Tourneo an easy rider

SUMMER HOLIDAY: ‘FUN AND LAUGHTER’ FROM THE GET-GO IN THIS BUS

Ford’s updated van felt like a proper holiday car should.

From the moment I hit the open road on our recent weekend away, I couldn't get Cliff Richard's 1963 song Summer Holiday out of my head. I am sure there are still millions of people around the world who can sing along to these lyrics.

“We're all going on a summer holiday; No more working for a week or two; Fun and laughter on our summer holiday; No more worries for me or you; For a week or two.”

Okay, so it wasn't for a week or two, and it wasn't in a red bus, but it was for two nights with Ford's updated Tourneo Custom, and my girls with what I am sure was our entire house's contents.

Our destination was the Dalmore guest farm in the Drakensburg, and the idea was to make the most of easy-driving nature of our bus that now offers an automatic gearbox for the first time, and of course, utilise all the convenience on offer from such a vehicle.

I cannot praise se this aspect enough. .

The rear offers six individual seats in two rows that can be configured any which way you want.

As it was a family mily weekend away, my mountain bike was not invited on the trip, so no seats were folded flat.

Instead, the seats were left up for the human cargo to have their own space within the cabin, and there was still plenty space behind them for the luggage.

From here it just gets better. There are USB charging points throughout the cabin and little storage spaces everywhere.

Honestly, this felt like a proper holiday car should.

And as a family car, safety is vitally important. Covering this base, you have an extensive array of standard and optional safety features: airbags, electronic stability programme with hill launch assist, roll-over mitigation, electronic brakeforce distribution, emergency brake assist and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

You can also add on front and rear parking sensors, a rear parking camera, lane keeping aid and lane departure warning, as well as blind spot detection system with cross-traffic alert and trailer coverage, HID headlamps with LED daytime running lights. All were fitted to our bus.

For the driver, or the slave that must drive the bus in my case, I appreciated the constant urge offered by the new 136kW/415Nm 2.0-litre single turbodiesel powerplant.

The combination of the new, easy-shifting six-speed automatic gearbox and optional adaptive cruise control that uses radar to automatically maintain t the distance b between you and th the vehicle ahead, mad made the almost 10 hours a and 900km spent in the Tourneo Custom an absolute pleasure.

While the exterior styling of the new Tourneo Custom automatic models is unchanged from the recently facelifted range, the cabin has been enhanced with a new dashboard and instrument panel, based on Ford's new interior design philosophy pioneered on the current Fiesta and EcoSport.

At R740 900 the Ford Tourneo Custom is exceptional value for money and should be on any short list for a family looking for a vehicle that will meet all their travel l ing needs.

All models come standard with Ford Protect, comprising a fouryear/120 000km comprehensive warranty, three-year/unlimited distance roadside assistance and fiveyear/unlimited kilometre corrosion warranty. A sixyear/ 000km service plan is included, with 15 000km service intervals.