The Ford Transit Customized Sport is already a reasonably wild-looking van, with its racing stripes, physique equipment and darkened alloy wheels – however the Ford E-Transit Customized MS-RT nearly makes it look tame.
Sure, Ford has launched yet one more racy-looking van, a distinct segment different manufacturers don’t even hassle with.
The MS-RT remedy is on the market throughout all Transit Customized powertrains within the UK and Europe, however solely the MS-RT model of the electrical E-Transit Customized will get extra energy. That’s the one we just lately drove in Germany.
Sadly, the MS-RT isn’t coming to Australia, regardless that Ford Australia says the Sport has been a “vital contributor” to Transit Customized gross sales.
MORE: 2025 Ford E-Transit Customized evaluate
You might be questioning: “Simply what does MS-RT imply? Producer’s steered retail… thrice?”
MS-RT is an offshoot of Ford’s rally companion M-Sport, and is predicated within the UK. It specialises in “sport-inspired industrial automobiles”, and has labored over Rangers and Transit Customs.
You might have seen the Ranger MS-RT, a lowered “avenue truck” model of the turbo-diesel V6 Ranger. Sadly, it too is for UK and European audiences solely.
No matter what’s powering it, the MS-RT appears like a Focus RS pumped up with extra air.
There’s a brand new entrance bumper with an built-in spoiler; facet skirts; and a novel rear bumper with an built-in diffuser.
It rides on 19-inch anthracite-finish alloy wheels wrapped in 235/45 R19 Goodyear Eagle Sport tyres. Behind these wheels sit brake calipers completed in MS-RT’s signature blue.
It’s onerous to decorate up a field, however in some way the workforce at MS-RT have managed to present this cargo hauler a convincing makeover.
The crowning contact is the big rear spoiler, which on vans with barn doorways is cut up in two. If you would like, you’ll be able to even add some decals – you realize, for those who discover the MS-RT too delicate.
You may specify the MS-RT within the ordinary Transit Customized colors: Frozen White, Gray Matter, Magnetic, Agate Black, Artisan Purple, and Digital Aqua. However that will be bloody boring, wouldn’t it?
If you happen to’re shopping for this outlandish van, you must correctly commit and purchase one of many following lurid shades:
MS-RT BlueYellow GreenCadmium YellowTNT Tango OrangeUltramarine BlueENW Purple
As soon as they roll off the manufacturing line in Turkey, Transit Customs are despatched to a brand new facility at Ford Dagenham Property within the UK to bear last meeting and develop into MS-RTs.
You can’t solely get the MS-RT remedy with each Transit Customized powertrain, you can even get it on panel van and double-cab configurations and in each lengths.
What’s the Ford E-Transit Customized MS-RT like on the within?
Ford has given the Transit Customized’s inside a makeover, too.
There are sportier-looking seats, with considerably extra bolstering for the motive force’s seat. It’s comfy and it hugs you in place, and there are plush armrests.
All seats are completed in leatherette and suede trim with blue distinction stitching. This blue stitching may also be discovered on the chunky, squared-off, leatherette-wrapped steering wheel which feels terrific.
In any other case, the inside is identical as all new Transit Customs – and that’s not a nasty factor.
We’ve one gripe: the column shifter feels far an excessive amount of like an indicator stalk, which is a recipe for the occasional awkward shift into impartial whereas driving.
Nevertheless, the usage of a column shifter has allowed Ford designers to flatten the centre stack. That makes it simpler to slip throughout the entrance.
The brand new Transit Customized household additionally has a very flat ground up entrance, no matter powertrain.
Ford has moved the passenger-side airbag to the roof, liberating up house for one more glove compartment. There’s storage atop the dashboard, deep bottle holders within the doorways, and a number of cupholders.
The corporate has ditched bodily local weather controls in favour of touchscreen-based adjustment, nonetheless it has fortuitously left these on-screen keys completely anchored.
Which means no matter what menu you’re in, you’ll be able to simply modify capabilities just like the cabin temperature.
The expansive 13-inch infotainment touchscreen additionally options wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and is helpfully angled in the direction of the motive force. It sits subsequent to a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, which is obvious and simple to learn.
Ford’s Professional Energy Onboard, which permits as much as 2.3kW of energy to be delivered from the battery to energy home equipment and instruments, can also be out there. The outlet for that is on the D-pillar.
We drove a L1H1 van, code for the shortest size and the bottom roof top. Load quantity with the bulkhead is 5.8m3; you don’t lose any load house by choosing the electrical van over its diesel or plug-in hybrid fashions.
Payload is 968kg, whereas the most important payload determine within the E-Transit Customized vary is 1011kg. Braked towing capability stays the identical as the opposite E-Transit Customs, nonetheless, at 2300kg.
What’s below the bonnet?
Whereas the MS-RT remedy may be had with each diesel and plug-in hybrid energy, we examined the E-Transit Customized MS-RT.
That is the one powertrain that will get extra grunt over non-MS-RT fashions, with an additional 50kW on faucet. That makes this essentially the most highly effective Transit Customized mannequin ever.
You lose a little bit of vary with the MS-RT. Ford claims 275km of WLTP vary with the E-Transit Customized MS-RT L1H1, however a Sport with the identical physique and the 160kW electrical motor has 308km of vary.
