2015 Ford Transit 350 Diesel: First Drive

We finally got our hands on a 2015 Ford Transit 350 Power Stroke diesel and apart from the occasional drive-through clearance issue and lower overall tow ratings, found it quite a bit better than the E-Series van, and in some cases, no more expensive.

We drove the largest Transit offered — a high-roof, long-wheelbase, extended-length dualie 350HD. It's about 6,200 pounds empty with spare, jack and less than half a tank of diesel exhaust fluid, split roughly with 3,200 pounds on the front axle and 3,000 on the rear. With a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,360 pounds, the working payload 4,160 is pounds, and the max trailer rating for our configuration is 6,900 pounds, allowing for a 200-pound driver to stay within the 13,500 gross combined weight rating. Although the Transit is usually higher than wide and access to the roof can be tricky, load carrying up top is rated for 420 pounds.

Exterior

If you think ordering today's Euro-style vans is a simple process with simple choices, think again. They probably have more configurations than pickup trucks, which typically have the most complex ordering books in the industry. This dualie container runs from about $42,000 with the destination fee, and of the 18 options available only two are four-digit numbers: a $1,070 Interior Upgrade Package (AM/FM/CD/Sync, cruise control, illuminated visor mirrors, etc.) and the diesel engine at $4,130. On lesser-equipped Transits the diesel is pricier, but not so much here because the 3.5-liter V-6 turbo is standard on the 350HD.

Cargo vans come standard with front windows, and you can add fixed glass for the rear doors, most side panels and sliding side doors; a left-side slider is coming later this year. That option on a Sprinter costs $818. The one option we couldn't find for the rear windows was a wiper — if you're paying for glass you might as well be able to see through it.

We'd likely choose most of the options on tester except the Green Gem paint ($150) and white wheels ($35). The van had rear glass, parking sensors and a camera; a 3.73:1 limited-slip differential; long-arm mirrors; cloth power seats; the trailer package and integrated trailer brake controller; LED lights; a heavy-duty alternator; a manual regen with active inhibit (for cleaning the diesel particulate filter); and upfitter switches for a total that came to $50,295 including destination.

As a competitor, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter makes for an awkward comparison because the standard Sprinter wheelbase of 144 inches is just 4 inches less than the long-wheelbase Transit, and the extended-body Sprinter comes only on the 170-inch wheelbase. By length and GVWR, the Sprinter nearest this Transit is a 170-inch wheelbase, high-roof super-single rear at $45,790; a dualie is $630 more but eclipses this Transit in GVWR, payload and towing by roughly 600-700 pounds.

How It Drives

The 3.2-liter, biodiesel-capable, cast-iron-block, 20-valve aluminum-head inline five-cylinder diesel starts quickly at ambients down to 49 degrees. There is some diesel cackle when the engine is cold and at initial tip-in, and even a little bit at torque-converter hookup following a shift. However, in general, the characteristic diesel and five-cylinder syncopation are evenly split and seem to cancel each other out. Engine noise was never an issue; this drivetrain seemed no noisier than a Sprinter Class C motor home full of sound-absorbing carpet, upholstery and curtains.

Despite 185 horsepower at 3,000 rpm and 350 pounds-feet of torque from 1,500-2,750 rpm, initial acceleration was surprisingly lively — rear-wheel spin would invoke traction control when empty and more so when flat towing. The six-speed automatic transmission's ratios are identical to the half-ton F-150, but the Transit's small tires and 3.73:1 axle ratio have the same effective gearing as a base F-150 tire and a 4.10:1 axle. The Transit tires weigh just 32 pounds each, a good amount less than the pickup's. At 65 mph the tachometer showed 2,100 rpm and pushed low/mid-20s for fuel economy when empty; our best leg was 27 mpg cruising at around 60 mph. During our week with the Transit, we averaged 19 mpg combined (20 percent of our driving was highway miles).

Once rolling at highways speeds, acceleration levels off and passing must be planned accordingly; upshifts occur between 3,500-3,600 rpm but it carries to 4,000 rpm in Manual mode if you prefer. Expect hand-timed zero-to-60-mph empty runs in the 12.7-second range; we ran out of unenforced roads before getting to max speeds and while the van was still stable at 85 mph, road and wind noise, and fuel economy would keep me from doing that routinely.

