It's a Van! It's a Transit Connect! It's a Diesel!
Ford continues the trend of bringing diesel to a few of its vehicle platform.
For 2019, Ford has given its smallest van, the Transit Connect, a facelift. It consists of a revised front fascia and an updated dashboard. But the most interesting update is more than skin deep. Under the new hood you'll be able to get two new engines, one powered by gasoline, or, for the first time in the U.S., one powered by diesel.
Ford's smallest minivan has just gotten a new update. And while it's got some changes to the skin, the biggest changes are underneath. There are two brand new engines available. One of them is a naturally aspirated two-liter gasoline engine. But the really big news is the Turbo Charge 1.5-liter diesel engine.
It's first of its kind for transit connect in America. And it's pretty much all new. It's only shown up on the European Ford EcoSport diesel a few months ago. That diesel engine makes about 120 horsepower, about 200 pound feet of torque. And Ford is targeting a highway fuel economy of about 30 MPG. These aren't fully official yet. They still have some certification to be done. But that's what Ford is going for.
The big changes on the nose are primarily in the headlights and the grill. It's got more of that Ford Fusion sort of almost Aston Martin shaped front grille. It makes it a little bit more aggressive looking and meaner looking. On the interior, of the main changes are an updated instrument panel and also this new touchscreen.
On the previous model Ford Transit Connect, this touch screen was kind of sunk down into a little alcove. They've brought it out. And now it just kind of sits here atop the center stack. The other noticeable change is the USB ports. They've been moved from out of the center armrest down here, where they're more exposed, easier to get to, easy to plug-in and unplug. For more coverage of everything at the Chicago Auto Show and more, check out Autoblog.com.
