U.S. Built Ford Transit Officially Replacing Econoline / E-Series in 2013

It's about time. You don't need a gas-hog V-10 or 7 litre diesel to haul mdf mouldings and PVC pipes.

The heavy duty users have mostly moved to more macho trucks than can be used as weekend toys.

It's about time indeed, just look at MB's Sprinter

Full size Transit? Is that any different from the current Transit Connect built in Turkey?

Cargo capacity? Connect can haul 1600 pounds.

A V8 may be needed for interstate driving and hauling heavy equipment. Edmunds tested a Transit Connect for long distance driving and they weren't thrilled with the driving experience.

I tried to find the article on Edmunds.com, but couldn't.

In the video, they're testing how rugged it is, not how durable it is. Also, this thing is rather large. It may be filling a market that the Econoline doesn't fill, but it seems like it's also creating a gap.

I agree with ralphhightower about interstate driving. They may be able to get away with the Transit Connect not being much of an interstate vehicle, but they won't be able to do that with a full size Transit.

This is great news, I despise the Econline/E-Series vans. They have a high floor making it nearly impossible to get anything very heavy into the back of one without an army of helpers. They don't even have a whole lot of space because of the high floor, lowish roof design, which also means you hit your head every time you climb into that back of one. They're unbelievably awful to drive, consume roughly 6 gallons of gas every 25 feet, and you can feel the whole van constantly flexing as it drives down the road. I think the worst thing about the Econline/E-Series is the RV versions, I have rented 2 of them (both V10s). The engine sits right in the footwell, and there is very little insulation around the engine, so it makes tons of noise and the temperature in the footwells quickly rises to what feels like 3000 degrees.

The Transit is much better, more more clever, and I can't wait to see them here, I just hope we get diesel versions.

@ralphhighpower
I don't think they would need a V8. The transit has for decades gotten along fine in everyday stuff with four cylinders, but I do think that Ford might want to have a stronger engine to compete. It could be a V6, though, which would be an improvement over the current model. The current base V8 makes a pitiful 225 horsepower, and the larger V8 only 255. A modern V6 (ecoboost maybe?) would easily beat that.

@ralphhighpower

The Transit is far larger than the Transit Connect. The full size Transit on sale in the United Kingdom is 2 inches narrower in width than the Econoline but has three different roof heights and four different lengths, up to 244 inches long (which is longer than an Econoline E-350 XL).

The most common engines in Europe for the Transit are 2.2 liter diesels with manual transmissions. That probably won't sell here, they need something better. I'm not sure if they need a V8, though. Ford's 3.7 liter V6 and six speed automatic transmission in the entry level F-150 may be sufficient for most uses.

Indeed, the Transit is to Ford Europe what the Sprinter is to Mercedes-Benz. The Benz, btw, has six cylinders (gas or diesel) and only a diesel five in the previous gen sold here as a Dodge. Plenty of torque to move these huge vans around, and Car and Driver got 35 mpg out of one.

Top Gear took a Transit to the Nurburgring, of all places... and the pro driver managed to pass sport bikes. Interstates shouldn't be a problem!

I hope that the Transit handles better than the E-Series. I had to drive one of those on the highway recently right after stepping out of a Mazda3. It felt like the steering wheel was connected with rubber bands. I'd turn it, and turn it some more, and nothing would happen, as I continued to drift out of my lane. I realize they're trying to filter out abrupt motions that would upset the delicate balance of the thing, but it would be nice to have some precision and on center/road feel. Barreling down the road at 70 MPH in that was one of the more frightening transportation-related experiences of my life.

The engine choices might be a bit small... Maybe Ford will offer a ecoboost V6? Otherwise... bring it on.

Chevy G-series for performance driving! Much better front suspension! No need for snow for drifting.... The open diff is flat out scary when doing so.

barich1: "I hope that the Transit handles better than the E-Series. I had to drive one of those on the highway recently right after stepping out of a Mazda3."

No cargo/utility vehicle is going to handle well when compared to a sporty vehicle.

I've driven plenty of both kinds of vehicles. You don't want either one to drive like the other.

Too bad but necessary. You haven't lived until you've done 1700 miles in a stripped E-350 Power Stroke diesel. So loud I stopped and bought noise canceling headphones at the first Best Buy I passed. But wow, that van would move!

As someone who drives a television news live truck everyday, I hope Ford provides room for a generator to mount in the back and the ability to carry a 900 lb. mast between the rear wheels. The reason you see only Fords as TV news live trucks is because there is no other good place to put a generator except behind the rear wheels and GM vans simply don't provide that room. We also need to store cables, lights, batteries, cameras, lots of other various gear and at least two people.

There's a reason Mercedes Sprinter vans are becoming more and more common on the road for our industry and room to spare is that reason. I hope Ford provides what we need so we can keep driving an American van.

Believe it or not, Ford has stated just recently that they scan online forums for customer feedback.

FoMoCo ;-)

It's amazing the econoline made it as long as it did. I am glad that they will be replaced. Truth is these vans and ones like them from GM, are extremely dangerous. They are big noodley rigs and crumple in an accident. My high school (long after I departed) had a terrible accident where several kids died in one of these during a roll over. Every one was strapped in. Let's hope Ford considered safety with this new rig.

They are talking about a full-size Transit, not the much smaller Connect. This will compete with the Sprinter, so we are talking at least double the cargo capacities. So a 250 HP 3L diesel would be perfect, but their gas NA V6 would not be well suited to this duty cycle. Ecoboost yes, and maybe a retuned 5.0 with the torque even lower in the rev range. Interesting which one they will go with as costs (both initial outlays and operating) are a big deal in this market.

@dynamo_dave - I agree on the safety concerns. The problem is that commercial vehicles don't tend to be tested. So we know for sure the Econoline, Savanna, and Express have poor safety ratings. The Transit should be better, in theory... but we may never see it subject to the full suite of tests that a new Camry or Malibu would get.

Its about time Ford killed the E-Series. Its like a bad joke keeping that dinosaur around for that long. At least they will have a modern, thoughful van to replace it with.

Ford has given the Truck Market to the competition. No more Ranger and no E- Series that will give Nissan and GM a lock on a market once totally owned by Ford.

I doubt the new Transit will fit my needs so I'll probably end up switching to Nissan or Chevy. It's a shame, I've driven an E-series work van pretty much my entire life.
Ford is playing another big gamble by replacing yet another one of it's market segment leaders.

way to go ford for building it in the good old usa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!