New 2013 Transit Full Size Van

[Larry Cobb]

Picture of the 2013 Transit Van with rear wheel drive and Eco-Boost V-6 engine:

View attachment 499

http://ca.autoblog.com/2012/08/10/first-look-at-u-s-spec-ford-transit-snapped/

Tall ceilings and doors !

18" wheels on one model I saw.

Claiming 25% better fuel mileage.

Government has already mandated doubling MPG in a few years.

Larry

 

[Giorgio]

No shit!!!! They finally posted it on the Ford website.

It's OFFICIAL now!!!

Full size transits are available.

AWESOME!

I've been waiting a long time for them to hit the US market. Now, if i just had an extra $40k in my checking account

 

[Shane T]

A lot of guys are not going to be in their market since that won't fit through a 7' high garage door.

 

[Desk Jockey]

We just bought one of the little Transits a couple of weeks ago and have another one on it's way in a few weeks.

I may even trade in the Prius's for Transits. 25-mpg and the ability to carry 5-techs and small loads of equipment have opened our eyes. They had 2-Drizair 2000's and 10 airmovers in it the other day.

Nice little trucks!

 

[Zee]

That is my next van...with the turbo diesel engine. That thing will be pretty sweet.

 

[carpetcleaner]

There should be a lot of room in that thing.

 

[Larry Cobb]

My concern is the actual weight handling capability of the suspension and the brakes . . .

after a couple of years of hauling equipment.

We have installed small TM equipment in the Transit Connect.

Larry

 

[Zee]

My concern is the actual weight handling capability of the suspension and the brakes . . .

after a couple of years of hauling equipment.

We have installed small TM equipment in the Transit Connect.

Larry

A LOT of people and companies carry similar equipment/cargo/weight in Europe with those types of vans for a long time now.

Why would it be a concern here? Why do we think our 40 year old design/technique in our vans are better? American vans are junk....I had never had an issue with Euro vans not keeping alignment like these lame Econolines here... Its rare to see one that doesn't have the front wheels out of alignment....
I have tried and drive many miles in quite a few of the Euro vans for years and I was shocked when I first sat in the american Ford E150 250 type vans in the late 1990s...I couldnt believe how behind the time these vans were.

The Euro vans handled weight just as well and were driving like cars and were greatly manuverable in city driving too..and I'll tell you, there are some tight and congested places in historic European cities.

 

[The Great Oz]

A LOT of people and companies carry similar equipment/cargo/weight in Europe with those types of vans for a long time now.

Why would it be a concern here?

Because Euro-trucks brought here without modification in the past have a history of problems. Mostly transmissions and brakes, but also wimpy suspensions and cooling systems failures that Europeans seem to accept as normal. Maybe we just drive a van to higher speeds and over rougher roads than is typical in Europe, and we like automatic transmissions which put more pressure on the brakes.

Ford has already stated that the van has been enlarged and beefed up to be better suited to American use.

 

[idreadnought]

I drove a euro ford van in January. That thing was awesome. It was a turbo diesel that was a little gutless but the mileage was amazing. Converting to miles and gallons was sketchy but I belive it was getting an average of 25 mpg city and highway. Also the one we were driving was a rental with 270000kilometers on it. People pay more for them over in europe but they plan to keep them much longer.