Ford, VW, and Peugeot Delivery Vans Drag Race, American Horsepower Doesn't Disappoint

Correct, it’s delivery van drivers. Can you imagine a drag race between three such vehicles? In case you didn’t, there’s the internet for you. Spoiler: some of the vehicles depicted might be unfamiliar to our American readers – at least in name – but it’s all the same, regardless. It has four wheels, a motor, and a tranny; what’s the difference if it’s called this or that?

Three very blue-collared commercial vans take it out against each other at the racetrack, and it’s France versus Germany versus the United States (I guess?). A Peugeot, a Volkswagen, and a Ford go head-to-head-to-head (three of them), courtesy of carwow YouTube host Mat Watson and a couple of his close friends.

So, there’s an Expert, a Transporter, and a Transit - and all share a common denominator: the inline four-cylinder diesel upfront sending power to the front wheels. The Ford Transit is the weakest of the bunch, with 172 PS and 360 Nm (roughly 170 hp and 266 lb-ft). Not only is it internal combustion outgunned, but it is also gravitationally challenged, with a body mass of 2.2 tons. It has an automatic gearbox with eight forward ranges.

Next up on the horsepower and torque hierarchy is the Peugeot Expert, with 183 PS and 400 Nm (180 hp, 295 lb-ft). Six speeds automatically shift, sending power to the front wheels to pull along 1.7 tons of cargo-hauling vehicles of French origin. With the lightweight body and superior performance from the powerplant, it should be a sure bet against Ford.

However, the VW Transporter is the bookies' favorite, with 207 PS and 450 Nm (204 hp, 332 lb-ft), a dual-clutch seven-speed automatic transmission, and two tons of curb weight. And the paper is right, for once – the VW product absolutely tramples the adversaries, with a quarter-mile personal best of 16.8 seconds.

Now, that’s not exactly unexpected, given the brick-like streamlining of the thing. Still, it is a full half-second quicker than the Ford and eleven-tenths (1.1 seconds) better than the Peugeot. For some reason, the Blue Oval underdog beat the croissant out of the lighter, more powerful van from France. The Ford finished the 1,320-foot delivery in 17.3 seconds, while the Peugeot Expert took its time and crossed the line 17.7 seconds after the start signal.

What’s even more intriguing is the fact that the lower mass didn’t do the Peugeot any good in the braking test – it lost by two parking spaces, while the Ford and the VW stopped cheek-to-jowl. Again, the Transit deserves the accolades, as it won the stopping test despite being much heavier than its rivals.