LostlnTransit
Well-known member
Seeing how this topic area is devoted to how to select the right vehicle for your travels.. I thought it best to share our views of the 2015 Ford Transit Connect. If one considers themselves to be a true van dweller, (living in their more then months at a time) the Transit Connect is not for you. This small compact van was meant to haul good through tight placed during rush hour traffic. But my wife and I have selected a different route.
I guess this a review of sort.. but we (the wife and myself) have been very pleased with our 2015 Ford Transit Connect XL SWB. Although there aren’t any creature comforts in this van other than the seats are very comfortable and we opted for the power windows. Because of current gas prices.. the van have been performing extremely well and one reason it’s doing so well could be due to having a better set of tires and rims.
The only real mistake we’ve made so far, is purchasing the wrong size tires. We ended up with the factory size or 215/55/16 Maxxis tires. After installing the Sparco wheels and Maxxis tires, we feel that we could have went with a slightly larger set of tires. Maybe the 225/55/16's. There seem to be enough clearance in this respect. So at that time when we need new tires.. we again may option for the slightly larger Maxxis tires.
At one point we wanted to turn this little ugly duckling of a van into an overlander, with small additions to create that off road look.. But things change and although we still have many ideas for the van, we’re perfectly content leaving it as is for the time being. but this could change within the next few months.
A couple of things we recommend Transit Connect owners do, is to purchase the K&N air filter. We found that the life time filter not only saves us some cash from having to buy a replacement every 10K miles.. and this alone is rather unnerving, because I’m so use to change the oil every 5K miles, not 10K. the filter added a few horse, toque and even seem to add a few more miles, which was odd. The simply drop in filter is all that’s needed.
The van has been getting great gas mileage and is comfortable on long trips, even though we think we would enjoy a center console arm rest better than the single flip version which is standard on the cargo van option.
There aren’t many after market parts suppliers who want to create products for our van, so If you run into an issue where you’re looking to purchase something for the van, you may have to search elsewhere. It pays to be creative and think outside the box when it comes to adding parts or accessories to this van which was never meant to be a personal carrier.
If we were given a chance to do at all over again.. we would have opted for the double doors instead of the lift gate. Reason here is that we do not like the spare tire under the van. and having the double doors would have allowed for a spare tire mount on one of these doors.. just fits the excursion aspect.
Over all the van can handle two large person sleeping in the back, without any gear. Or one large person going solo and a few gear items stored in and around the cargo area. Seeing that we are two large persons and we have gear in the cargo area.. it would seem time to create something new and different to store these items. Over the next few months, we'll be introducing a new concept/idea in which the bare bone cargo Transit Connect can store and stowaway items without compromising space.
I'm very excited about this project and because of this, our travel activities would be limited to just a few local trips instead of one long trip we reserve ever summer. But once everything is in it's respective place.. all bets are off and we hit the road once more.
Lastly, all of these small vans have one thing in common.. they are top heavy, some more than others.. and because they handle like a sports car, many of these small vans are prone to flipping over.. It would be wise to keep heavier gear down low within the cargo area and widen the van's stance with wider wheels and larger tires.. In some cases, lowering the van could help. but lowering would restrict the vans maneuverability when entering areas where there isn't any ground clearance. In this case, the transit Connect has the widest (stock) stance as compared tot he Chevy city express and Dodge promaster.
We like the van, just not the mistakes we made in trying to find the right products/parts for it.. but this was dues to those who we spoke with, all seem to relying on misinformation themselves. Don't be fooled or get trapped in buying one of these vans without exploring your options and those options that are standard on the van. We just happen to take a no thrills approach.
I guess this a review of sort.. but we (the wife and myself) have been very pleased with our 2015 Ford Transit Connect XL SWB. Although there aren’t any creature comforts in this van other than the seats are very comfortable and we opted for the power windows. Because of current gas prices.. the van have been performing extremely well and one reason it’s doing so well could be due to having a better set of tires and rims.
The only real mistake we’ve made so far, is purchasing the wrong size tires. We ended up with the factory size or 215/55/16 Maxxis tires. After installing the Sparco wheels and Maxxis tires, we feel that we could have went with a slightly larger set of tires. Maybe the 225/55/16's. There seem to be enough clearance in this respect. So at that time when we need new tires.. we again may option for the slightly larger Maxxis tires.
At one point we wanted to turn this little ugly duckling of a van into an overlander, with small additions to create that off road look.. But things change and although we still have many ideas for the van, we’re perfectly content leaving it as is for the time being. but this could change within the next few months.
A couple of things we recommend Transit Connect owners do, is to purchase the K&N air filter. We found that the life time filter not only saves us some cash from having to buy a replacement every 10K miles.. and this alone is rather unnerving, because I’m so use to change the oil every 5K miles, not 10K. the filter added a few horse, toque and even seem to add a few more miles, which was odd. The simply drop in filter is all that’s needed.
The van has been getting great gas mileage and is comfortable on long trips, even though we think we would enjoy a center console arm rest better than the single flip version which is standard on the cargo van option.
There aren’t many after market parts suppliers who want to create products for our van, so If you run into an issue where you’re looking to purchase something for the van, you may have to search elsewhere. It pays to be creative and think outside the box when it comes to adding parts or accessories to this van which was never meant to be a personal carrier.
If we were given a chance to do at all over again.. we would have opted for the double doors instead of the lift gate. Reason here is that we do not like the spare tire under the van. and having the double doors would have allowed for a spare tire mount on one of these doors.. just fits the excursion aspect.
Over all the van can handle two large person sleeping in the back, without any gear. Or one large person going solo and a few gear items stored in and around the cargo area. Seeing that we are two large persons and we have gear in the cargo area.. it would seem time to create something new and different to store these items. Over the next few months, we'll be introducing a new concept/idea in which the bare bone cargo Transit Connect can store and stowaway items without compromising space.
I'm very excited about this project and because of this, our travel activities would be limited to just a few local trips instead of one long trip we reserve ever summer. But once everything is in it's respective place.. all bets are off and we hit the road once more.
Lastly, all of these small vans have one thing in common.. they are top heavy, some more than others.. and because they handle like a sports car, many of these small vans are prone to flipping over.. It would be wise to keep heavier gear down low within the cargo area and widen the van's stance with wider wheels and larger tires.. In some cases, lowering the van could help. but lowering would restrict the vans maneuverability when entering areas where there isn't any ground clearance. In this case, the transit Connect has the widest (stock) stance as compared tot he Chevy city express and Dodge promaster.
We like the van, just not the mistakes we made in trying to find the right products/parts for it.. but this was dues to those who we spoke with, all seem to relying on misinformation themselves. Don't be fooled or get trapped in buying one of these vans without exploring your options and those options that are standard on the van. We just happen to take a no thrills approach.
