First Drive: Ford Transit Custom Sport

First Drive: Ford Transit Custom Sport

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South Africa is a land where the double cab bakkie reigns supreme. It’s practical, yes, and for the other 90% of the time, when it’s not carrying a sofa or a washing machine, it’s quite easy to live with since it's edging ever closer to the point where it could be considered pish-posh. On the opposite side of the spectrum sits the modest panel van. It’s traditionally been exiled to a non-consideration for anything other than carrying boxes, pallets, or both. Luxury? Comfort? Nah, it’s a panel van. 

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Well, Ford has a different take. Enter the Transit Custom Sport. The Transit name is already comparatively familiar in the business of rushing goods from point A to B. And it’s always been mighty good at doing just that. But as a panel van, the Transit in its larger and more traditional application—competing against the VW Crafter and Merc Sprinter—lacks somewhat in the want department. After all, who just wants a panel van for the sake of it being a panel van? 

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Dressed in stripes

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Firstly, let’s get the obvious aspects out of the way—the looks. This is a Transit Custom, which makes it the smaller of the cargo-carrying Transits, which also happens to ship with a ‘Sport’ attitude and pricetag. And the “who wants a panel van” sentiment? Well, while it is pragmatic in the load-all-you-want kind of way, it also tugs at the heartstrings with its styling, which includes go-faster racing stripes, side decals, a sporty body kit that even includes a diffuser-look rear bumper, a spoiler, and a honeycomb grille. Add a set of 17-inch matte alloy wheels, and it’s far removed from the anonymous white box that disappears into the background of a loading dock. 

Tech for days

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Inside the cabin, Ford has done its best to blur the traditional lines between a workhorse and a lifestyle vehicle, and the requisites for achieving this are pretty much there. The racing stripe-inspired seats are comfortable on the long haul—if you consider a test route between Port Elizabeth and Durban to be mileage covered—while the interior as a whole is very tech-centred in and amongst the more traditional van setting with oodles of storage compartments.

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Centre stage is a 13-inch infotainment system loaded with Ford’s SYNC4 software that also supports phone mirroring with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The graphical aspect rates high on the crispness scale, but I wasn’t particularly taken by Ford’s choice to eliminate all button operations for this stack. This is especially interesting considering that some manufacturers have already backpedalled on this approach and instead opted to reinstate good old buttons for the most frequently used functions.

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Temperature and fan speeds are operated using on-screen sliders, while any whims to switch off features like the stop/start require a deep dive into the layers of digital menus. Thankfully, basic audio controls like volume and skipping tracks can still be operated using quick access buttons on the squared-off steering wheel, while the familiar-looking 12-inch instrument cluster with an 8-inch configurable centre display keeps things looking modern. 

The business end

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The passenger compartment is separated from the 1,023kg load area—thoughtfully designed with a moulded floor to prevent scratching and six tie-down loops—by an optionally available bulkhead. A seemingly minor detail amidst the racing stripes, spoilers, and a tech-laden cabin, but since tin can-like acoustics are the norm for panel vans, it transforms the driving experience. It completely isolates the load compartment from the passenger area and, in the process, creates a quiet cabin environment without any of the characteristic rattles and judders that typically plague these panelled commercial vehicles.

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At the core of testing the Transit Custom Sport’s capabilities was a mission with a real-world purpose—using the available load space to transport custom-made walkers, built at Ford’s Silverton plant, by employees in their spare time to children suffering from cerebral palsy. This journey took us deep into some of the Eastern Cape’s most remote parts, delivering these life-changing walkers to hospitals that won’t otherwise have the resources to help these children regain mobility.

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Spending hours behind the wheel, navigating remote backgrounds between hospitals, dodging potholes, winding through mountain passes, and sidestepping wandering livestock and the occasional careless pedestrian is where the Transit Custom Sport’s standard features list came into its own. Far beyond the styling, beyond the cubic centimetres of hauling space, its safety features that include adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, and blind spot monitoring proved invaluable as they were occasionally called into action.

Power hauler

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Naturally, Ford’s looking to position its Transit Sport as a sportier alternative to a field of otherwise utilitarian panel vans, so it needs the figures to keep up with ever more demanding consumer demands. Under the bonnet is Ford’s 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox that produces 125kW and 390Nm of torque. For context, its 2.0-litre rivals, namely the VW Transporter TDI, have 340Nm. The Mercedes-Benz Vito, on the other hand, brings 330Nm. It’s much of the same on power, with the Vito producing 100kW while the Transporter musters 110kW. The 7.4l/100km we averaged on the launch route, even with all the hilly terrain and inconsistent speed zones, is nothing to scoff at. Expect that number to climb once a van driver realises the racing stripes add an extra 15kW.  

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So, is it the obvious choice as a new addition to an existing fleet of panel vans? Not quite, no. With its asking price of R938,000, it’s far from a pocket-friendly workhorse, but that’s not the point of the Transit Custom Sport. It caters to a more concentrated audience, the business owner that still needs to get the job done while having all the conveniences, bells, whistles, and comforts on the go. Ultimately, it makes a strong case as a utility-meets-lifestyle purchase, and if off-roading isn’t a priority, it’s hard to think of many vehicles as fit for purpose as the Transit Custom Sport. No wonder the humble panel van has such a strong following in Europe…

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