By Ian Strachan.
When you drive a car that started life as a van, you probably wouldn’t expect much in the way of creature comforts. But in the case of the Ford Connect Tourneo, you’d be very wrong.
The Ford Tourneo Courier comes with a range of features you’d expect to find on an upmarket saloon. You get a good eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with DAB radio, Apple Carplay, Bluetooth and steering wheel-mounted controls, as well as satnav. You also get front and rear parking sensors with rear view camera, a heated multi-function steering wheel, heated front seats with a range of adjustment and smart machined 17 inch five-spoke alloys. Not the sort of things you’d expect in a vehicle that began life as a van.
But that’s the Tourneo’s strength. It combines the specification advantages of a big estate with the interior versatility of a people carrier and the practicality of a van.
Despite being based on a commercial vehicle, this tall, roomy and supremely practical car still looks good. It has a solid appearance, with a purposeful stance on the road. You can see its antecedents in the boxy shape and rear sliding doors, but inside you get premium features and a good degree of comfort as well as impressive load-lugging capacity.
Inside, because of its height, the Tourneo feels big, and it is. Even with the rear seats up you still have an impressive amount of space. This car will eat up the weekly trip to the tip, with bags of space to spare. There’s storage wherever you look in the spacious cabin.
You get a nice airy internal environment – a bit like driving a small greenhouse -and great all round visibility. The large tailgate opens to reveal a low loading height to save your back muscles.
Driving position is good – quite high if you raise the driver’s seat – and instruments are large, simple and clear, with much of the car’s function controlled from the touchscreen.
Despite its height this car still handles well. Cornering is crisp and positive and the ride is soft without being too wallowy.
I drove the petrol powered Tourneo Courier with a 1.0 litre Ecoboost engine pumping out 125 horsepower. It’s not the most refined engine in the world, but neither is it the most sluggish. Inside the car it feels smooth, with good flexibility and power whenever you need it, linked to a seven-speed automatic gearbox. Fuel consumption is fairly respectable – 42.2 miles to the gallon in mixed driving.
Standard equipment on the Tourneo Courier Active which I tested includes air conditioning, front and rear USB ports and app connection, wireless charging pad, remote central locking, automatic stop/start, electrically adjustable door mirrors, cruise control, sliding rear doors (good in tight car parks), electric windows and daytime running lights. Safety aids include lane keeping assist, blind spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition and pedestrian and cyclist detection.
The Ford Tourneo Courier gives you a lot of vehicle for your cash – which is £30,720 on the road for this specification. My test car came with some extras including metallic paint at £720, optional white painted roof at £180 and a 16-inch steel spare wheel at £240.
