Ford Transit Custom 2022 review: Sport 320L LWB DCiV towing test

Our test vehicle, a 2019.75 MY Ford Transit Custom Sport 320L* DCiV, has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder EcoBlue turbo-diesel engine, a six-speed automatic transmission, and is front-wheel drive. (* ‘320’ stands for the van’s 3200kg gross vehicle mass, and the ‘L’ denotes long wheelbase.)

As standard this van has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $53,390, but its price as tested is $54,590 because it has a rear lift gate ($550) rather than standard 180-degree-opening barn doors, and prestige paint (agate black metallic, $650).

This van has 17-inch alloy wheels with a steel spare.

It has an 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, AEB (with pedestrian detection), blind spot monitoring system, adaptive cruise control, a reversing camera, lane keeping assist with lane departure warning, and FordPass Connect.

This van has rather distinctive racing stripes and 17-inch alloy wheels with a steel spare.

The 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration.

This van has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine – producing 136kW at 3500rpm and 405Nm at 1500-2000rpm – and a six-speed automatic transmission. 

It is front-wheel drive.

This is a reliably predictable van to drive – that’s a good thing – and it doesn’t lean too heavily into any Sport aspirations either, this is a van afterall, though it does make for an overall comfortable driving experience.

The good news is that all of the elements that make this van such a surprisingly comfortable daily driver when it’s unladen are carried over to when you are towing something as substantial as a near-1800kg cherry picker.

But, before we get to the driving/towing bit, let’s first check out some cold hard measurements.

The load space is a listed 3.5 cubic metre area (4.4 cu.m load volume), with official dimensions of 1944mm (length, from rear door to bulkhead), 1775mm (width), 1392mm (width between wheel arches), and 1406mm (height, from load floor to roof). The load-in height is 536mm.

This variant has a listed maximum payload of 969kg, a braked towing capacity of 1800kg, and a GCM (gross combined mass) of 5240kg. GVM (gross vehicle mass) is 3200kg but the van had no load onboard during the towing portion of this test other than me, some tools and vehicle-recovery gear. 

By the way, I don’t want to sound like anyone’s dad but – remember – when you’re hauling a load and/or towing, always keep well under your vehicle’s official load capacities and that will ensure you’ll be legal and, more importantly, safer when you’re on the move.

For this test, we towed a 1765kg cherry picker over a 100km drive loop that includes suburban and highway driving, with plenty of hills thrown into the mix for good measure. 

You’d be hard-pressed to guess that it was tickling its towing limit as it’s safe and secure, even through plenty of twisty roads.

So, taking into account this DCiV’s 2231kg kerb weight plus about 130kg onboard (me, tools, recovery gear) and the cherry-picker’s 1765kg, our 4126kg total was still well under this van’s 5240kg GCM.

So, how did it do?

It was generally very stable under load. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to guess that it was tickling its towing limit as it’s safe and secure, even through plenty of twisty roads.

It’s no doubt helped by a long wheelbase and low centre of gravity. Minimal fore / aft movement of the towed load was one of the more obvious examples of this van’s general composure.

Steering is fine and nicely weighted and the engine is more than up to the task. The six-speed transmission is well-calibrated and on point with cluey shifts, but for even more driver input you can use a toggle on the shifter for manual shifting.

The engine’s lively responsiveness counts against it at times, and the front wheels spin a bit under throttle from a standing start, even with conservative pressure.

Rear visibility, however, is a bit ordinary.

Also, that small capacity engine means engine braking is compromised and can become quite harsh on downhill sections.

As noted earlier, the suspension – rear leaf springs – works really well, helping to keep everything well under control.

Having towed this cherry picker back to back with the DCiV’s van short-wheelbase stablemate, this van feels marginally more pinned down than the other one.

Rear visibility, however, is a bit ordinary; we removed the centre headrest in the back row so I could see, via the rear-view mirror, back through the bulkhead window and through the admittedly big window in the rear single-lift tailgate. What can I say? I like keeping an eye on things everywhere. The wing mirrors each have a wide-angled lens section that somewhat improve driver vision to the rear.

Otherwise, this DCiV version of the Ford Transit Custom Sport is a great total package, combining high levels of functionality, ergonomics and convenience.

It has six airbags (driver, front passenger, front side curtain and front side seat), AEB (with pedestrian detection), blind spot monitoring system, adaptive cruise control, a reversing camera, lane keeping assist with lane departure warning, FordPass Connect, and more.