Tourneo gets posh and sporty

FORD UPS THE ANTE: SPORTY, SLEEK AND SERIOUSLY PREMIUM

- Charl Bosch

Split from the full-size Transit into a separate, smaller model of its own 13 years ago, the Ford Tourneo Custom has been a relatively late entry into the burgeoning upscale local van segment.

The arrival of the second-generation Tourneo last year has, however, not followed the same route as the initial line-up of the long wheelbase Active and Trend variants have now been joined by not only the luxury-focused Titanium X, but a sports version along the lines of the Transit Custom Sport.

Additions tasked with upping the Blue Oval's segment share from its current 6% versus the 37% held by the Hyundai Staria and combined 32% of the Mercedes-Benz V-Class and Vito, the national launch in Durban last week involved both the Sport and Titanium X as part of the now "completed" Tourneo range.

Built on the same principle as the Active and Trend, the Sport and Titanium X continues to provide seating for eight, but in short wheelbase configuration with a length of 3 100mm versus the former pair's 3 500mm.

Dimensionally otherwise unchanged, both also dispense with the lower output 100kW/360Nm version of the Panther turbo diesel used in the Active and Sport for the uprated 125kW/390Nm mill powering the Transit Custom Sport.

Still connected to the Transit/Tourneo specific eight-speed automatic gearbox shared with no other current Ford model which sends the twist to the front wheels, the main differences reside inside and out.

Sport