Ford Kuga review - Practicality, comfort and boot space
The Ford Kuga offers great family practicality, although it’s not the most spacious in its class
As well as offering good all-round visibility, the Kuga is full of neat practical touches that make life a bit easier. All versions feature a heated windscreen, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, as well as a sliding function for the rear seats. Ford’s Easy Fuel system is also included, which makes it virtually impossible to fill-up with the wrong fuel. It’s a capless set-up - useful because you don’t have to handle a grimy fuel cap at the filling station.
During our own test of the Kuga, we did find the Titanium model’s sports seats to be fairly uncomfortable. While they have plenty of adjustability, the seat base is almost completely flat which will affect comfort - particularly on longer journeys.
Size
The Kuga is 4,626mm in length, 1,690mm in height and 1,882mm wide (without mirrors). In comparison to the Toyota RAV4 it’s a little bigger in all areas, while the Kuga is noticeably larger than its Skoda Karoq rival which is 4,382mm long, 1,841mm wide and stands 1,603mm tall.
Leg room, head room & passenger space
There’s plenty of room upfront in the Kuga and, although overall space isn’t as good as the Skoda Karoq or Toyota RAV4, it’s more than adequate for a family of four. Accommodating another passenger in the middle rear seat might be a bit of a squeeze, but head and leg room are generally fine.
Boot
With sliding rear seats, the Kuga offers the versatility to prioritise space for passengers or luggage. Having the seats in their normal position gives 412 litres of boot space - not much more than a Ford Focus - but that increases to 526 litres with the second-row seats moved forward, which just outshines the Skoda Karoq’s 521 litres.
If you fold the Kuga’s rear seats flat you’ll be able to access up to 1,534 litres of load space, although this is trumped by the Karoq’s 1,605 litres (1,810 litres if the Skoda’s VarioFlex rear seats are removed). There’s no lip to load heavy items over, though, and the empty spare wheel cavity gives more space to stash things away, or you can fill it with an optional space-saver wheel
Towing
The towing capacity of the Ford Kuga naturally depends on which engine you choose. The maximum braked trailer towing capacity ranges from 1,500kg for the PHEV model to 1,800kg for the 1.5-litre petrol. The now-discontinued 4x4 diesel had the original highest capacity at 2,100kg.
