Ford Fiesta Van Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance VAN: Ford Fiesta Van ENGINES: 1.25-litre petrol, 1.4-litre TDCi diesel, 1.6-litre TDCI diesel. PAYLOAD: 490-515kg LOAD VOLUME: 1000 cubic litres
Dimensions: length/width/heightmm 3950/1973/1481 [est]

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Our Rating: 7.3 / 10

Ford’s Fiesta van looks to have the right stuff. Jonathan Crouch reports.

Ford’s Fiesta van gets off to a great start in life in being based on their Fiesta supermini. The carrying capacity isn’t huge but its driving experience, design and build quality set new standards for the sector.

By far and away the simplest route to creating a class leading small car-derived van is to start with a class leading small car. Which in the seventh generation Fiesta is exactly what Ford have. Having done the hard work in creating it, the boys at the Blue Oval weren’t above tearing out the back seats to bring us the Fiesta van.

This variant competes in the supermini-derived van market where Ford has traditionally taken 25% of sales and goes head to head with van versions of many of the same models its passenger car sibling must battle. So the Fiesta van follows the same basic recipe as the Corsavan from Vauxhall and the 207 van from Peugeot in that it sacrifices its rear seats and windows in favour of a flat load bay in which businesses with minimal load carrying requirements can stow their wares.

Once upon a time, the small van market was completely made up of supermini-derived models like this one but in recent times, most buyers have been drawn towards purpose-designed small vans that aren’t constricted by passenger car styling and so can offer much larger carrying capacities without taking up any more roadspace. Ford’s Transit Connect is a good example and it competes against models like Citroen’s Nemo, Peugeot’s Bipper, Vauxhall’s Combo and Fiat’s Fiorino. If you really need carrying capacity, models like these are a better bet – but then, if you really need that, should you really be considering a very small van in the first place? If having considered that, you conclude that your needs are less cubic capacity-orientated, then this Fiesta van might prove to be a very effective choice.

On the road, if you’re familiar with the previous generation Fiesta van, your experience should be that this model has a more solid feel, despite the fact that it’s 40kgs lighter. Electrically assisted power steering made its debut on this generation model, technology that has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, the feeling no longer being as if you were at the w

With most vans, operators will choose diesel power without even thinking about it but with one this small likely to cover very restricted mileages, petrol might still be a viable option, so it’s just as well that the 80PS 1.25-litre unit on offer is a pleasant one – and much quieter than the 1.4 and 1.6-litre Dagenham-built common rail injection TDCi diesel options. A key component of the Fiesta passenger car’s makeup is its enjoyable driving dynamics and the van version inherits these. Expect lively handling and first rate manoeuvrability married to a more comfortable ride than owners of the previous generation Fiesta van will have experienced.

A payload range from 490kg to 515kg (significantly more than a Peugeot 207 van but a little less than a Vauxhall Corsavan) gives customers a competitive option for transporting their products. The rear side windows are replaced by body-coloured solid panels, and the rear passenger seats have been removed to provide a load box area of 1,000 cubic litres, with a maximum useable load length of 1,296mm, as well as a maximum load box width of 1,278mm (1,000mm between the wheel arches) and a height of up to 806mm.

The styling of the Fiesta will win it many admirers and operators looking for a compact van that will cut a dash on the city streets will like the wedge-shaped front end as well as the curvy rear. The cabin is similarly avant-garde in its design, with a dashboard control interface based around that of a mobile phone and a clever choice of quality materials.

In terms of practicality, as we’ve said, you won’t be buying a supermini-derived small van if interior space is everything. That point made, it’s also worth saying that this Ford does at least enable its owner to make good use of the space that is on offer. DIN-compliant tie-down hooks are standard but if you forget to use them – or simply can’t – then a half-height composite bulkhead is standard to prevent loose items from sliding forward and joining you in the