Ford Transit Custom Sport long term review

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, the dual-cab ute is a deeply compromised family hauler.

Ford Rangers and Toyota Hiluxes might be the vehicle-du-jour at the moment selling the dream of doing weekly dirty work and opening up a whole new world of weekend adventures.

But what about the poor van? Kombis, Transits and Sprinters have been doing double-duty as family-cum-work vehicles for much longer than utes.

Yet in Australia, mid-size vans account for a lowly two percent of the market, and a lot of those sales are from delivery fleets. Combine 4×4 and 4×2 utes and you get nearly 20 percent of sales — yikes.

We’re driving the new Ford Transit Custom in family-oriented (but not workshy) Sport guise with two rows of seating to see if the van deserves more love in Australia.

It should have a solid chance, with fairly spiffy cabin appointments including blue-accented cloth upholstery and a large touchscreen with wireless smartphone mirroring.

Driving should be pretty sophisticated as well, with a rear bulkhead insulating the passengers from the classic van rumble. Plus, Ford’s engineered the new Transit Custom with multi-link, independent rear suspension. Sounds sophisticated to us.

Navigate this long-term Ford Transit Custom Sport review

• Month 1: Taking delivery of the Transit Custom Sport
• Month 2: Transit Custom on tour
• Month 3: Are utes the answer?

Month 3: Are utes the answer?

The time has come for the whole point of this particular long-term endeavour. We pretty much always have a long-term ute around because Australians can’t seem to get enough of them, making up a fifth of all new-car sales.

Comparatively, Ford sells 17 times more Rangers than it does Transit Customs, despite the two models being of similar size, price and — at least in theory — utility.

We could have selected a large SUV to compare against the van like a Ford Everest, however the ute seems more relevant as both offer greater practicalities on the commercial side, and each has five seats rather than seven.

While a 150kW/500 2.0L twin-turbo would have been a better price and performance match for the Transit Custom Sport, for argument’s sake, we’ll be somewhat ignoring the pace advantage of the 184kW V6 Sport we got along as a counterpoint.

Instead, we devised several real-world criteria to compare this pair and see if the Australian public has been right in voting for pick-ups with their pockets.

Cargo capacity and security

Any dual-cab commercial vehicle is a compromised affair. Shorter load bays than workhorse single cabs, plus more focus on tech, equipment and occupant comfort, meaning lower payloads.

The Transit Custom has a more restricted load area, in a sense, being closed in at the top. But with a low floor and 180-degree opening barn doors, it is much easier to load heavy cargo into. The load bay is also longer, wider between the arches and — crucially — more secure.

The Ranger hits back with better towing capacity and plenty of dealer-fit accessories such as canopies and sports bars, plus the ability to fit a custom tray.

See the table below for figures.

Ultimately, the van wins when it comes to cargo carrying ability and security, being packaged with greater efficiency.

Off-road ability

The Ford Ranger V6 gets a full-time 4WD system, locking rear differential, various terrain modes, and our tested example had all-terrain tyres. Still, it struggled a little on the muddy mogul test, taking a second for its traction control to engage and send drive to the gripped-up wheels.

But it is way better than the Transit could hope to be. It’s front-wheel drive, after all, and with just 118mm ground clearance plus a long 3500mm wheelbase, getting hung up is almost guaranteed.

The incoming AWD Transit Custom Trail will provide all-paw grip, raised ride height and off-road focused tyres to improve things.

As above, though, if you’re on holiday you can bring a mountain bike along, leave it in the back without too much fear of theft, and explore places a 4WD ute could never hope to go… swings and roundabouts. Ranger still wins here, naturally.

On-road comfort

One area that utes have come on leaps and bounds is everyday comfort. From agricultural bouncy castles, refinement levels are now closer to passenger cars than ever… but still not as good.

Competing priorities of off-road ability, towing capability and general comfort see all areas compromised, in truth.

The body-on-frame construction, tall-set body, leaf springs and live rear axle mean a generally more unsettled ride quality — even though the Ranger is basically the best of the bunch.

The new Transit Custom, however, with its independent rear suspension and lower ride height, is more sophisticated. It keeps occupants flatter, with less wallow, heave and general better ride control. Plus, the steering feels even better than the ute.

Urban practicality

In the city, the Transit Custom can be a touch intimidating thanks to the sheer size. In truth, it’s a very easy vehicle to place with superb forward visibility owing to a short bonnet and big side glass.

