Ford Transit Custom 2020 review: 340L LWB DCiV GVM test

The LWB’s 3300mm wheelbase is a substantial 367mm increase over its SWB sibling. This results in a corresponding increase in overall length to 5304mm (or slightly shorter than a Ford Ranger ute) and a larger 12.8-metre turning circle.

The rest of the chassis hardware sticks to Transit’s proven workhorse formula comprising front-wheel drive, MacPherson strut front suspension, single-leaf springs/beam axle rear suspension, four-wheel disc brakes and power-assisted rack and pinion steering.

There’s hard-wearing black plastic body parts in the most vulnerable spots including the grille and front bumper, side protective mouldings, rear bumper and surrounds, door handles, hubcaps and those big truck-sized mirrors with the bottom thirds filled with wide-angle lenses.

The LWB’s 3300mm wheelbase is a substantial 367mm increase over its SWB sibling.

Rear seat passengers have easy access through sliding doors on each side, with opening privacy glass, generous 930mm-wide openings and big grab handles on the B-pillars. There’s plentiful head, shoulder and leg room in the second row, even for tall adults.

Being based on a commercial van also means the rear seat passengers have a spacious flat floor without the intrusive transmission tunnel found in dual-cab utes. Each of the three rear seating positions has its own lap-sash seatbelt and head restraint.

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The cabin bulkhead/cargo barrier is a plastic moulding with a small central window. This bulkhead tucks in closely behind the rear seat to optimise cargo space, but it also means that the seat backrest is fixed and can’t be reclined which can limit passenger comfort on longer journeys.

Ford’s official combined figure is 7.3L/100km and the dash display was showing 8.4L/100km at the end of our 336km test, which included about one third of that distance hauling a near-maximum payload.

Our own figure, calculated from actual fuel bowser and tripmeter readings, was higher again at 9.5L/100km.

That's still excellent for a van weighing more than two tonnes and given that we switched off  the annoying auto stop-start function. So, based on our figures, you could expect a useful driving range of around 750km from its 72-litre tank.

Plentiful cabin storage options start with three levels of storage bins and a large bottle holder in each front door, plus pairs of large bottle holders on each side of the dash, three open storage bins in the dash-pad and a large single glovebox.

There’s also a small central overhead storage compartment for smaller items plus the front passenger seat base cushions can lift and tilt forward to reveal a big hidden storage area beneath. The centre passenger backrest also folds forward to reveal a handy work desk with document strap, two cup holders and a pen holder.

Up front are two large bottle holders in each door.

Unfortunately, like most work-focused crew vans, this amenity is not shared with rear seat passengers. Although some open storage is provided beneath the bench seat (accessed via a removable frame), there are no cup holders or storage bins in the sliding doors, nor flexible storage pockets on the front seat backrests.

The best solution here would be a pair of aftermarket cabin organisers fitted to the front seat backrests, to provide the storage of drink bottles and other items that the sliding doors can’t. However, this amount of storage should be standard.

Being based on a commercial van means the rear seat passengers have a spacious flat floor.

The Transit’s 2251kg kerb weight and 3400kg GVM results in a big 1149kg payload capacity and up to 130kg of that can be carried on a clever trio of roof racks, which lie flat against the roof when not in use but can be quickly rotated through 90 degrees and locked into vertical positions.

It's also rated to tow up to 1800kg of braked trailer but its 4365kg GCM rating (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) would only leave 314kg of payload capacity, which could easily be used up by an adult crew of three - let alone six. Better to preserve the 3400kg GVM, which lowers the braked tow rating from 1800kg to 965kg. That's more practical and safer too.

There's enough cargo space in the back to fit a 1165mm-square Aussie pallet or two 1200 x 800mm Euro pallets.

Ford claims a huge cargo bay load volume of 4.4 cubic metres which dwarfs any dual-cab ute with a canopy. And with its 1895mm load floor length (using our tape measure) and 1392mm between the wheel arches, it can carry either a 1165mm-square Aussie pallet or two 1200 x 800mm Euro pallets.

The cargo bay walls and rear barn doors (with 180-degree opening) are lined to mid-height and there’s six load anchorage points plus a handy 12-volt outlet in the right-side door pillar. There’s no protective liner on the load floor or rear wheel housings, but cabin noise emanating from the cargo bay is effectively muted by the bulkhead.

A consummate load-hauler, thanks largely to the simple but proven design of its leaf spring/beam axle rear suspension. Large rubber cones mounted on the underfloor above the rear axle on each side can provide a second stage of springing to support heavy loads. These rubber cones were firmly engaged after we loaded 975kg into the cargo bay, which with our driver equalled a payload of 1080kg.

This also requires huge tyre pressures of 58psi front and 69psi rear, which are beyond the capabilities of most air-hoses on petrol station forecourts.

The Transit has a payload capacity of 1149kg.

Our load was only about 70kg short of the payload limit, yet the Transit proved its class by floating over bumps and other road irregularities with great composure and not a hint of bottoming-out. The longer wheelbase assisted here, as it allowed more weight to be carried forward of the rear wheels.

This payload didn’t touch the sides as far as the engine was concerned either, as it easily cleared our 2.0km long, 13 per cent gradient set climb at 60km/h in fourth gear at 2250rpm. Engine braking on the return journey, in a manually-selected second gear, wasn’t as strong but typical of 2.0 litre diesel engines trying to restrain one-tonne-plus payloads.

All Transit Cuastoms are covered by a five years/unlimited kilometre warranty. Scheduled service intervals of 12 months/30,000km whichever occurs first. Capped-price servicing varies between $445 and $590 per service for the first five years/150,000km, when serviced at Ford dealerships.