According to most of the articles i've read about the Transit state that they will be sharing power train and other components with the pickups. You can get the Ecoboost motor from the pickups for sure, and the same tranny. One of the selling points they were spewing was that due to component sharing service and parts wait times would decrease compared to the Sprinter. I wish they would just bring the whole thing as is from Europe as a proven package.
I have to respect Ford overall for not taking any bail out money. I like the pricing point on a lot of Ford vehicles, I know they sell very well but just not to me. They have had lots of good ideas, just poor implementation. Im not really a car guy i've always been into trucks, so that's what I have most experience with. I've found Ford trucks to drive like your sitting on a giant red rubber dodge ball. You sort of squish your way over bumps down the road, roll around corners and when you hit the brakes your welcomes to a soft unresponsive pedal. Overall there's really nothing all that wrong other then a total lack of precision. Overall drive impression; uninspired.
I won't make any analysis final or otherwise until I can get into the Transit and drive it for my self. I really hope it drives well, I want to like it. I don't want a Promaster, but as a business owner I have to do what is right for the business. I've even looked at the Nissan NV's but they are slightly too short and the fuel economy stinks.
I welcome all competitors to the Sprinter. MB designed and built a fairly good niche product and enjoyed their full market share for years without actually improving the product. The dealers (few Sprinter ones that exist) all know they are the only game in town and priced accordingly. That is going to change, and that change needed to come. Im going into my MB dealer today to "speak" with the general manager about some lack of service and over charging by the service dept. I expect to be asked to leave when im done, but I've had it with them.