The commanding, high-set driving position gives a great view-point of the road ahead, and there’s stunning practicality in the cabin: double gloveboxes, plenty of cup-holders, multi-layer door bins, and hidden wireless charging pad plus a huge number of USB ports.

It may be wide, yet the Transit Custom has a secret skill in tight perpendicular parks: sliding rear doors open in less than 10cm and you can easily walk through into the front captain’s chairs.

At the end of the day, the Transit’s sheer size is its undoing. You can’t get the Transit Custom into a lot of Sydney’s older multi-storey carparks. Some are height limited to 1.8, or even 1.75 metres, precluding both of these cars.

But the majority seem to be 1.95M, which permits the Ranger (1918mm tall) but not the Transit Custom Sport (1985mm).

With a closer back window and slimmer B-pillars, the Ranger’s visibility out the back and sides helps rescue the compromised front view.

And when it comes to back seat comfort, the Ranger’s bench remains quite upright and compromised next to an SUV, but the rear windows go all the way down, plus it’s easier to access the top tether points for mounting child seats than the Transit Custom.

The Transit Custom may have more space and a better view out front, but the rear seats are dark and the windows don’t roll down — chalk this one up as an unexpected win for the ute.

Passive safety

Active safety is all the rage these days, and both vehicles scored five stars in ANCAP safety testing, reflecting strong crash worthiness and a litany of aids which work well in practice.

Passive safety (how a car brakes, road-holding and even straight line speed) remains deeply important in avoiding the worst in the first place, however.

Theory goes that a 2.3-tonne ute with all-terrain tyres isn’t going to be much good at stopping from 100km/h, and that’s sort of true. We recorded 43 metres in the dry. A ‘good’ result for passenger cars is somewhere in the 34-38 metre range.

The Transit Custom was just a little worse, though, which was surprising. It recorded 44 metres at its best. There’s lots of weight over the nose as well, which make the Transit Custom squirm more under heavy braking than the Ranger.

In 0-100km/h acceleration testing, it was no surprise the V6 ranger trounced the Transit Custom at 10.06 vs 7.87sec.

What was surprising was that, although more fun to drive, the Transit exhibited greater instability mid corner, tending to understeer or oversteer sooner than the more planted and consistent Ranger Sport.

This was by no means an exhaustive comparison, but it was an eye-opening one, along with a good way to challenge preconceptions.

What eventuated was a clear winner if you’re looking for an all-round vehicle for Australian conditions, and it was the Ford Ranger.

The Transit still has my heart thanks to its excellence in some of the less objective ways — character and perception, for example — even if the Ranger is, overall, the more proficient vehicle. Food for thought.

Month 2: Transit Custom on tour

• Kilometres: 4759km 
• Fuel consumption: 7.2L/100km

It might come as a surprise that the Transit Custom keys are hot property in the Chasing Cars office.

It was immediately put into long distance touring mode by your humble writer, with a 1200km round trip from Sydney to Yackandandah for a weekend away mountain biking, appreciating sporty cars, and consuming tasty beverages.

During the well-trodden Hume schlep, I discovered the Transit’s superb drivability extends beyond the city limits.

It may be down 30kW and 110Nm down on a twin-turbo Ford Ranger (which weighs about the same) yet the Transit feels punchy and unflustered climbing steep grades at 110km/h.

Only when you really ask a lot, for example overtaking B-doubles on country roads, does the Transit’s leisurely acceleration make itself known. Yet it flows beautifully through twisties, feeling remarkably car-like.

That said, it fell a long way short of matching my trip companions — a Porsche 911 Carrera ‘991’ and Jaguar E-Type 2+2 — for outright driving joy.

One major flaw we discovered was the Transit’s poor auto highbeam calibration. It’s a system that should effortlessly blend into the background… but not this one. You really notice how long it takes to dip when cars are coming, and yet how sensitive it is to bright roadside signs.

It’s double annoying, because the left stalk takes care of wipers and high beams, as the right stick is used for gear shifting. It took all sorts of futzing around to figure out manual highbeams so as not to blind other road users.

This was a complaint mirrored by AV specialist James Mort, who packed the Transit Custom full of Prime Ministar’s members and gear for an east coast tour, supporting The Rubens.

It’s a tough ask, fitting five grown lads, their band equipment (and sanity beverages) on board but the Transit Custom shrugged it off, Mort noting the same effortlessness from the relaxed yet confident powertrain.

But band trips mean a lot of kilometres, and despite the Transit Custom’s impressive sub-7.0L/100km cruising economy, you’re going to need to fill up and, after a total of 8000km on the odometer, likely some AdBlue.

