The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Courier a top van for city
The Ford Transit Courier is the fourth model in a range that now also includes the Transit Connect, the Transit Custom and the full-fat Transit van. This is the smallest model in the range, but it’s no tiddler when it comes to cargo capacity with a class-leading load length and a payload of 660kg.
The Courier is available with highlyefficient diesel and petrol engines that target best-in-class fuel economy and offer Auto-Start-Stop on all units. Customers can choose between the Dagenham-built 1.5-litre 75PS and 1.6-litre 95PS Duratorq TDCi diesel engines, plus the tiny 1.0-litre 100PS EcoBoost petrol engine, the “International Engine of the Year” 2012. This unit requires a bit of pedalling and if hitting economy figures is important to you, the diesels may well be a better bet, more so if you’re routinely set to drive the van at or near its payload limit.
The Transit Courier delivers load volume of 2.3m3 with a standard full bulkhead and an overall length of 4.16 metres. Practicality highlights include the longest-in-class load length at floor level of 1.62 metres (100mm more than the competitive Nemo/Bipper/Fiorano design), the best in class access width through sliding rear side doors, a fullheight, full-width steel bulkhead (glazed or unglazed) and full compliancy with DIN and ISO standards for load restraints.
Luxury options include a voice-activated in-car connectivity system, a Rear View Camera, Easy Fuel, Speed Limiter and standard ESC (Electronic Stability Control), plus a class-leading variety of safety features.
The city van market is booming. Small firms have clued in to the fact that lightweight vans with low running costs and high practicality are the tools of choice for rapid order fulfilment in urban environments and Ford hasn’t been slow to react, first with the Transit Connect and now with this even more compact and specialist tool, the Transit Courier.
Attractive styling, great engines and a whole lot of consideration poured into making a small van work like a big ‘un has resulted in what looks certain to be a sales winner.