Ford Gets Rockin’ Down Highway

Dig deeply enough into the WardsAuto editorial archive and you’ll find two vehicle test drives geared for a selective audience: rock stars. Or should we say, the people who transport gear for rock stars.

In 2011, it was the fullsize Nissan NV 3500 cargo van that swallowed the amplifiers, drums, guitars, multiple speakers and other essentials for a rag-tag 7-piece rock band of auto writers known as The Exhaust Tones, which has been tormenting dogs in Metro Detroit with sensitive ears for 14 years now.

In 2012, the band tested the smaller but equally capable (and more fuel-efficient) Ram C/V cargo van, a converted and enclosed minivan outfitted for contractors.

Two years later, it’s time to take the all-new ’15 Ford Transit 250 HR Van on tour. This is the high-roof big brother to the Transit Connect, a compact and reasonably popular cargo van that competes with Chrysler’s Ram C/V, the Nissan NV 200 and Chevrolet’s new entry, the City Express.

Ford’s new fullsize Transit is mammoth, going head-to-head with the Nissan NV 3500 we evaluated (and loved) in 2011, as well as the Ram ProMaster.

How big is the Transit? Big enough to fit two Lotus Elans from the 1960s inside, stacked on top of each other. Big enough to fit Keith Richards’ wardrobe and all of his on-stage amplifiers (a wall of nine speaker cabinets and amps) and guitars, as well as the medicine chest of tonics, pain killers and other substances necessary to keep him alive.

The verdict? Ford Transit earns a standing ovation for its two wide-swinging rear doors and a side slider that opens all sorts of possibilities for easy loading and unloading. The full-length vinyl floor covering is heavy-duty, sweepable and – it appears – easily removed for hosing clean.

Every inch of band gear, plus two old doors and a sheet of plywood necessary to stabilize the drum kit at a boat club party at the Lake St. Clair Metropark marina, settled down nicely after a few turns, finding its level much like water does.

The cargo hold is 81.5 ins. (207 cm) tall, but all this equipment didn’t even fill half of it. Some might call it wasted space.

But the driver can see over it through the rearview mirror and two rear windows with no problem at all. Overall visibility isn’t bad, either, even without side windows behind the front seats, thanks to standard and convex mirrors on both sides.

Go Ahead, Choose Diesel

The most compelling reason to buy the Transit 250 is its 3.2L 5-cyl. diesel engine. Yes, it tacks on $5,995 to the base sticker price of $35,285, but it’s worth every penny when transporting heavy loads over long distances. Acceleration is brisk, clatter is minimal, smoke is non-existent, and it’s 50-state compliant with urea exhaust aftertreatment.

After a weekend dedicated to shuttling gear across town, much of it on the freeway at normal speeds, the Transit 250’s trip computer reported 20.7 mpg (11.3 L/100 km), just a hair behind the 21.5 mpg (10.9 L/100 km) logged two years ago in the much smaller Ram C/V with a 3.6L V-6.

A precise mileage number from our evaluation of the Nissan NV with its 5.6L V-8 three years ago is not available, but it certainly was well behind that of the Ford Transit.

As fall approaches, the WardsAuto editorial staff will have to decide whether to include this new diesel engine, available for now only in the Transit, in the 2015 Ward’s 10 Best Engines competition. I could be convinced, although it’s not the type of vehicle we normally test.

The Transit’s interior for two front-seat occupants is comfortable and quite amenable, featuring a stylish center stack, controls and gearshift lever that would be at home in a Ford Focus or Fiesta. A bare-bones work truck it’s not. Storage bins and cubbies are everywhere.

If adjustable pedals aren’t available, they should be because the driver must sit upright as if at the kitchen table, with his right knee cocked at 90 degrees to keep steady pressure on the gas. The ergonomics are awkward.

The sticker price of our Transit 250 HR was $46,930, a significant upcharge relative to the Nissan NV we tested ($32,855) and Ram C/V ($26,680).

But roadies understand a universal truth about rock stars: Big egos with unlimited budgets amass tons of crap-ola while on tour.

Some rigs can never be big enough.

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'15 Ford Transit 250 HR Van Specifications