It’s not nice stuff, the exhaust fluid, so where possible filling up from a proper pump — rather than an expensive bottle of the stuff — is preferable. Makes spilling less likely and keeps your hands from burning.

My advice? Get some rubber gloves to leave in the car if you own a modern diesel.

Problem is, it’s typically found near high-flow diesel pumps, which the Transit doesn’t accept. Good as a tour bus, though? You bet. Comfortable chairs, a brilliant view out front, quiet on the motorway and remarkably smooth riding.

It’s the sort of vehicle a Gen X, guitar-loving parent could use as a double duty vehicle, carrying as many kids to school as amps to the gig on the weekend.

In the same breath, the Transit did a much better job of keeping my mountain bike out of the elements, and away from thieving hands in country towns.

Would I have it over an equivalently priced dual-cab ute? I think so, but a conclusive test next month will give us a concrete answer…

Month 1: Taking delivery of the Transit Custom Sport

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What is it? It’s a van! But this isn’t just any van, it’s one for the whole fam’, packing two rows of seating into the body with a bulkhead separating the cabin from cargo space.

Sport is the top trim level in the Transit Custom world until the 4×4 Trail arrives, and ours is the long wheelbase. Only options are premium paint, which ours has (Agate Silver, $700), and the ability to swap the standard barn doors for a lifting tailgate.

What’s a Transit Custom? As a nameplate, it’s right up there with Porsche 911 and Land Rover Defender for icon status. So if you don’t know what a Ford Transit is, well, you should. That said, this second-generation Transit Custom is a fresher face in Ford’s van family.

It sits below the full-size Transit as rival to other mid-size vans, such as the Toyota Hiace, Hyundai Staria, LDV V70, and related Volkswagen Transporter T7. Again, due to this vehicle’s configuration, it might be able to tempt Kia Carnival and the new MQB Evo-based VW Multivan buyers to go a bit more commercial.

The Transit Custom Sport LWB measures 5450mm long, 2275mm wide (including mirrors), 1991mm tall and rides on the extended 3500mm wheelbase. With five seats, the load space is, naturally, a little smaller, than a single-row option.

It is still generous, with the Transit Custom’s load bay measuring 1392mm wide between the arches, a height of 1425mm, and length of 2004mm for a total load space of 4.3 cubic metres. Payload is up to 1058kg.

For context, the two-seat Trend LWB has a comparatively huge 6.8 cubic metres with payloads up to 1223kg. All Transit Customs can tow up to 2500kg (braked).

Outside of pure van life, the Transit Custom underpinnings are also used for the Ford Tourneo people mover. Meanwhile, Ford is introducing a four-wheel-drive Transit Custom trail later this year for adventure seekers.

How much is it? At the top of the Transit Custom tree is our Sport DCiV which costs $62,990, before on-road costs.

What’s the spec of our car? The Sport comes with the following equipment. 

• Dusk-sensing LED headlights with auto highbeam
• LED daytime running lights and tail lights
• Black 17-inch alloy wheels
• Keyless entry and push-button start
• Kerbside sliding load door
• Rear barn doors
• Front captains chairs with adjustable armrests, 10-way power driver’s seat, lumbar adjust, three-stage heating
• 13.0-inch multimedia touchscreen
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Connected navigation and embedded modem
• Wireless charging pad
• 7 x USB-C and 1 x USB-A outlets
• 12.0-inch digital driver’s display

How long is it sticking around for? We’re in the Transit Custom for three months and more than 5000km, and it’ll be followed up by its Kia Carnival-rivalling people-mover sibling, the Tourneo.

What are we going to do with it? Everything we can. Weekends away, using it as the audio-visual packhorse, taking it to the shops (with carparks that boast more than 2.0 metres of height clearance), and packing five people in. It’s even going on a rock and roll tour with The Rubens!

Initial performance

Ford only offers the Transit Custom with one diesel engine, a 125kW/390Nm 2.0-litre single-turbo four cylinder. 

Performance is remarkably effortless around town considering it weighs nearly 2.2 tonnes, you can thank the well-calibrated eight-speed automatic transmission and good sound insulation. A 10-second flat 0-100km/h run feels plenty rapid for this kind of vehicle

Ford’s bringing two more powertrains to the mid-size van later this year, the petrol-based plug-in hybrid and a fully electric version, too. Our diesel has an official 8.0L/100km combined fuel claim.