Ford Connect

The Ford Transit Connect is a mid-range van that is currently produced in Otosan, Turkey, but a new model will be produced in Poland together with the Volkswagen Caddy.

Ford Transit Connect L1

transit connect

Drivetrain from Ford Focus and practical van solutions from Transit make Transit Connect a Columbi egg for those who need a van without sacrificing driving pleasure. But I didn't choose it for fun.

 

A good reason for van?

My daughter and her boyfriend are coming to visit for Christmas. They need a wider bed. Therefore, today's task was to get rid of the old one and buy a "new" bed at "finn.no". A sofa bed from IKEA fits well. Since I no longer have villa, Volvo and own trailer, I had to go online to hire a van. Fortunately, I still have wife og whoop-whoop, - so on a walk with vov-voven the other day I noticed a brand new Ford Transit Connect for rent in the neighborhood. "I have to try that one", I thought. Because if I'm being completely honest, there's a little bit of anticipation in driving a brand new car, even if it's "just" a van.


Do you really need a reason to drive a van?


I found an all right place behind the wheel. You sit at passenger car height, with plenty of space in the height and a windscreen like on a tour bus. The car has three seats where the middle one can be folded down as a stable work table and the armrests – an excellent combination. The compartment in vans is not only for driving, but also a warm room where you chat, eat, drink coffee and the like.


 

Same engine, new automatic transmission

It was 5 years since last time I drove the Transit Connect. Later, it came in an upgraded version, including a new front. I noted the changes on the dashboard. The ugly button cluster is gone and the infotainment screen is larger. The engine is the same, but not the automatic gearbox. I liked the old one better, but now you know that there have been a number of problems with Ford's Powershift solutions.

Automatic transmission in a van is not so stupid, especially if you do mail and goods deliveries - and the like. The car I drove 5 years ago had a 6-speed double-clutch solution. It made better use of the fine bottom draft in the engine than the new automatic gearbox. The new one is a conventional 8-speed gearbox with torque converter. It takes some getting used to for the right foot to cooperate 100 percent. If you step on the gas a little too hard, the gearbox downshifts instead of holding the gear. I had mixed feelings. Automatic cash registers make driving fun - at the same time, I think it can get a bit fussy. On the highway you don't notice that the car shifts between the highest gears, but I wish it could hold the gears a little longer before downshifting.


 

transit connect

Short or long?

Ford Transit Connect comes in two sizes, L1 and L2 – short and long. I had the short one. With a total length of 4,43, it slips playfully easily into all parking pockets, but the luggage compartment is limited in length. The mattresses and bed frames that I had to drive onto the pile were 2 metres. The maximum load length of the L1 is 178 cm down at the floor, but only 155 directly behind the back of the driver's seat. The long version of the Transit Connect, L2, can carry 215 cm down at the floor - sufficient for all frame mattresses. My solution was to cut up the mattresses and bend the steel. They should have been discarded anyway. I made room for the frame rails by opening the loading hatch into the compartment. The "new" piece of furniture was a two-seater sofa bed. We got it loaded fine.

The Ford Connect L1 falls short as a moving vehicle. The cargo space is nevertheless a decent 2,9 cubic meters and rather snobbish with two sliding doors, a side window on the right side, inner lining on the floor and Plexiglas in the partition from Lafinto. In addition, there are many nice furnishing solutions to buy, with shelves, drawers and double floors and more, so you can keep your sewing things in order. You can also buy great camping equipment from abroad, but then you should probably choose L2 because of the bed space.


 

transit connect
The middle seat can be folded down and provides a nice table and armrests. In vans, I almost always lose something between the seats. There are many places where small items, such as a mobile phone, can hide if it falls off the table.

 

Facts about the 2022 Ford Transit Connect 1.5 Ecoblue

Weights and Measures
External dimensions - L, W, H: 443 x 184 x 186 cm
Wheelbase: 266 cm
Net weight: 1602 kg (without driver)
Payload: 728 kg
Number of seats: 3
Max trailer weight w/brakes: 1390 kg
– without brakes: 750 kg
Roof load: 100 kg

Drivetrain
Diesel engine: Transverse 1,5 Ecoblue 4-cyl. Turbo
Power: 120 HP
Torque: 270 Nm @ 1750 – 4000 revs
Gearbox: 8-speed automatic, Ford 8F35 (conventional with torque converter)
Front wheel drive

consumption
In ht vehicle license: 6,0 litres/100 km
Own measurements: 5,8 litres/100 km
From brochure: 5,1 litres/100 km (combined)
– 5,8 litres/100 km (city driving)

Cargo space
Volume: 2,9 cubic meters
Load length along the floor: 178,6 cm
Load length behind partition: 155,8 cm
Load length through hatch: 300,0 cm
Height in cargo space: 126,3 cm

About the car
Place of manufacture: Otosan, Turkey
Colour: Magnetic
Equipment level: Prof+
Price: 410 (with 600 ecoblue 1.5 HP, 100 Nm)
Varnish supplement: 6

Leased by Hyre.no
Model: 2022
Mileage: New
Km driven: 75
Source: Ford.no, Vegvesen.no


 

 

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The neighbour's Transit Connect
Ford Transit Custom
Got the job done!

