FORD TOURNEO COURIER
Sharing genetics with the Puma gets Ford’s smallest van-shaped MPV very far
Talk about winning the DNA lottery. While some of us are pleased to get a parent’s winning smile or bright eyes, Ford’s newest and smallest van-ish MPV is surely laughing its way to the dealership knowing it has the same heart, head and overall athleticism as the rather brilliant Puma crossover and the dearly-departed Fiesta hatch.
You sit low in supportive seats and instantly get to grips with a lot of classic Ford traits: juicy, accurate and well-weighted steering, bitey but potent brakes and a durable-feeling clutch pedal linked to a slick and tactile manual shift (if you spec it). All the while listening to a buzzy and eager three-cylinder petrol engine.
Ford’s also built a lot of clever details into the Tourneo Courier (many of those details derived from its panel-van twin, the Transit Courier). There’s a mounting point for your phone if you prefer that rather than using the infotainment screen, and storage is plentiful, with cubbies everywhere you look.
And, while the second row isn’t all that clever (because the seats only split 60:40 and they don’t slide or recline), there’s plenty of room. The boot does have one very neat touch, mind – a pop-out drawer big enough for keeping dirty walking boots in, for example, without them rolling around and messing up the load area.
Naturally, all of that familiar Ford DNA means the Courier gets some of the Puma’s disadvantages, too. The optional seven-speed auto is belligerently obsessed with higher gears, making overtakes slower and curbing your ability to take advantage of gaps at roundabouts, for example. And the Sync4 infotainment system is not the best, its many menus including a heinously messy one for the climate control and driving aids.
And yet it’s just so likeable, which can’t convincingly be said for many other vanbased MPVs.
