The Ford Tourneo Connect is one of those vehicles that pretends to be a car - or, more specifically, an MPV - when in fact it's not much more than a slightly tarted-up van with extra seats and windows.That's not meant to be dismissive. You may not find the idea appealing, but I do. I like vans, though I don't know much about them, and I like cars that are based on them. They are very roomy and they don't cost much, which to my mind is an excellent combination.How roomy? Well, I'm six foot three tall, and the Tourneo Connect has so much headroom that I wouldn't feel constrained even if I grew a set of antlers. And when the tailgate is open I can walk under it without crouching. I can also close it easily, and if you happen to be shorter than I am you'll be able to do this too, thanks to a handily placed strap.There's plenty of space for high people in the back seats, which you get to, in the manner of other Ford MPVs, by opening sliding doors.The rear window is so large that this is the only vehicle I can remember driving in which I could usefully set the interior mirror in different positions on different roads - up a bit for motorways, where it's handy to be able to see a long way behind you, down a bit in towns, where it's more useful to be able to see nearby objects.The platform is the same as that used for the Focus, but don't expect Focus-like levels of quality. The interior plastics are very ordinary, and the noise of the test car's 1.6-litre TDCi diesel engine never faded into the background. If you have a problem with this, just say to yourself, "It's roomy and it's cheap," every twenty miles or so.If the Focus connection has led you to believe that the Tourneo Connect may also be good to drive (as Focuses are unless Ford ruins them by fitting unnecessarily large wheels) you can forget that too. My biggest disappointment, which was already causing me to cry, "Woe is me!" within half a mile of shutting the door behind me on my first trip, is that the front end is far too bouncy, as if someone had forgotten to fit the shock absorbers.When I heard I was going to be testing this car I really thought I would have a great time behind the wheel, but it just didn't happen. And this has nothing to do with the fact that the Tourneo Connect is essentially a van - it's because Ford hasn't got the suspension set-up right. Big disappointment.In the unlikely event that you start running out of places to put things, there's a large plastic tray hanging under the roof right at the front of the car. There's no way of closing it, but an object lying on it could fall out only during a burst of violent forward acceleration, and that's not going to happen.No Tourneo has anything like enough power for this, particularly not the less powerful of the 1.6 TDCi models (as tested here) which can muster up only 94bhp regardless of how hard you beat it.Obviously, it's not very quick, but it performed as well as I thought it needed to in all conditions, including a long motorway run.Combined fuel economy is officially 56.5mpg, and I dare say you could match that with a lot of forward planning and a lack of urgency. The trip computer told me I averaged 49.8mpg, and although my calculated figure was a considerably more modest 46.1 I don't think this is bad for such a tall vehicle.The Style trim level is the most basic in the range, which partly explains the low £14,795 list price (plus £360 for metallic paint if you want that). There's no air-conditioning, and although there's a button with "PHONE" written on it, all that happens when you press it is that a message comes up on the central display saying "NO PHONE".You also have to make do with 16" steel wheels, though that's fine. Nothing wrong with a set of steels as long as you're not trying to impress anyone. The specification does include DAB digital radio (with a voice control function), two 12v power points (one in the front, the other in the back) and Ford's clever Easy Fuel system in which the fuel filler cover also acts as the cap.Unfortunately there's no spare wheel, so you have to rely on the stupid tyre repair kit or buy a spare yourself. At least there's plenty of room for it. Engine 1596cc, 4 cylinders Power 94bhp Transmission 5-speed manual Fuel/CO2 56.5mpg / 130g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 15.2 seconds Top speed 100mph Price £14,795 Details correct at publication date
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