The van for the family man

COMPETITIVE: STANDS OUT IN A CROWDED FIELD

- Jaco van der Merwe

There is a picture often used in memes where an Asian gentleman is laying on his side while casually puffing away on a cigarette on a rooftop overlooking an open field of random people playing all sorts of games.

The message is usually a party keeping by itself watching others slog away.

In the motoring world, the relaxed onlooker can very much be the van segment. While sedans and hatchbacks have been slogging it out with SUVs and crossovers for passenger car market share, vans have just casually been staying in its lane.

The fact that almost more vans than sedans are offered these days, shows their value as a popular alternative option.

Ford is now spoiling buyers with further options with the Tourneo Custom Sport and Titanium X. These two head the Blue Oval’s new van lineup in short wheelbase guise following the introduction of the long wheelbase Tourneo Custom Active and Trend last year.

The R1 121 800 Sport is finished with flashy trim like racing stripes, while the Titanium X at a R46 000 premium is the range’s classier flagbearer akin to the top-of-the-range Ford Everest Titanium. Apart from their styling and spec differences, they share similar hardware in the form of a 2.0-litre diesel engine.

The four-pot blown mill sends 125kW of power and 390Nm of torque to the front wheels via eight-speed automatic transmission.

The Citizen Motoring got to spend a week in each of the vans recently. As the drive is obviously the same, we'll start with the differences between the two.