Ford Kuga

• Rating:
• Latest deal price: from £18,197 to £25,352
• For : Good-looking, car-like drive, punchy economical diesels
• Against : Thirsty petrol, not very spacious or flexible

Styling

The Ford Kuga was one of the first good-looking SUVs, combining a modified Focus-style face with a pretty shape. It received a very minor facelift in 2010 with a new grille and bumpers. There are plenty of colours to choose from and some chunky alloy wheels, as well as Ford’s Individual tailoring option, which allows you to add styling enhancements to the flagship Titanium model.

Interior

Well put together and easy to use, the cabin of the Ford Kuga is a pleasant place to be, even if it’s been superseded in styling terms by newer models like the Focus and C-MAX. The driving position is raised enough to give you a commanding view, but you still feel cocooned, so it’s quite sporty too. It may be pricey, but you do get some nice kit with goodies like keyless start, an MP3 audio connection and alloy wheels standard on all models. Titanium cars add leather trim and dual-zone climate control.

Driving and Performance

The Kuga is by far the best compact SUV to drive, as it feels like a raised Focus, with a sharp turn-in to corners, accurate, well-weighted steering and decent agility. The ride is reasonably firm, but it’s not uncomfortable, and the pay off is limited body roll in corners. Four-wheel drive versions are capable on slippery surfaces like the odd grassy car park and snowy track. But this is not a Land Rover Freelander and it’s more suited to tarmac. Front-drive models are very good and well worth considering if you’re not likely to get stranded come winter. As for engines, the 2.5-litre five-cylinder is very thirsty and not much faster than the 161bhp 2.0 TDCI, but our pick is the 138bhp diesel. It’s fast enough and frugal too.

MPG and running costs

It doesn't benefit from stop-start like more modern Fords, but diesel Kugas are still economical, with the 138bhp returning 47.1mpg and emitting 159g/km of CO2. Go for the front-wheel-drive version and you’ll see returns of 47.9mpg and 154g/km. Tyres are likely to be more expensive to replace than on a regular hatchback, but apart from that running costs should be reasonable.

Practicality

This is where the Kuga surprisingly falls down a little: don’t expect it to be much more flexible than a regular Focus hatchback. Rear seat space is only average for the class and the boot measures just 360 litres – about the same as its hatchback cousin. Folding the seats down extends this to 1,355 litres, although it’s clear rivals like a Nissan X-Trail are bigger and more practical. Interestingly, the Kuga replacement will be slightly larger, addressing the only serious complaint customers have with the current car.

Safety and reliability

Like every other member of the Focus family, the Kuga gets traction control and electronic stability control as standard, plus front, side and curtain airbags, while a five-star maximum score in the Euro NCAP crash test underlines its safety. Build quality is very strong, so we wouldn’t expect many problems as the vehicle ages, although some early cars have suffered from a hard brake pedal during warm-up, a problem which should have been solved by a safety recall in 2009.

Model Variants and Specifications

• Ford Kuga Zetec 2.0TDCi 140PS 2WD £20995
• Ford Kuga Zetec 2.0TDCi 140PS AWD £22495
• Ford Kuga Titanium 2.0TDCi 140PS 2WD £22995
• Ford Kuga Zetec 2.0TDCi 140PS AWD Powershift Auto £23995
• Ford Kuga Titanium 2.0TDCi 163PS AWD £24995
• Ford Kuga Titanium 2.5T 200PS AWD £26045
• Ford Kuga Titanium 2.0TDCi 163PS AWD Powershift £26495
• Ford Kuga Titanium 2.5T 200PS AWD Automatic £27295