It’ll haul your family and pull Ford into the future
CAR COMPANIES must passionately pursue tomorrow, but they cannot be reckless in that pursuit.
They must remain concerned about and aware of the current needs, wants, biases and favoured fantasies of their customers.
Witness the 2017 Ford Transit van, both the full-size cargo model and the compact Connect Titanium Wagon passenger model, the latter driven for this column.
They are European concepts. For years, I saw Transits on European streets, used as commercial vans for family businesses and other small companies. They were the bestselling light commercial vans in Europe for 40 years.
Ford brought the Transit to North America, primarily the United States, as 2016 models. Here, in the Land of Minivans and SUVs, they underwent more changes. Small businesses, of course, loved the high roof and overhead stowage shelves of the larger models, features thankfully retained on the Connect Wagon passenger types.
But those small-business owners also had families and social lives. Ford offered them the Transit Connect Wagon XLT.
It is smaller than the larger Transit van yet still can comfortably seat up to seven people. It has a smaller engine - a 2.5-litre inline four-cylinder petrol model (169 horsepower, 171 pound-feet of torque) vs. the standard 3.7-litre V-6 (275 horsepower, 260 pound-feet of torque) in the larger van. It also is less expensive, by about US$10,000.
Ford needs to look at Tesla and take a hint to increase the Transit Connect’s electronics and offer a larger screen.
What is offered here are baby steps toward tomorrow, but the Transit Connect Wagon with Titanium trim certainly advances the notion of “minivan.”
I expect to see more of them around American streets, perhaps even as petrol-electric or all-electric models.
Ride, acceleration and handling: Most of us just want to get to where we want to go and haul what we need to haul - and park without incurring fines. The Connect Wagon does that quite well.
Engines/Transmissions: The Transit Connect Wagon comes with a 2.5-litre, 16-valve, inline four-cylinder engine with variable valve timing (169 horsepower, 171 pound-feet of torque/232 Nm). The engine is connected to a six-speed automatic transmission that also can be operated manually.
Capacities: It can seat up to seven people in passenger mode or be reduced to a two-seater for a small commercial hauler. Passenger cargo capacity with all seats up is 15.7 cubic feet. Total cargo capacity is 128.6 cubic feet (364 litres).
Mileage: I averaged 26 miles per gallon (11 km per litre) on the highway with one passenger and no cargo.
Prices: The base price for the Transit Connect Wagon is US$30,325 (RM130,000). — Washington Post