down loops around the cargo floor. As there are no windows in the back, bright LED lighting proves plenty of illumination.

Steel plating separates the Ford Custom Transit’s cabin from the cargo area, with a small centre window for the driver to have a peek to whether his load is still in intact.

The cabin is so comfortable you’ll be hard-pressed to guess that this is a vehicle meant for mainly commercial purposes. The front row features two single seats with a large storage space in between and not a bench seat which is often the case in vans.

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Ford Custom Transit has Ranger-like tech

A 12-inch digital instrument cluster is reminiscent of the latest generation Ford Ranger, albeit the 13-inch infotainment system is landscape orientated and not portrait style like in its bakkie cousins. The latter features Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and while supporting Ford’s SYNC4 system. To top things off, wireless charging comes as an optional extra.

The passenger airbag has moved into the roof to free up storage space. This makes storing a laptop out of sight in the glovebox possible.

While there is no centre-mounted rear-view mirror in the Ford Transit Custom, the two side mirrors feature very nifty wide screen view at the bottom to eliminate the blind spots. A wide angle reverse-camera and front and rear parking sensors are also very handy when having to reversing a vehicle with a lengthy 3 500mm wheelbase in busy parking lots with limited vision.

Peach of a powertrain

The Citizen Motoring reckons one of the best features of the Ford Transit Custom is it’s 2.0-litre single turbo diesel engine which uses AdBlue diesel exhaust fluid. It sends 100kW of power and 360Nm of torque to the front wheels via smooth six-speed manual gearbox in a choice of three driving modes, Normal, Eco and Slippery. A very wide torque band allows you to do most of your city driving in second and third and third gear, with sixth gear hardly ever needed.

We manage to achieve around 11L/100km during our week in the van, which is perfectly acceptable for a vehicle weighing almost two tons unloaded.

Apart from six airbags, the Transit Custom also features safety systems in the form of ABD with EBD, electric stability programme, traction control, hill-launch assist, lane keeping aid and driver alert.

At R756 500, the Ford Transit Custom is offers a solid solution for any business. One which can double-acts as a daily commuter with ease.