 

Ford Motor Company and the Hat Trick
How we test the cars

The neighbour's Transit Connect

Transit Connect
With a total height of 1,86, the Transit Connect is safely below the maximum height, which here is 2,10.

-Have you taken the neighbor's car?!

 

Great cheerfulness from the crew at the ISI recycling station when I opened the back doors of the van. The registration number "NABOBIL" clearly indicated where I had picked up the car. It was close to where I work, and could be unlocked with an app. Neighbor car is the Airbnb of car owners. Private car owners let others rent their cars when they don't need them themselves. An alternative to car pool and rental car. Du can also rent this car at www.nabobil.no.

Van in all classes

Ford has a complete range of vans. Transit Courier (4 m), Transit Connect (4,5 m), Transit Custom (5 m) and Transit (5,5 m). Tonight's car is a Transit Connect long edition. The advantage of the long version is that you can bring in objects over 2 metres. An astonishing number of objects within flat-packed furniture, home furnishings and construction equipment are around 2 metres. In addition, there is a loading hatch in the wall of the warehouse.

Long edition (L2)

It was last weekend's garage clearance that made me rent a van. A considerable amount of bundled cardboard packaging, hard-packed sacks of paint plastic and Christmas paper had been piously sorted for the recycling station at ISI – where the Bæringene take their rubbish. If you come with a van full of unsorted rubbish, it can take a long time at the station. It therefore pays to sort at home in your own garage before setting off.

Transit Connect
Ford Transit Connect is available in both short and long versions. This is the long one.

The "neighbor's" Transit Connect was only a little more than half full after I had loaded up. Choosing the long version has no negative consequences for the driving characteristics. On the contrary. It can still fit in normal parking spaces, although with a towbar it barely exceeds the 5 meter mark. I think the cargo space is impressively large for a small van.

3 seats

The seating arrangement is 1 + 2, i.e. a 3-seater, given that the third person is a bit sporty. The decor gave me flashbacks to the old Transit mk1 and D series. Good memories of simple and functional commercial vehicles. The new Transit Connect joins this range. I feel comfortable behind the wheel. It feels airy. The windshield is huge, like a bus. The dashboard follows Ford's theme with a large central button cluster. More practical than elegant. The 2018 models have received an upgrade to the infotainment part of the dashboard.

Transit Connect
It is easy to recognize Ford's interior.

 

1,5 TDCI with Powershift

The engine is 1,5 TDCI which produces 120 HP and torque 270 Nm between 1750 and 2600 revolutions. It is quiet and performs like a 2-litre did a couple of years ago. Ford was early in downsizing its engines. If you take care to stay within the favorable rpm interval, I think it is possible to drive very economically with this car. The cash register does an excellent job in this respect. Powershift is Ford's dualclutch solution. Compared to Volkswagen's DSG, it seems that the first gear in Ford's 6-speed gearbox is somewhat higher than in the 7-speed gearboxes from VW/Audi. The automatic clutch engages a little harder when starting up. I also noted that you can feel on the gear lever that a gear is engaged, just like a manual gear lever. The DSG gear lever is, by comparison, completely dead.

Ford cars are fun to drive. The Transit Connect sits well and steadily on the road and the steering is direct, for a van. The drivetrain is made for a car like this. The engine was barely audible. At low speed, you cannot escape a "boomy" sound that is typical of vans. In road traffic it gradually disappeared. This is a car that thrives on country roads and motorways. Up the E16 on the last hill, in the 90-zone towards ISI, Powershift held sixth gear effortlessly while the revs were below 2000. Then I felt like taking the car on a proper long trip, – over Sollihøgda and all the way to the west country, or thereabouts.

- But that will have to be another time.

 

 

See

 
Ford Transit Connect L1

Drivetrain from Ford Focus and practical van solutions from Transit make Transit Connect a Columbi egg for those who need a van without sacrificing driving pleasure. But I didn't choose it for fun. See more
 

Ford Transit Custom
Ford Transit Custom
Transit Connect
Peugeot Partners.
Nissan e-NV200 40 Kwt

 


Facts Ford Transit Connect

Available in 2 lengths L1 and L2. L1 loads 2,93 cubic metres, L2 loads 3,63 cubic metres. Both can take 2 European pallets.

Guide prices (Feb. 2018):
254 L000 1 TDCI 1,5 HP Trend
279 L000 1 TDCI 1,5 HP Powershift Trend
266 L000 2 TDCI 1,5 HP Trend
291 L000 2 TDCI 1,5 HP Powershift Trend

Outer dimensions (Length/width/height in cm):
L1: 441/183/186 cm
L2: 481/183/186 cm

Source: www.ford.no

Linkers:

Automobile Catalog: Torque curve 1,5 TDCI 120 HP
Euro NCAP: Good results in safety tests - 2013
www.Nabobil.no
ISI Recycling Station