What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

When we first tested Ford’s Transit Custom four years ago people repeatedly came up to us and asked us about it. Every time we stopped at a fuel station to fill up with diesel we were promptly surrounded by a gaggle of Transit fans eager to find out as much as they could about the newcomer.

The Transit Custom’s sales success means it is now a relatively common sight on Britain’s highways, so the latest version is unlikely to get quite the same reaction. Perhaps it should.
While the vehicle looks the same, it has changed significantly beneath the metal. The old 2.2-litre TDCi diesel has been dropped in favour of the new Euro6 2.0-litre EcoBlue at 105hp, 130hp or 170hp.

As well as delivering more torque lower down the rev range and longer service intervals, the newcomer offers significantly better fuel economy than its predecessor, says Ford.

The Custom can be specified with two overall lengths and two roof heights, offering from 6.0m3 to 8.3m3 of cargo space. Payload capacities range from  674kg to 1,474kg and you can order the Custom as a six-seater Double Cab-In-Van or as a nine-seater Kombi as well as in van guise.

Recently launched are the Colour Edition special edition and a wider range of Sport models. However, we took to the UK’s seasonally damp highways in a, more prosaic, 130hp L1H1 van in Trend trim, which is above Base but below Limited and Sport.

Load area

With commendable honesty, when it comes to load cubes Ford always likes to quote the VDA figure alongside the more commonly relied upon SAE figure. The former measures cargo capacity using standard-size wooden blocks, which puts our test van’s load space at 5.4m3. The latter relies on sand or similarly loose material that runs into every nook and cranny, increasing the L1H1 body’s theoretically available space to 6.0m3.

Access to the load box is by means of a sliding nearside door plus twin opaque rear doors that can be swung through 90°, or through 180° if you liberate the chunky, easy-to-release stays. All the vehicle’s doors lock automatically at above 5mph.

Inside the cargo area you will find eight tie-down points with a hefty-looking full-height steel bulkhead at the far end. It boasts a load-through facility: a flip-up flap at the bottom that allows over-length items such as planks and ladders to be carried by making use of the space under the passenger seats. It increases available load length to 3,085mm.

As a consequence you may not need to make use of a roof rack. As it happens, though, our Transit was fitted with an ingenious optional roof-rack system that folds away flat when not in use.

At a modest 588mm, rear loading height is low thanks to front-wheel drive. Our van’s load bed was protected by a tailored plastic cover – Ford’s Easy Clean load floor – and the sides, doors and wheelboxes were defended by a ply-lining kit.

Two interior lights are fitted, which is good as too few van cargo areas feature proper illumination at night.

Cab and equipment

With an attractively styled fascia, the Transit Custom offers one of the most pleasant working environments of any van in its class.

Oddment stowage facilities in the three-seater cab include a pair of bins in each of the doors, a decent-sized lidded and lockable glove box, a shelf in the dashboard, a tray just in front of the gear stick for small change and a lidded compartment that contains a 12V power point on top of the instrument binnacle.

You will find another 12V power point on the fascia.

Look to the top of the heated windscreen and you will spot a compartment for sunglasses. Turn your gaze to each extremity of the dashboard in turn and you'll see a 2.0-litre-capacity bottle holder and a cup holder.

Flip down the centre section of the middle seat’s back and it turns into a reasonably useful desk complete with a couple of cup holders, a pen tray and an elasticated band to keep paperwork in place. Pull up the cushions of each of the passenger seats and you will find a roomy storage compartment underneath, although it should be remembered that this is the space into which over-length items slide.

Both the steering wheel and the comfortable driver’s seat are height-adjustable – the angle of the seat cushion can be adjusted too as can the lumbar support – and it is pleasing to see that the occupant of the cab’s middle seat enjoys some legroom. That is not always the case in rival vans of this size.

Electric windows and electrically adjustable and power-foldable exterior mirrors with lower wide-angle sections are included in the deal as is a driver’s airbag.

The manual air-conditioning is an option and in our view should be standard. Trend-specification vans come with a eadio/CD system, Sync including emergency Assistance, a four-inch display, Bluetooth connectivity with voice control, AppLink, audible text messaging and privacy mode, a USB connectivity port with iPod functionality, and remote audio controls.

One of the key benefits of this package is that it allows you to play music, make and receive hands-free calls and control apps on your smartphone with voice commands. Emergency Assistance means that the emergency services can be alerted fast if your Custom is in a serious smash.