For fun, we hitched an old small-block Toyota Land Cruiser to the back, and the empty zero-to-50-mph time (the Cruiser is not deemed "tested" enough for 60 mph) of 10.3 seconds went up to about 15 seconds towing; on every attempt the truck shifted right on the 50-mph hash mark. Our estimates have the classic Land Cruiser weighing about 4,000 pounds. Although it's not recommended, the Transit brakes were more than capable of handling the Cruiser, and in Tow/Haul mode it downshifted automatically on descents without brake pedal or shifter input; the engine/transmission marriage is as good as any we've tested in a while, as is the integrated brake controller.

To further exercise the trailer brakes, I hooked up a tandem-axle dump trailer that weighed around 2 tons. That brought my zero-to-60 time up to 21 seconds, while fuel economy on my testing loop dropped from 15 mpg empty to 12.7 pulling the trailer. On a typical interstate grade averaging 6 percent, we could climb at 65 mph at 2,600 rpm, virtually equaling the speed posted in a 2014 two-wheel-drive F-150 base 3.7-liter V-6 turning 5,700-6,100 revs. When traffic forced a slowdown, the Transit recovered to about 63 mph.

How It Tows

The Transit tows like a pickup with a long camper, with the tow ball around 84 to 86 inches from rear-axle centerline, depending on ball mount. A 7-foot overhang on a 12.25-foot wheelbase brings some pivoting and requires attention to weight distribution. The receiver height of 14.75 inches will often require a ball flip or lift hitch. However, with either setup we appreciated that the right-side rear door could be opened; we were also able to open the left side while flat towing.

The optional rear camera is low on the door and a great help with tow-ball guidance. It proved more accurate with shorter ball mounts, but two other issues provided more difficulty. First, the smaller screen is a fair bit away, and second, the Transit turns quite tightly — a shorter-wheelbase Sprinter needs 4 feet more curb-to-curb, so it was easy to swing that long rear end right past the target.

A thick rear anti-roll bar complements the smaller cab, so empty roll control is respectable; passing a bus at 75 mph shoved it over just a foot. Crosswinds were limited to 25-mph gusts and didn't seem to affect it much; the steering is not fast but is easy to point accurately.

Finally, with approach angles what they are, we were surprised that we never had an issue rolling into driveways, but with a hitch that is only a foot off the road and 7 feet behind the tires you should expect that sooner or later it is going to drag.

Interior

The Transit's interior is huge — as you'd expect — with enough room for five rows of seats and a cargo area equivalent to a full-size SUV with all its seats folded. My "assistant," a 6-foot-4 test dummy, stood comfortably inside the van wearing a hat and shoes, and a 6-by-5-foot package went through the rear doors without any trouble. In dualie form at least, the Transit has two advantages over the Sprinter: a lower load deck and 6 more inches of space between the wheel wells, though neither dualie will carry a 4-foot section flat.

We loaded the Transit with various items throughout our test. A patio set didn't tax it at all. If we had wanted to fill the cargo area with bags of mulch, charcoal or smoking chips we'd still be loading it. On one trip we put a Yamaha Raptor 660 through the rear doors and two small all-terrain vehicles through the side door and still had room for fuel jugs, firewood and camping gear; heck, we could have slung some hammocks over it all.

Cavernous is the operative word when talking about the Transit's cargo capacity.

The interior has a dozen big, unrecessed D-rings along the floor edges, including one in the side step, so securing loads was never an issue. Overhead LED lights simplified working at night, though we're curious as to why there are two sets aft, two forward and one in the middle offset to one side. Consider this a blank canvas that will carry about 485 cubic feet of whatever you want as long as it's less than 12 feet long or 2 tons in weight.

As someone who has driven many E-Series cutaways that weren't properly balanced or loaded properly, the Transit is a revelation. You have about 1,000 pounds leeway on the front axle (which should include your own weight) and 4,300 pounds on the back axle, so when loading think gooseneck and try to center the load a few inches ahead of the rear-axle centerline.

Instrumentation could have been pulled from any Ford diesel; it provides the basics. The message display always showed DEF as "less than half full" without any more specifics, and the diesel particulate filter capacity appeared to vary in 5 percent increments. There are many storage compartments, including a good phone spot if you use one for navigating and some hidden compartments for your wallet and other valuables. The rear parking sensor is automatically disabled with a trailer plugged in; that switch and the traction control above both have light amber "off" lights you can't see in the sun's glare.

All tallied, would we spend $50,000 on a boxy player like this? Ahead of an E-350, a pimped-out half-ton or any other vehicle in the class, we'd say yes.

For a price sheet, click on the image below.

Cars.com photos by G.R. Whale