SPORTING GOODS
Small vans equal small profits and was the main reason why Ford recently dropped its Fiesta van. Another factor was market trends with capacious high cubed designs becoming more fashionable as well being the most usable and logical pick. After all, what good’s a van that can’t carry anything?
Courier started off as a Fiesta over a quarter of a century ago and after being discontinued when the larger Connect was introduced is back and now part of the ever-growing Transit range. A recent addition is the Sport Courier that’s aimed at small operators who liked the work, rest and play attitude of the frisky Fiesta van.
With its flashy body kit and strident stripes, aided by cool looking 16-inch alloy wheels, and black painted heated/ powered door mirrors, the Sport Courier certainly looks the part even though there’s no mechanical improvements. Inside, the Sport theme continues with unique its interior trim while air con is standard.
There’s a choice of two engines, an impressive 1.5-litre, 95bhp TDCI and the acclaimed three-cylinder 1.0-litre Ecoboost petrol unit that yields 100bhp and feels that bit sportier. Not that the diesel disappointed on that score; it’s certainly the lustier of the pair. To our minds, though, if you intend to use this vehicle for out-of-hours duties, we’d opt for the sharper performing petrol engine even though the TDCI is far superior on fuel, eking out a claimed 70.6mpg.
Typically Ford, the Sport Courier feels right from the outset and is extremely user friendly and civilised. To all intents and purposes, it feels just like a Fiesta to drive – which means simply excellent – and few small vans are as much fun, due in part to the Fiesta’s inherent fine handling. Work-wise the cargo space is a well designed cube (that at 2.3m3 is slightly inferior to the rival Citroen Nemo, Peugeot Bipper and Fiat Fiorino) accessed through two wide doors with a side sliding. Half a dozen tie-down points are provided to secure a 661kg payload.
As the Sport is based on the more upmarket Trend trim, you further gain a spacious overhead shelf and a useful drawer located under the driver’s seat. Pay extra for the ‘Seat Pack’ and a full mesh ‘load through’ bulkhead combined with a clever fold flat passenger seat, allows an unobstructed slim area that’s almost 2,600mm long – ideal for pipework and so on. Then this-cut-above-the-rest Courier can become pretty expensive for what it essentially is; our test van also came with metallic paint (£360) tyre pressure monitoring system (£90), passenger front airbag (£120), parking aid, rear sensors (£180), Ford’s super-easy to fathom navigation system with a rear view camera (£420) and, finally, an optional tailgate for a further £300.
In total this swelled the price by almost £1,500 making the grand total handsomely over the £17,000 barrier which, to put it in context, buys you top line, larger Transit Connect and almost the excellent limited edition VW Caddy Black. Having said that, only the Volkswagen exudes the same ‘look at me’ factor which is essential if you intended to use the van as a private use plaything. But viewed purely as a workhorse, this Ford doesn’t offer much of a sporting chance for your money.