Still Awaiting Diesel Fuel Economy
Ford Inside News
June 4, 2014
By: Austin Rutherford


The All-New Transit is about to make its North American debut at Ford dealers after production began last month. Ford had been keeping a tight lip on the utility van's fuel economy and power figures, but they have now been officially rated.

With the standard 3.7L V6, the Transit will make 14/19/16 combined fuel economy. This marks a 19 percent improvement over the 4.6L V8 E-Series it replaces. The engine is rated at 275 HP and 260 Lb. torque.

The optional 3.5L V6 Ecoboost will make the same fuel economy of 14/19/16 combined as the 3.7L V6, however, the power difference is significantly better with 310 HP and 400 ft. torque. The fuel economy is a 46 percent improvement over the E-Series equipped with the 6.8 V10.

The new South African sourced 3.2L I5 diesel's power has been rated at 185 HP and 350 ft. torque. Fuel economy figures for the diesel have not been released.

The Transit offers best-in-class 487.3 cubic feet of storage and 4,650 lbs of payload (600 lbs more than the E-Series). Towing has been rated at 7,500 lbs.

Quite simply, Ford believes the Transit is a competent replacing than the aged E-Series and is set to pick up its work on the job site.

Production for the NA spec Ford Transit takes place at Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant. Tomorrow, our own NSAP, Nick Saporito, will attend the press drive.

While Nick is at the press drive would he ask what Ford plans to do to replace the E series cab and chassis product. Will there will be a higher output diesel or is Ford going to walk away from those market segments.

I was looking forward to the I5 Diesel. It was a UK Ford unit.

[video=youtube;QQyDvFO6nLw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQyDvFO6nLw[/video]

I'm so excited about the Transit. It should put a big dent in Sprinter sales.

That would be nice however, a lot of those Sprinter sales were taken from the E series. It appears, from the info so far, that the E series will continue to replaced by Chevys and GMCs for certain applications, not news just a continuation of the last few years.

Saw one on the road yesterday, and I realised why I like it so much. The front end design is very clever, the grille and headlights bring everything to the middle, visually reducing the size of the front. COmpared to the competition with tall, wide, massive grilles, the Transit hides its massive size very well and as a result looks much more attractive.

A few weeks back I saw a dark blue model with two white racing stripes, and as silly as it sounds, it looked quite good! It was a short-body version with a dark tint and styled wheels, and it had a conversion van look to it.