It may have taken a while to reach South Africa, long enough in fact for news of an all new Ford Kuga to circulate through Europe and news that Mazda is no longer producing its turbo charged, crossover, SUV equivalent, the CX-7. Its bold design and sporting pretensions, however, may very well assure that it’s still a big splash in the local soft roader, sports, SUV segment.
Ford’s ‘kinetic design’ has become a recognised part of the company’s DNA and the Kuga’s taut lines and full surfaces provide a crucial element to its appeal. You can think of the Kuga as a taller, high riding, all-wheel drive version of Ford’s Focus ST. The Kuga adopts a big trapezoidal grille with swept-back headlamps and muscular lines down the bonnet. When viewed in profile, the Kuga sports a raised waistline at the rear window and a side ‘undercut’ line that further highlights sporty intent. The relatively short body overhangs front and rear complement the rear diffuser-like skid plate, which also houses twin exhausts. Big wheel arches are filled with 17-inch wheels that have been specially designed for the Kuga. Brushed aluminium effect roof rails are available on our ‘Trend’ specified test model, but you’ll have to turn to the ‘Titanium’ model if you want the panoramic sunroof.
The interior of the Kuga has a crisp spaciousness about it, thanks to its gloss finished inlay and converging centre-stack that combines with a high seating position. The ‘Ford Power’ starter button in the centre of the dash also makes the Kuga’s sporty, turbocharged undercurrent immediately obvious. On our Trend model we had the convenience of Bluetooth phone, MP3/CD player, cruise control, voice control and a trip computer.
Ford won’t mind us saying that the interior does feel a little dated, however, with the air vents atop the centre-stack and the steering wheel audio controls looking like they came off the old Ford Focus. 6-way power adjustable, leather seats on the Trend model do slightly improve the premium feel, although they could be a little more supportive. A softer touch material on the steering wheel itself wouldn’t go unnoticed on the next Kuga either. A full array of airbags combines with Anti Rollover Mitigation (ARM), ABS, ESP, Traction Control, EBD and Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) to ensure the Kuga has a full 5-star safety rating.
In terms of practicality, the second row seating has a 60:40 ratio split and can fold completely flat to maximise rear stowage to a length of 1 578 mm for your mountain bike, golf clubs, etc. A commodious luggage capacity of 1 355-litres in two-seat mode and 360-litres in four-seat mode therefore results. The Kuga also offers a split folding tailgate (a-la Range Rover) to aid convenient access to the back. Four clever tie-down points are located across the rear seat back and the inner rear panel of the car to help tether loose items.
The Ford Kuga’s power comes courtesy of its 147 kW and 320 Nm, 2.5-litre Duratec, 5-cylinder turbo, petrol engine, which offers a distinctive 5-cylinder sound. It also delivers a combined fuel economy figure of 10.3 L/100km and CO2 output of 244 g/km. It is an engine based on the raucous Ford Focus ST of course and an engine so raucous in fact, that its been replaced by a far more environmentally-friendly 4-cylinder in the 2012 Focus ST. The power unit is mated to a Durashift 5-tronic automatic transmission and sends its power to all four wheels. A Sport mode on the gearbox activates up and downshifts at different shift points.
Ford wanted to bring passenger car-like characteristics into its SUV and Ford’s engineers had a number of targets they wanted to achieve with the Kuga. First off they wanted to avoid a ‘big-car’ feeling despite its high seating position, and they also wanted refinement from the ride quality, but at the same time contained body roll while cornering. To achieve this, Ford used a MacPherson strut front suspension and Ford’s Control Blade independent rear suspension, with extra anti-roll bars and reinforced front and rear control arms and sub-frames.
From driving the Kuga over varying roads, we can report that the work done by the engineers is worthy of praise. It has sharp steering with Ford’s proven Electro-Hydraulic Power Assisted Steering (EHPAS) and this provides plenty of responsiveness through the steering wheel. On a smooth road it’s very good to drive; when you take it on a typical, tarred, but worn back road, it handles well too. The ride quality comes to the fore in this situation due to a high level of structural stiffness and compliant suspension. This does mean, however, that when you do put the Kuga off road, on a corrugated gravel road for instance, that there is inevitably lots of feedback through the suspension and through the steering. It behaves a bit too sportily to be considered comfortable on a gravel road.
The Kuga is therefore mostly on the urban side of its crossover vehicle status. The Ford Kuga in Trend specification costs R385 580 and includes a comprehensive 4-year/120 000km warranty and a 4-yr/80 000km service plan.
What we like…
- Composed chassis that brings a little more enjoyment than expected.
- Solid build and perceived quality.
What we would like…
- The same performance as in the ST. Not cool: the Kuga has less power and more fuel consumption.
- For Ford to have introduced the car a year or two earlier.
| Quick Facts |
|
| Base Price | R389 820 |
| Warranty | 4 year / 120 000 km |
| Service Plan | 4 year / 80 000 km |
| Engine Capacity | 2 521 cm³ |
| No. Of Cylinders | 5-cylinders, In-line |
| Aspiration | Turbocharged |
| Power | 147 kW @ 6 000 r/min |
| Torque | 320 N.m @ 1 600 – 4 000 r/min |
| Transmission | 5-speed Automatic |
| Drive type | All-wheel drive |
| Acceleration | 8.8 seconds (claimed) |
| Top Speed | 205 km/h (claimed) |
| Fuel Consumption | 10.3 l/100km (claimed, combined) |
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