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Ford Transit Connect

Published 3:35 pm Friday, December 11, 2009

Ford built its new Transit Connect, a tough, smallish, van-like vehicle, as an alternative for small-business owners who need utility but want good fuel economy and great maneuverability in urban environments. It can be outfitted for specific needs for various users, with bulkheads, bins, racks, cabinets and other work-related features. It’s also available as a cargo van with no windows on the side doors, and rear-window privacy glass. It can be equipped, if desired, with a second row of seats for passengers, leaving a still sizable rear cargo area.

Transit Connect is built on a front-wheel-drive commercial vehicle platform, has 135 cubic feet of cargo volume, a 1,600-pound payload, 72.6-inch load length, and 52.1 inches of available load height. It has a base price of only $21,475 including destination charge, and a fuel economy rating of 22 mpg city, 25 mpg highway.

Transit Connect is ideal for small-business use, for sure, but when I look at it, I see something perfect for personal use. It’s a made-to-order conveyance for my fantasy life, which has me selling my house and everything in it, driving all over the North American continent, visiting national parks and wildlife refuges and urban attractions, crashing with relatives and friends until I’ve overstayed my welcome, and when the money runs out, being a burden to my children.

An RV figures nicely into the plan, but until the Transit Connect, everything I’ve seen is too big, too expensive, a gas hog, and — the real deal-breaker — no fun to drive.

Transit Connect has a 2.0-liter DOHC four-cylinder engine with 136 horsepower and 128 lb-ft of torque, and a four-speed automatic transmission with overdrive. That’s not a burly-sounding powertrain, but it’s a competent one that also keeps the fuel economy in check. I certainly didn’t sit behind the wheel of the Transit Connect feeling sorry for it for being underpowered. A final-drive ratio of 4.20 to 1 is designed to provide pulling power for the long haul.

Ford designed the Transit Connect to be rigid and durable: a boron steel front crossmember, high-strength steel reinforced body, twin side crossmembers and side-impact protection. Several areas of the body are double-skinned for added strength.

Exterior design is very appealing, and everything is in proportion. The tall roof makes rooting around in the cargo area easier, but the roof is low enough to keep the vehicle from looking ridiculous or being top-heavy and unstable in sharp turns.

A sliding door on each side and an outward-hinged double door at the back make it a cinch to access any area of the cargo compartment.

The Transit Connect can be equipped with Ford’s Work Solutions package, which offers an in-dash computer with Internet access, Tool Link inventory organizer, and Crew Chief telematics service for managing small or large commercial fleets.

This is all terrific stuff for the hard at work, but I hope Ford eventually offers the option of a compact, efficient, camping-type setup inside the Transit Connect — a Play Solutions package.