The Ford Tourneo Connect shares most of its strengths and weaknesses with its big brother, the Grand Tourneo Connect.
Weaknesses? The biggest one has to the low towing limit of just 900kg – not a problem if you own a trailer tent, but a deal-breaker if you holiday in a conventional caravan.
You might expect a 1.0-litre engine to be a weakness, too, but the turbocharged Ecoboost petrol punches above its modest cubic capacity, pulling the trailer from 30-60mph in 19.1 seconds. It reached 70mph in fourth gear, but wouldn’t hold that speed in sixth.
In the lane-change test the car’s stability systems could be felt intervening early, working to keep the car on course even with the trailer sliding around behind it. Stability at motorway speeds was also very good, but so it should be when towing such a light trailer.
The hill-start test was more of a challenge. The handbrake did its job well, but plenty of revs and careful balancing of clutch and throttle were needed to pull to the top of the 1-in-6 slope.
With a massive 624 litres of space for bags our holiday luggage was rattling around with room to spare, and the rock-bottom price tag makes the Tourneo Connect very good value.
