Ford Transit Super Sport Van Review: Because Race Van

Under the hood

This one-off Super Sport is no ordinary cement hauler. For that reason you’ll find no ordinary engine underneath its bonnet pins. What you will find is a 3.2-litre, five cylinder oil-burner, which pumps out 197bhp and 347lb ft of torque – that’s roughly the same amount of twist you get in the lightning fast Audi TT RS Plus, which is good to know.

Ford hasn’t released official performance details for the SSV – although we do know it’s been limited to 100mph…ahem - but believe me when I say it’s bloody quick. A non scientific 0-60mph run with an iPhone stopwatch revealed a sub 10sec sprint time.

Behind the wheel

You sit high up and enjoy a commanding view of the road. Visibility is crap (no rear windows) and you find yourself bullying car drivers out of the way. That’s where the similarities between a normal Tranny van and this Super Sport model begin and end (unless you’ve fitted a pair of stunning red leather Recaros, of course).

Driving the Transit SSV is an experience like no other. The suspension – slammed to within an inch of its life – is back breaking, yes, but when you’re bouncing away like a ‘roo on hot coals, you’ll be laughing way too much to care.

Hammer the Transit’s accelerator pedal to the rubber mat (that's as strange to write as it is to read) and you quickly realise why this van sits so low and looks so sporty – it’s effing quick. Spool up the turbocharged 3.2 and the SSV’s heart launches its two-tonne body forward with a mighty tyre spooling surge. The turbo’s addictive dump valve cough between gear changes adds to the accelerative drama as does the twin, side-mounted stainless exhaust, which makes a mega noise (for a diesel van).

Corners? Have no fear, the Super Sport’s massive wheels and Continental Sport Contact 2 rubbers offer bags of grip for cornering speeds unbecoming to a slab-sided Transit. Until you depress the traction control button, that is. After that the 3.2’s mighty torque will have you lighting up the rear wheels in an instant – this van really does make for a great drifter, offering progressive and manageable slides of its tail. This van’s steering is quick and feelsome enough to allow for such amateur heroics too.

If you’re into burnouts, however, forget it; if there’s one glaring downside to this voracious van, it’s the chronic axle tramp you’ll experience in a straight line – try to launch the SSV off the line with ‘flair’ and you’re rewarded with nothing more than a bunny hopping axle as the rear wheels fight a losing battle for grip. But hey, you can’t have it all.

Splash the cash?

Because the Super Sport Van is a one-off build, you unfortunately can’t buy one. Which is a shame really, because I think it’s bloody brilliant. It looks epic (a fellow vanist even insisted I slow down so he could record a hands-free video), goes like stink and is the best fun you can have with two tonnes.