Ford Tourneo test drive since 2010 minibus
Universal Soldier
Ford Tourneo Connect a representative of the so -called commercial cars: nothing superfluous, everything is in the case, each detail has its own purely practical purpose. Agree, a little boring. However, the Transit/Tourneo Connect model won the prestigious International Van of the Year 2003 award without visible efforts, collecting the maximum number of votes all 20 jury members appropriated the first place among the four finalists of the competition.This younger colleague of the domestic Gazelle looks modest, but at the same time quite stylish and modern. Beautiful headlights, fashionable silver metallic, large glazing area. Everything is supposed to, without delights. Hard worker ...
We take a very large handle on the driver's door, open. A wide doorway will provide the most convenient planting, even if you are in a sheepskin coat and boots. We sit down, look around. Assessing the quality of the finish and the interior of the car as a whole, you should keep in your head that the Tourneo Connect is not a business class crew. This is a commercial, truly car. And therefore great. Ground gray plastic, partly condo, but shockproof, and is probably easily washed with an ordinary rag. A tall roof after an ordinary passenger car is perceived very strangely pressing. But, of course, this is an undoubted plus. True, all this airspace warms up a little longer than we would like.
The ergonomics of the machine corresponds to the advanced positions that the modern products of Ford came to. A small steering wheel is regulated in two directions, the driver's seat has six adjustments. The location of the gearbox lever is not a cargo -passenger, but quite passenger. The clarity of the inclusion and selectivity of the mechanism as on mondeo.
From the luxury of the air conditioning, the electroregulations of large two -section (lower section for the convenience of parking) mirrors, heating the front and rear glasses. But the absence of a janitor behind was disappointed in the bad weather, the glass is polluted instantly, and you will not wipe it every five minutes, of course, of course. We raise the side glasses and drop it manually ... The radio is simple, cassette, with a memory for four radio stations and cheap speakers. The climate installation control unit is also unpretentious (but quite functional). But in the basic configuration there are airbags for front passengers and the ability to install side curtains.
Small difficulties with overview of the forward-ski are associated with the massiveness of the racks. Perhaps this is the only obvious minus if you evaluate the car from the position of the driver. At the wheel of Tourneo Connect you feel almost like in a passenger car. The machine, as they say, is the original comfortable does not require addiction. Everywhere niches, shelves, cup holders, pockets. Everything will fit. With the exception of the cigarette as an ashtray, the car is not equipped.
The version of Tourneo Connect provided to us is four -door. On the driver's side is a deaf wall, from a passenger, a sliding door. The back door opens up, but it is possible to order swing sash. Planting from the back is not as imposingly as ahead, but quite convenient. There, on seats, three adults will be placed without problems. However, in their place, inanimate objects of the load may well be in their place. The back row is able to transform in various versions, the seats are folded at once and in parts, and if necessary, they are completely removed from the machine. All operations are done without tension. For the sake of transporting a long load, the front chair can be subjected to metamorphoses. One-two, and the volume of useful space increased almost three times compared to the original.
Tourneo Connect is available in two modifications. The first short, with a conventional roof (length 4278 mm, height 1814 mm, the volume of the cargo compartment 2.8 m cubic meters). The second long, with high (4525 mm, 1981 mm and 3.67 cubic meters). By the way, Tourneo Connect differs from Transit Connect exclusively by glazing of the rear.
Three engines are installed on Tourneo: 1.8-liter gasoline Duratec (115 hp, 160 nm at 4400 rpm), turbodiesella Duratorq TDI (75 hp, 175 nm at 1800 rpm. ) and turbodiesel Duratorq TDCI (90 hp, 220 nm at 1700 rpm). The gearbox in any case is a five -speed manual.
But it was not the capacity of the salon and it was not the possibility of its transformation that surprised most of all. A pleasant surprise was the controllability of the van. Frankly, we have the right to expect much less from a car with a rear spring suspension!
Under the hood of our hard workers, a 1.8 liter gasoline engine is the most reasonable choice for Russian operating conditions. Two electronic systems to help the driver: ABS and TRECHN-Control. Despite the considerable equipped mass, the car is quite vigorously accelerated, and if desired, the van can go forward from traffic lights without tension. The gear rates are perfectly selected for the character of the motor, the transmission is long enough so as not to tire with frequent switching.
In the nature of the power unit, the emphasis is, of course, on the bottom and middle, and it makes no sense to twist it above five thousand revolutions. Tourneo Connect perfectly holds a straight line and clearly prescribes turns. The behavior of the car is reliably in almost any situation. The rolls in corners are moderate, which can be considered a great achievement, given the high center of the gravity of the car. Well, a high landing helps to better navigate in a dense city stream. The energy intensity of the suspension is at a height. All charms of Russian road conditions are processed by the chassis without problems.
I would like to praise the brakes excellent information content and a very confident slowdown. Plus, the anti -lock system correctly acts. The steering is also worthy of high grades: good feedback, sufficient sharpness and clear zero. However, this is all the legacy of Ford Focus, which (of course, with adaptation to a new weight and size) the front suspension was borrowed. Logical, it seems that the goat of the back, we never waited for only minor hints. Well, if you load the car, then the smoothness of the course for this class will be just excellent.
Now it is clear what conquered the international jury Transit Connect. It has an exhaustive set of Komtrans qualities and at the same time offers a passenger level of comfort. Very harmonious and in demand today symbiosis.
Leonty Tyutelev
Source: Motor magazine [March 2004]
