Ford Tourneo Connect South Africa 2015
What is it?
Hard to define since the Ford Transit Connect and Ford Tourneo Connect occupy several different roles and tick many boxes. Levels of versatility range from MPV to light commercial to C-Segment sedan, underpinned by the well qualified Ford Focus platform. Summarised, the Transit Connect is ideal for small businesses and entrepreneurs with great loading carrying capacity while the Tourneo Connect is an effortless people carrier with a myriad seating options. Both offer car-like refinement, small turning radius and modern looks replete with Ford’s latest engines and media options.
What’s it like:
Ford Tourneo Connect supposedly melds lifestyle with ease of town use. Available in short and long wheelbase, five or seven seater, the Ford Tourneo reinvents practicality. Everything opens wider than before, the tailgate has been lowered and seats fold into the floor or slide on rails. A demonstration proved that the Tourneo Connect can transform from seven-seater to completely flat load bay in less than a minute.
In its more cavernous application the Grand Tourneo Connect offers 2761 litres of space or 2620 litres in the short wheelbase. While comfortable, we did notice seat material and shape to get progressively thinner as you move backwards but headroom and legroom is far superior to anything you’ve most likely encountered before. The Ford Transit Connect is available in long-wheelbase and has a total load volume of 3222 litres with a payload capacity of 1004kg. Towing capability is rated at 1200kg.
Fitted with Ford’s latest frugal turbo engines both models drive with a neatly resolved attitude. We first tried the 1.0-litre turbo in the Tourneo Connect and couldn’t believe how well it performed with smooth operation and plenty of overtaking grunt, despite being detuned (we fail to see the logic) to 74kW and 170Nm. One caveat though is how this engine will cope when moving significant mass around in which case the 1.6 TDCi with 85kW and 285Nm is probably a better choice and by far the most efficient at 4.9l/100km. A third engine, the 1.6-litre Ecoboost, delivers 110kW and 240Nm and is the only model with automatic transmission. The Ford Transit Connect makes do with a single powertrain option in the 1.6TDCi, again with manual transmission, which we find a slight deterrent.
Ride refinement is well controlled and both models soak up bumps and ruts in a well-mannered smoothness. The dashboard with its slanting clusters and angled shift makes ergonomic sense but it’s not the prettiest around, often cluttered by too many bulky buttons. The instrument clusters are looking rather old by now, the steering wheel overly complicated and the storage bin ahead of it is so far out of reach and can’t be opened on the move without obscuring your view of the road. The purposeful Transit Connect mitigates some of these coarse edges but the Tourneo Connect just misses the mark on interior finesse when compared to a VW Caddy.
Ford Transit Connect South Africa 2015
Should I buy it?
Both offer great versatility and if you want roominess they excel with large dimensions and benchmark payload capacity. The segment traditionally occupies a small market share against the preferred SUV or bakkie, but does have an advantage over the latter by offering a more secure place to store valuables.
Pricing
| FORD TRANSIT CONNECT | ||
| Transit Connect 1.6 TDCi Ambiente LWB | R 272 900 | |
| Passenger Airbag (Only available on Transit Van) | R 1 830 | |
| Ambiente Option Pack (Only available on Transit Van) | R 8 060 | |
| FORD TOURNEO CONNECT | ||
| Tourneo Connect 1.0 EcoBoost Ambiente SWB | R 269 900 | |
| Tourneo Connect 1.0 EcoBoost Trend SWB | R 279 900 | |
| Grand Tourneo Connect 1.6 EcoBoost Titanium A/T LWB | R 359 900 | |
| Grand Tourneo Connect 1.6 TDCi Titanium LWB | R 367 900 | |
| Options | ||
| Metallic Paint | R 1 150 | |
| Titanium Option Pack (Only available on Titanium) | R 4 610 | |
| Third row seats (Only available on Titanium) | R 1 820 | |
| Reverse Park Aid | R 1 640 | |
| Roof rack with cross bars (Only available on Ambiente) | R 2 000 | |
| Front Park Aid (Only available on Trend) | R 3 610 | |
| 16″ Alloy Wheels (Only available on Trend) | R 6 540 |
