Ford MS-RT Transits.

"Svend" (svend) 12/08/2019 at 01:28 • Filed to: None

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Welcome, friends and fellow van-lovers, to the MS-RT R185. Wicked-looking thing isn’t it?

You’ll no doubt be aware of MS-RT by now. The South Wales-based company was born through a collaboration between Van-Sport and the folks in charge of Ford’s factory World Rally Championship team – M-Sport. Most of its work involves cosmetic customisation of different Transits.

Light Commercial Vehicle Sales are booming in the UK too, but MS-RT says it’s building this limited-edition R185 in response to customer desire for even more bespoke models than it was producing before.

So, the R185. Based on the Transit Custom, just 40 examples will be produced. Like other MS-RT products it gets a full bodykit with a front splitter, a new rear diffuser and extended wheelarches. It also gets a slate grey paint job with those stand-out red accents – because every cool van must have red accents.

Elsewhere there are 18-inch OZ Racing wheels and a Maxhaust system which pumps the sound of a sports exhaust through the van’s speakers. The interior also gets an upgrade, with a full carbon-fibre steering wheel and some red-stitched leather.

Sadly, nothing has been done to the Transit’s internals, although customers can choose their base vehicle – so short or long wheelbase, and manual or auto gearboxes are all on offer.

The price? Well, things kick off at £37,995. Still, imagine this thing with an engine conversion. What would you stick in there Internet?

Like the rest of the MS-RT units, these are cosmetic additions with no performance gains, though there are plenty of companies willing to offer their tuning and performance upgrade services for a fee.

Others in the Ford Transit range are Transit Connect.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > Svend 12/08/2019 at 01:43

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I’ll take one of the Connects. Just... not with those rims.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Svend 12/08/2019 at 01:59

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I’ll have mine in 470E dual cab chassis manual AWD and a super single conversion , thank you my good Svend ...

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Svend 12/08/2019 at 02:22

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O.o

wtf ford....stop making me love you

pip bip - choose Corrour > Svend 12/08/2019 at 03:21

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insert a Ford  V8

Svend > pip bip - choose Corrour 12/08/2019 at 03:49

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Ford did make a factory Connect RS with a 2.2 from a Focus RS.

M-Sport made a one off Transit Connect, rally spec for a customer with nitrosoxide.

https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/ford/15-st/first-drive  

The paintwork is an accident. Ford UK had this black and bestriped Transit Courier sat in its workshop, minding its own business. Most of these things flit about the land powered by a 1.5-litre turbodiesel engine producing around 100bhp.All of a sudden, someone had the bright idea of swapping the smallest Transit’s engine for another motor. Also a 1.5-litre, also turbocharged. But instead of being a diesel workhorse, it’s the fabulous 1.5-litre three-cylinder zinger from the Ford Fiesta ST. Top Gear’s 2018 Car of the Year and quite simply the best car of any type you can buy for less than twenty grand. Is it fast? It’s seriously quick, but the best bit is that it sounds even faster. Ford says it didn’t rip up a Mountune’d Fiesta ST donor car, so this van’s running the standard 197bhp / 214lb ft, not the upgraded 222bhp / 250lb ft. But with no weight whatsoever over the back wheels, and that giant echochamber of cargo bay right behind the driver’s head, the Transit Courier ST’s three-pot bark is riotous.

Louder and more outrageous than the Fiesta ST? Yep. Not sure that was the point Ford was working towards. Whoops. Bet the rest of it’s a bit of a shambles, though. In many ways, it’s not. Where we’ve got to be kind is in the fit and finish. This thing is very much an out-of-hours, don’t-tell-the-boss project. We love sneaky skunkworks silliness like this. It’s folks who love cars and have a ‘what if we tried that ?’ attitude that gave us secret-squirrel legends like the Lamborghini Miura and VW Golf GTI.And now that same impishness has given us a Transit van that can go from 0-62mph in six seconds.

Wheelerguy > Svend 12/08/2019 at 04:17

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How about a GT500 motor on the Transit Connect, though? And full WRC suspension + gearbox conversion? I just made the Supervan 4.

AndrewC > Svend 12/08/2019 at 11:33

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Does it come with a high cap roof? Something for full sized adults not Hobbits and T rolls in the UK ? Teamsters in the USA might enjoy a turbo charged or super charged 2.5/3.8 liter, with large enough cooling   so as to get on the highways and not burn up in 3 0k miles Longer and much higher will work great!

Hell who am I kidding we can’t have anything like that imported to the united states for at least 25yrs it would destroy the american RV industry we can barely sell a camper under 22 feet without calling it a 3 person tail gating RV with a weak power system for a USB port and forget boondocking with overnite parking that’s almost illegal in most cities and local parks

Svend > AndrewC 12/08/2019 at 11:52

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Lol. No, they may look small but full size adults do fit easily in them. 

Where you get the Transit Connect and Transit proper.

We have the Fiesta van, Transit Courier, Transit Connect, Transit Custom and Transit proper.

AndrewC > Svend 12/08/2019 at 11:57

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W OW now I recognize it LooK 2007 Chevy HHR “heritage hightop roof” I have one on my driveway 30 mpg two seat I installed a 2nd battery with a 3500 watt inverter and a 100 watt solar panel two camp chairs and table sweet you guys nailed it!

coqui70 > Svend 12/08/2019 at 15:02

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Hmmm - I wonder if the Ford 3.0 turbo V6 from the Edge/Explorer fits? Add the AWD system from the Fusion and you got yourself a contender.

i86hotdogs > Svend 12/09/2019 at 17:20

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These things are sweet, except this:

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Enough with the faux audio. Put active valves on it or don’t bother with the audio exhaust.

This needs the special tuned ecoboost V6 from the GT.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Svend 12/22/2019 at 21:34

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Ford could make a killing selling that tiny Transit here for businesses who don’t need a full sized van. I never knew that existed, and the mid sized van market here is essentially nonexistent. Its this, or the much smaller Nissan NV.

Svend > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 12/22/2019 at 22:06

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With them being vans, Ford won’t want to take sales from the other Transits.

The Courier is rather close to the small Connect and the Custom in long wheel base is too close to the full size Transit.

Even if VW were to offer the VW Caddy or Caddy Maxi, it's too close to the Connect to bring in a smaller or larger Connect offering like the Courier or Custom.