Our last edition profiled the Ford Transit Custom Sport – the A-Team van. This edition we’re looking at something more practical and a damn good idea; one I was waiting for a company to build.
This is the Ford Transit Custom DCiV (Double Cab in Van), a brilliant combination of cargo and crew carrying capability.
Now, this may not sound like the seriously cool vehicle readers thought I would be looking at; after all, double or crew cabs are nothing especially new.
This is however, the first time I can remember finding a double/crew cab configured vehicle with the security of a closed-off cargo area.
Yes, there are crew cab cargo carriers around, but these are trucks based on vans – not quite the same thing.
The Transit Custom is a proper van, with all the benefits that entails; a fully enclosed cargo area that’s weatherproof, secure, unseen and therefore un-tempting, lockable and easily loadable with a low floor. And you can carry five people—comfortably – at the same time.
I have to admit, I wanted one of these about five years ago. It seemed to me to be a logical vehicle to own. Mine though, would have had multifunctional pods which slid in and out of a van body.
There was one fatal flaw – where would I store all my pods? I shelved the idea, only to have Ford come along five years later with the next best thing.
Realistically speaking, the Transit Custom’s DCiV makes more sense than my concept and, while on the surface it looks like the DCiV is an extension of the Tourneo bus – or more accurately, a reduction of the Tourneo bus with nine seats down to five – there is more of a tradie feel to the DCiV, which is not a bad thing.
This comes about through the width of the load space. At 1775mm, the DCiV’s load area is the same as the Transit Custom.
The Tourneo at 1752mm is a little sleeker. The ’working vans’ have a lower loading height – about 20mm compared to the Tourneo – but are slightly lower in height overall, though the access doors, rear and side door heights are greater for the cargo vans.
Although the 3300mm wheelbases and 5430mm overall lengths are the same, payloads are different – 1149kg for the DCiV – body heights and widths are different and the engine performance is different, but the five-star EuroNCAP/ANCAP safety rating is the same.
As such, you get autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, roll stability control, trailer hitch control, blind spot monitoring with cross traffic alert, lane departure warning, electronic stability control, hill launch assist, traction control, adaptive cruise control and speed sign recognition in addition to ABS brakes, load adaptive control side and front occupant thorax airbags.
You also get the same level of connectivity with Sync3 infotainment, integrating Bluetooth and voice command, as well as multifunctional steering wheel-mounted controls.
While the engine in the DCiV is a little down in power and torque from the Tourneo and indeed, the A-Team van of last edition, the 136kW and 390Nm is still sufficient to provide the DCiV with plenty of punchy performance for its double duty role. The six-speed automatic is standard.
No one is going to argue that the Ford Transit Custom is a poor choice of van, especially when it is only 134 units behind the market leader with a 172-unit gap ahead of its next rival, but Ford has really pushed the boat out with the now extensive range of vans and the crown jewel – in our estimations anyway – would be the DCiV, by virtue of its versatility, performance and design.
Specifications:
BODY TYPE 5 door van
DRIVE Front/ 6 speed auto
ENGINE TYPE 4-cylinder, 16 valve turbodiesel (TDCI)
ENGINE CAPACITY 1995cc
MAX POWER 125kW @ 6200rpm
MAX TORQUE 390Nm @ 4500rpm
L/100KM (COMBINED) 7.3
CO2 EMISSIONS 190g/km
LOAD CAPACITY 4.3cu.m2/1149kg payload
ANCAP RATING 5 Star
PRICE $64,990
