Clearly, recognisably, there is a van beneath the Tourneo. But there is also – somewhat more distantly – the Focus, too, and the Kuga.
That’s because the Connect family is based on Ford’s current Global C platform, which, among other things, means that the car gets a rear torsion beam rather than the leaf spring design that featured on the previous model. Not that the shared commonality of some of the underpinning architecture is going to have the neighbours fooled.
The Transit lineage is all too obvious – if for no other reason than the squared-off rear end of the Grand version tested so completely dwarfs practically everything else in the class, except maybe the equally gargantuan Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life.
The car – and despite its appearance, we feel comfortable calling it that – is 4818mm nose to tail in long-wheelbase format (as distinct from the shorter standard Tourneo Connect), making it about the same length as a Galaxy, but also almost 8cm taller.
That space, unsurprisingly, is central to the Grand Tourneo’s appeal, as are the dual sliding rear doors and huge tailgate that permit easy access to it. The third row of seats is actually a £240 option, but once chosen, the big Ford is a genuine and pretty much unrivalled seven-seater.
The front seats get height adjustment and a centre armrest, pleasingly. The second row of seats doesn’t slide, but the seatbacks fold down on to the bases, two-thirds/one-third, and can from there can be pushed lower, to sink on to the floor.
The rear two seats are separate and slide fore and aft. To fold them, the bases are flipped over and the seatbacks drop down on to them. It’s better to slide them forward before folding them, though, otherwise their covers can interfere with the tailgate. In seven-seat guise, the boot floor is higher, but it also means the load bay is flat along its whole length.
Fold them all down and there’s 2050mm of flat load length capable of swallowing 2620 litres – nearly 300 litres more than in even a Galaxy.
Moreover, with the most powerful 118bhp variant of the 1.5-litre Duratorq diesel engine and a six-speed manual gearbox fitted, the Tourneo will tow an additional 845kg along behind it while a 99bhp version, with a five-speed manual ’box, completes the oil-burner range. If you are after a petrol version then the lighter Tourneo Connect may be the answer as it can be had with the 99bhp 1.0-litre, three-cylinder EcoBoost motor.
