Ford Transit Connect camper
A panel van that feels and drives better than a van. It has very good safety scores and is well-rated across other websites. It offers a good-sized cargo area, about average for a panel van. Not the biggest, but it makes up for it with higher comfort when driving and in the cabin. The barn doors on most models are a downside, but they have a small plus point – you can open them all the way towards the front, by the sides of the car so that they won’t get in your way. You just won’t have a roof like you would with a tailgate.
NimbleCamper rating: 3.2/5
- Find a suitable car tent for this car
- Browse all car camping essentials
Key information
| Available in | |
|---|---|
| Body type | |
| Make | |
| Boot length (cm) | 215 |
| Boot length (inches) | 84.6 |
| Boot height (cm) | 129 |
| Boot height (inches) | 50.8 |
| Boot width [wheel arches] (cm) | 124 |
| Comfort rating | |
| Engine type | |
| Consumption l/100km | 10.5 |
| Consumption MPG (UK) | 28 |
| Consumption MPG (US) | 23 |
| Boot door type | |
| NimbleCamper rating (out of max 5) |
- Barn doors aren’t the best for camping, but these can open all the way towards the front of the car, so that’s a bonus 🙂 (they won’t get in your way as much). But you can find models with a tailgate too.
- EURO NCAP safety rating (2021) 5/5
- ADAC Rating (lower = better) 2.4/5
Standard reviews (not focused on camping):
HonestJohn.co.uk rating 5/5 • Autoexpress.co.uk rating: 4/5 • Carbuyer.co.uk rating (Tourneo): 3.7/5
Average rating: 4.2/5
Ford Transit Connect interior / exterior dimensions
Van dimensions
Body style | Height | Width | Length |
L1 Short wheelbase van | 1,830mm | 1,835mm | 4,425mm |
L2 Long wheelbase van | 1,828mm | 1,835mm | 4,825mm |
L1 Double Cab In-Van | 1,819mm | 1,835mm | 4,425mm |
L2 Double Cab In-Van | 1,820mm | 1,835mm | 4,825mm |
Load area – interior dimensions
Body style | Height | Width | Length | Volume |
L1 Short wheelbase van | 1,269mm | 1,543mm | 1,786mm | 2.9m3 |
L2 Long wheelbase van | 1,269mm | 1,496mm | 2,152mm | 3.6m3 |
L1 Double Cab In-Van | 1,237mm | 1,533mm | 861mm | 1.2m3 |
L2 Double Cab In-Van | 1,267mm | 1,496mm | 1,061mm | 1.6m3 |
How to sleep in Ford Transit / Tourneo, DIY camping conversions & other posts
Top 10 biggest MPVs: which MPVs have the largest boot space?
Let’s look at the biggest MPVs in the US and EU by their actual boot dimensions1. We will not look…
VW Caddy vs Ford Connect for camping – which one is better?
Both cars offer good size boot and features therefore in order to decide which one is better for a camping…
(Not only) Skoda Yeti Camping conversion by Matt for £100
This Skoda Yeti DIY Camping conversion makes the most of the Yeti’s boot. I’d say it does require some DIY…
Dacia Jogger DIY camping conversion for ~150€ by Chenguins.com
This is an easy, budget camping conversion by the Chenguins, who turned their Dacia Jogger into a camper for 150€….
Useful links:
1 review for Ford Transit Connect camper
- Average used price, GBP (2015) – I use Carsite.co.uk‘s price aggregates from 2015 (or the nearest possible year if not available), or, if not found, from autoscout24.com. For new cars, I specify the closest possible match (i.e. if released this year, it’s the new price, if released two years ago, it’s the 2-years old price etc). It’s here to give you a benchmark comparison (- a like for like, an apple with an apple) of the value of each car and for filtering purposes. It’s not meant to be used as an accurate estimate of used car value – it is updated once a year, so make sure you know what the car should cost at the time of purchase if you decide to buy one.
- Boot dimensions – taken from various sources across the web, starting with official, supplemented with other reliable websites (like ridc.org.uk), supplemented by user-generated content – images of measurements from forums or social networks. It’s also used for filtering, comparison and to give you a good idea of the car’s suitability for camping.
- Comfort rating – a benchmark used to simplify the car’s comfort & driving score based on equipment, furnishings, handling, safety, and costs ratings from external sources like whatcar.com, carwow.co.uk, autocar.co.uk etc. It gives you an indication of whether the car will drive and feel like a van (low rating) or offer better interior & handling (higher rating). A simple van-like car, for example, a Renault Kangoo is 0.5, a well equipped and comfortable car like a Ford S-Max is a 2. No hard math behind it, just an indicator, f.e. 0.5= basic car that does the job, 1.5 = hey, that’s nice to have!, 2 = oooh, comfyyyy.
- Consumption – I take the average 2017 consumption or closest match from Fuelly.com, or if none is available, from other sources like honestjohn.co.uk. If there are not enough cars for a single year, an average for several years is calculated.
- NimbleCamper rating – a weighted score of boot length (45% weight), boot height (40%), consumption (10%) and comfort (5%). The logic of weighing length & height higher than consumption and comfort is – headroom is important when you sleep in the back of the car, so is the length. A comfy ride is a factor, but you can sleep in a big car that’s not that comfy, however, it’s much harder to camp/sleep in a comfy car that’s too small. Read more about the NimbleCamper rating and criteria here.
- a note for EVs (electric vehicles) – for consumption, I am using the Fuel Equivalent Consumption estimate by ev-database.org. It is usually much lower than combustion engines, giving EVs an advantage – which I think is fair. They do have a small disadvantage in terms of having to plan your trips around charging stations + longer waiting time, but that will get better over time. More charging stations, faster chargers and better batteries. Therefore I am not adjusting the calculation for EVs in any way.
- In short: a litre of petrol contains about 8.9 kWh of energy. If we divide the energy consumption of an EV by this (f.e. 16 kWh/100 km divided by 8.9 kWh/litre), we get equivalent fuel consumption of 1.8 l/100 km.
- EV stats – taken from ev-database.org
Lukas –
NimbleCamper rating: 3.2/5 – good size (albeit not the biggest of MPVs), comfortable, but more expensive to run, no tailgate.