Ford Kuga

There’s a lot to like about Ford. Recently enough I have had some exceptional cars from them in the Focus ST and the Fiesta ST especially. Their non-ST cars are impressive too. The current Fiesta for example is very good and their use of EcoBoost technology is really fantastic. I’ve said it before - they understand how to get more from less. This week I’m looking at the new Ford Kuga and at first glance this is quiet an attractive looking car, it’s roomy as hell and the engine isn’t bad either.

Inside
The interior of the Ford Kuga is very spacious and the model I drove will comfortably get five adults in between the front and the back seats. Legroom and headroom are by no means an issue within this SUV. When Ford decided to create a new Kuga one of the items they were hoping to tackle was the intrusion of road noise and my finding was that things were much better in this department.

All controls are easy to utilise and if you get Ford Sync as part of the package you will be suitably impressed by its controllability. Ford Sync allows you to go hands free in terms of the phone, but not only that it has a good voice command system which works quiet well. Another impressive capability of Ford SYNC is that it can read texts to you from your phone.

Ford SYNC also has the capability of contacting emergency services from your phone if the airbags are triggered in the car or if the fuel pump is cut off.  While reading up on this I also notice the following on Ford’s Irish website, “If you have an accident abroad, Emergency Assistance is particularly clever. Thanks to its unique linguistic capabilities, it can talk to you in your chosen language, but speak to the Emergency Services in their local language. This extra peace of mind is free for the lifetime of your vehicle.” Thankfully I was not in a position to actually test this particular part of the system.

Outside
In terms of its exterior this is a good looking vehicle, especially in Frozen White or Panther Black. I drove their Ginger Ale Kuga, and I’m not a fan of this particular colour – this of course could be somebody else’s favourite.

The Zetec model I drove has nice looking twin exhaust tailpipes and body colour housings, spoiler and door handles. As standard the Kuga comes with 17” alloy wheels with a “luster nickel” finish. All of these items make for a good looking SUV.

To drive
I drove their 2WD 2.0 litre TDCi version and I was impressed by the 140hp delivered through this car. Steering of the vehicle is much better than its predecessor while the suspension has been improved. On account of the dimensions of the vehicle there is a bit of body-roll on corners, but I wouldn’t describe it as being drastic. I also found the manual gearbox to be precise and it offered smooth gear changes.

The model I drove offer 0-100kmph in 9.2 seconds and offers a maximum speed of 190 kmph.

Price, CO2, etc.
In terms of price the Kuga starts off at €33,450. The model I drove burns 139 g/co2 per km which means it falls into tax band B2.

The CBG.ie verdict
I did enjoy this car. It’s not the most exciting vehicle I’ve ever driven but it is a nice looking, well performing, vehicle. The vehicle I had had keyless everything, sadly I was caught out on two occasions where the boot opened while I was inside my house – thankfully I have honest neighbours who knocked on the door to let me know!