Three months with Ford’s Tourneo Custom Sport starts with an unexpected development: I’m finding reasons to keep the keys, writes Ryan Vrede.
There is a revealing test for any review vehicle: what happens when you have something else to drive? With Ford’s Tourneo Custom Sport, I’ve discovered that I miss it. That wasn’t part of my expectations when Ford handed it over for a three-month stay.
I could immediately see its usefulness. Whether I would want to drive it every day was another matter. I don’t have children, and an eight-seater hadn’t featured prominently in my imagined garage. Yet, between the Cape Town commute, sporting commitments and longer journeys, the Tourneo has started rewriting that picture.
For a travel writer, this is an intriguing development. We spend plenty of time thinking about where a vehicle can take us. Less attention goes to what it allows us to bring along, who can join us, and how we feel when we arrive.In my case, the most important passenger has four legs.
Roxy, my American Bully, has become central to the Tourneo’s appeal. I hate leaving her at home, whether I’m heading away or simply getting on with the day. Having a vehicle that makes bringing her along easier has changed how I feel about both.
Her preferred resting place, when we’re parked, is the space between the driver and front passenger seats. There is something about reaching down to stroke her while she sleeps that I probably value more than I can reasonably explain. She brings me peace. Being able to take her with me means that peace travels too.
For readers whose travel plans begin with checking whether the accommodation welcomes dogs, that will make perfect sense. The practicalities of taking a pet along can determine whether a trip happens at all. With the Tourneo, Roxy feels easier to include in the plan.
The rest of my life provides a convincing audition for its carrying capacity, too. Between padel, football and cricket, there always seems to be equipment that needs moving. Sometimes that equipment comes with a group of adult men requiring a lift to a match.
Space becomes something you appreciate repeatedly. There is pleasure in having room available before you need it, especially when your week involves several sporting identities and the baggage accompanying each.
It changes how I think about a weekend away. Perhaps another friend can come. Perhaps there’s room for the activity you would otherwise leave out. Seats and luggage inevitably compete for space, though, and the coming months will reveal how the Tourneo balances those demands on a proper trip.
The bigger surprise has been from behind the wheel.
Ford has a knack for making large vehicles feel remarkably civilised. The Tourneo continues that tradition, with an ease that brings a luxury sedan to mind. Long road trips have been a breeze, while my usually frustrating commute into and out of Cape Town’s CBD has become appreciably more bearable.
Its 2.0-litre turbodiesel produces 125kW and 390Nm, paired with an eight-speed automatic gearbox driving the front wheels. Those figures provide the mechanical context; my overriding impression is how comfortably it fits into journeys I expected to feel more like work.
That matters for prospective owners. Holiday ability is only part of the equation. The same vehicle must earn its place during traffic, errands and the ordinary Tuesday when nobody is going anywhere particularly interesting.
Then there’s the look. I’ve grown increasingly fond of it. The Sport’s bonnet stripes, dark detailing and alloy wheels give its substantial shape personality. I like that Ford has allowed something so useful to have a little swagger.
Inside, three-zone climate control, rear charging points and powered sliding doors acknowledge the practical business of travelling together. A 13-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto brings familiar connectivity up front.
These conveniences deserve scrutiny over time. So do fuel costs, parking practicality and comfort with passengers and luggage aboard. Three months gives the early enthusiasm a chance to meet the less glamorous realities of ownership.
There will be plenty more Tourneo content in the coming months, with travel providing the setting and everyday use supplying the evidence. Getaway readers can expect a developing account of where its strengths matter most and what buyers should consider.
For now, it has prompted a shift in what I want from a vehicle. I expected to appreciate the room. I hadn’t anticipated how much I would value what that room makes possible: the teammates, the equipment, the weekends away, and a sleeping dog close by when we stop.
Increasingly, those are the things I’m thinking about when I reach for the Ford’s keys.
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