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( ommonly seen speeding through the London streets is the
Page 63
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white, highvolume, ageingTransit, complete with rusting, dented bodywork and graffiti on the nearside hy the local hoodies.
Except for the colour and the rust, CM 's long-term test vehicle now fits the bill.A house-moving exercise ended with a speed ticket and dented wing, and two days outside a house in South London left the offside 'tagged', showing that not every low-10 street denizen is illiterate.
That aside, the Ford Transit has continued on its merry vvay; although the strong torquebased driveline feels too powerful for the rear-wheel-drive configuration.Tight corners in particular can lose traction.
Fuel economy on the whole has improved. The previously cited 24.5mpg recorded in the stop-start urban environment has climbed towards 27.2mpg, and on longer journeys we have been able to achieve 38.4mpg. Occasionally the onboard fuel economy gauge even passed the 40.0mpg mark.
Internally the two feeble central lights struggle to illuminate much except the central seat.
Padding on the driver's seat is also wearing thin — on longer journeys you can feel the plastic base —and the windscreen wipers tend to screech over the glass unless there is a monsoon to wipe off.
The car-like steering wheel continues to niggle, as do the reflective CD covers from the centrefold-over dash storage area and the lack of space for the taller pie lovers among us.
As we pointed out in the full roadtest (CM 15 February), a Transit is a sound bet. It is tried and trusted; our only serious complaint is the car-like approach Ford has adopted, which results in a love-it-or-hate-it scenario.
The Transit has plenty of positives: storage, clriveline. gearstick position and backup are four of them. However these are only to he expected in an industry that demands reliability, performance, style and cost. Dabbling with car-like enhancements does nothing but polarise the opinion of those who see it as a means to an end rather than as an extension of the consumer market. si