Just what is the Ford Transit?

The Transit is a line of light commercial vehicles from Ford and is built with a body of a cargo or passenger van. It is also known as the T-Series in other markets and has completely replace the E-Series since 2014.

When the Detroit automaker first built it in 1965, it looked quite similar to the Volkswagen Kombi. It is now in its fourth-generation and looks nowhere near its original shape and body. It has sold over eight million units worldwide and is now the third best-selling van of all time.

Ford sells it in XL and XLT variants, all with differing roof heights, wheelbases, chassis configurations, and powertrains. It can be used as a school bus, public transit buses, and airport shuttle buses, panel van, among others.

It uses boron steel in the body to allow for a 600-pound increase in payload capacity.

In the Philippines, Ford offers the Transit in only one trim, as a minibus with a high ceiling.

We take a look at what offers from the exterior, engine, interior, and safety features.

Hands down, this is the longest, widest, and tallest Ford vehicle by far in the country at 5,981mm in length, 2,059mm in width, and 2,517mm in height, and also has the longest wheelbase at 3,750mm.

That explains the 15-person seating capacity of the cabin.

It uses multi-reflector halogen headlamps with daytime running lamps, three-bar grille with carbon black surround, front fog lamps, power-adjust side mirrors with power-fold function, high mounted stop lamp, power side step that automatically deploys when the sliding door is opened, rear and front mud flaps, roof-mounted radio antenna, carbon black body side moldings, carbon black rear bumper with integrated step, and intermittent variable front wipers and rear wipers with washer.

The passenger side load door opens and slides manually, while the two rear cargo doors are 50:50 hinged and swing open up to 180 degrees.

Under the bonnet of this minibus is a Euro 5-compliant 2.2L Duratorq TDCi (turbo diesel common rail injection) with a 15.5:1 compression ratio that lets it put out 133hp and 385Nm of torque. It is mated to a six-speed manual transmission whose stick shifter is mounted on the dashboard. Fuel tank capacity is 80 liters.

On the chassis is a rear-wheel drive layout. For suspension, it uses independent MacPherson struts, coil springs and a stabilizer bar in front and leaf spring and gas-pressurized shock absorbers in the rear. Front brakes are dual-circuit disc brakes while the rear uses plain disc brakes. It sits on 6.5 by 16 steel wheels with cover that are paired to 235/65 R16 tires. It also has a full-size steel spare wheel and a rear roof escape hatch.

Front windows come with power one-touch up/down function. The second-, third-, fourth-row left windows are fixed while the right side slides open. The rear window is fixed and tint comes standard.

Air-conditioning is manually controlled but offers rear cooling features.

It comes with power door locks as standard, a day and night rearview mirror, courtesy lights, map lamps, floorwell lights, load compartment light, glove box lid, a urethane steering wheel with tilt and telescopic steering column, steering wheel audio controls, 12v auxiliary power point sockets (two in front and one in the rear), front overhead stowage bins, six front cup and bottle holders and another six rear cup and bottle holders, a medium-sized center console, front and rear passenger side door grab handles, easy-clean rubber floor covering, rubber floor mats on the front row, and a full-length cloth headliner.

The seats are fabric, manually adjustable with cushion tilt and armrest for the driver, manual fore and aft adjust for the front passenger, comes with two-way head restraint on both, and with a front seat tray table.

Second-row seating configuration is double, third/fourth row is a single on the right and double on the left, while the rear seat is bench type with a 1+2+1 configuration.

The infotainment system on the center stack is plain and only has a slim monitor (reminiscent of the old system in the EcoSport), an AM and FM radio, a USB port, Bluetooth connectivity, and sends music to six speakers.

Safety and security features include driver and front passenger airbags with a passenger airbag deactivation switch, front three-point seatbelt with load limited and pretensioner, rear three-point seatbelt on all 12 seats, driver seatbelt reminder, anti-lock braking system with electronic stability program, fading brake support, emergency brake warning, hill launch assist, tire pressure sensors, front and rear parking sensors, rear view camera, Isofix child seat fixing points, trip computer, two emergency hammers, and a perimeter anti-theft alarm.

The Turkish-made Ford Transit comes in three body colors, Frozen White, Magnetic Metallic, and Moondust Silver. It is priced at P2.3 million and comes with a five-year maintenance service schedule.

Photos by Kap Maceda Aguila