MS-RT R-Spec Transit Custom 2018 UK first drive

The MS-RT R-Spec Transit Custom is certainly unlike any other Ford Transit we’ve ever come across.

Based on Ford’s regular Transit Custom - the best-selling van so far in 2018 - the R-Spec takes that winning formula of car-like handling, a punchy diesel engine and serious load-lugging capacity and, erm, adds to it. Rather significantly.

Before we delve into those additions, though, let’s talk about the company responsible for bringing the R-Spec Transit Custom into existence. Based in south Wales, MS-RT is a collaboration between Van-Sport and motorsport icon Malcolm Wilson that specialises in turning regular Ford commercial vehicles - Ford Rangers and Transits in particular - into something else entirely.

That something else, in the case of the R-Spec, is a van that resembles the sort of vehicle Darth Vader might use to move house. MS-RT has fitted it with an extreme bodykit it says is inspired by those fixed to the cars run by Wilson’s Ford-backed M-Sport rally team, as well as 20in OZ Racing alloys shod in 255/40-section Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S rubber. It’s a menacing-looking thing, particularly when finished in black.

That’s not to say the changes made to the R-Spec are purely cosmetic. Eibach springs lower its ride height, while the standard 2.0-litre four-cylinder Ecoblue diesel engine has been tuned to produce 205bhp and 359lb ft of torque. MS-RT has also equipped the R-Spec with uprated brakes, as well cosseting bucket seats up front. There’s a twin sports-exhaust system, too, to ensure you’ll hear the R-Spec coming long before you see it. It really is that loud.

Driving the R-Spec Transit Custom is certainly a novel experience. It’s also one that - unfortunately - wears thin after an extended period at the wheel. This is down to the fact that it’s a van - so it’s never going to be the most comfortable vehicle to drive long distance – and the rumble from that exhaust.

Don’t get us wrong, that rumble certainly sounds cool when you first start the van up. It’s brash, attention-grabbing and almost reminiscent of the noise an older Subaru Impreza WRX would’ve made. Only louder. Trundling around town is an entertaining undertaking, if only because you can really enjoy the sound this van makes under partial throttle, as well as the shocked looks cast towards the van by anyone you drive past.

Get the R-Spec up to motorway cruising speeds, though, and the sound doesn’t exactly go away. Volume-wise, it doesn’t quite sit on the edge of being deafening, but it did leave this tester with a bit of a headache after a blast down to Beachy Head and back. Luckily, there is a smartphone app you can download to alter how much noise the exhaust makes, so we’d advise getting that if you’re planning on forking out the £35,995 (excluding VAT and RFL) required to get your hands on one.