How does the Ford E-Transit Customized MS-RT drive?
It would look wilder, however the MS-RT doesn’t drive appreciably completely different from the common E-Transit Customized. Ford hasn’t detailed any mechanical adjustments aside from the additional energy and a 50mm enhance to trace width.
We solely had a quick drive of the sportier electrical van, with just below 30km of suburban driving with a little bit of motorway thrown in.
Driving it again to again with a 160kW E-Transit Customized, we may really feel the additional energy of the MS-RT but it surely’s hardly transformative. In any case, the 160kW E-Transit Customized feels a lot highly effective already, significantly off the road.
Torque can also be unchanged from all different E-Transit Customized fashions, at 415Nm.
Even in Sport mode, all 210kW of the MS-RT’s electrical motor is delivered easily. All E-Transit Customs for now are rear-wheel drive, in contrast to their diesel and plug-in hybrid counterparts that are provided with front- and all-wheel drive, and have a single electrical motor on the rear axle.
We’re glad Ford went down this route, because it means there’s no annoying entrance wheelspin to take care of, one thing that possible would have been the case had Ford employed a front-mounted electrical motor.
The MS-RT feels good and steady at freeway speeds, and isn’t fazed by crosswinds. The steering is mild, making manoeuvring by means of slim alleyways and tight parking heaps simple, and the wheel itself is a tactile delight.
Nonetheless, whereas the steering is car-like and the electrical motor highly effective, this nonetheless looks like a van to drive. A pleasant van, sure, however not some quasi-Focus RS-type tremendous van because the styling would recommend.
As we famous in our E-Transit Customized evaluate, the experience is a contact agency and lumpy at instances even on smoother German pavement, though it stops in need of being uncomfortable. We’re eager to see the way it feels in additional in depth testing on our typically worse roads right here in Australia.
Ford developed unbiased rear suspension for the E-Transit Customized, and ended up rolling it out throughout the whole second-generation Transit Customized vary, so it feels good and tied down on the rear.
It’s price noting Ford loaded every cargo van on the Transit Customized launch occasion with a pallet weighing roughly half the car’s payload. Which means we have been hauling round roughly 500kg of ballast.
The electrical motor is quiet, making for a way more nice soundtrack than the clattery diesel.
The van will get a bit noisy at increased speeds because of the wind whipping across the giant mirrors, and reveals the standard boominess you get with vans.
There’s a one-pedal drive mode, activated by way of the touchscreen, that may convey the car to an entire cease.
There’s no lane-centring, however the lane-keep help will easily intervene to maintain you inside your lane, even on winding roads.
The visitors signal recognition additionally works effectively, and there’s clever velocity restrict help which can mechanically modify the car’s velocity when you might have adaptive cruise management on and the posted restrict adjustments.
We noticed common power consumption of 23kWh/100km, greater than the 20kWh/100km determine we recorded throughout the same drive loop in a 160kW E-Transit Customized. Nevertheless, we have been driving the MS-RT in Sport mode.
What do you get?
Customary tools on MS-RT fashions contains:
12-inch instrument cluster that includes 7.0-inch screen12-inch touchscreen infotainment systemWireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto5G modemHeated entrance sports activities seats6-way energy driver’s seatLeatherette and suede upholstery with blue distinction stitchingHeated sports activities steering wheel Blue 12 o’clock marker Blue distinction stitchingDual-zone local weather controlDigital rear-view mirrorKeyless entry and startAutomatic LED headlightsAutomatic high-beamRain-sensing wipers19-inch alloy wheels235/45 R19 Goodyear Eagle Sport tyres
Our tester additionally had non-compulsory satellite tv for pc navigation and a powered facet load door.
Is the Ford E-Transit Customized MS-RT protected?
The E-Transit Customized hasn’t been crash-tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP, though the associated diesel model obtained a Platinum ranking from Euro NCAP in testing of its energetic security know-how.
Customary security tools on the MS-RT contains:
Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)Lane hold assistReversing cameraFront, rear parking sensorsTraffic signal recognition
It’s additionally out there with:
Adaptive cruise management with cease/goAEB with intersection help, bicycle owner detectionReverse AEBBlind-spot monitoringRear cross-traffic alert
CarExpert’s Tackle the Ford E-Transit Customized MS-RT
We bemoan Ford Australia’s incapacity to convey any variety of superior abroad merchandise right here, together with the Maverick, Bronco, up to date Puma and Escape, F-150 Lightning and hybrid… [deep breath]… petrol Explorer, electrical Explorer… effectively, you get the image.
Whereas the E-Transit Customized MS-RT is a captivating car, we’re not all that unhappy to listen to it’s not coming right here as a result of it’s such a distinct segment product.
In ute-mad Australia, we will’t think about there are a lot of patrons for a be-spoilered, body-kitted mid-sized van.
The additional energy within the electrical MS-RT is good, but it surely’s not as if the common E-Transit Customized was left wanting for grunt. And the tradeoff with this added efficiency is decreased vary.
Whether or not you discover the MS-RT to be a cool-looking little bit of equipment or the automotive equal of your dorky uncle dressing up as Lil Nas X, nonetheless, you’ll be able to’t argue with this: this racy-looking Ford helps make the automotive panorama and the somewhat uninteresting van market simply that little bit extra attention-grabbing.
Click on the pictures for the total gallery
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