Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Ford Kuga has technology and comfort

Post Thumbnail

When it was launched back in 2008 Ford’s Kuga was part of the first wave of modern SUVs.

These ditched true off roading prowess for a much more dynamic on-road drive and more refined manners overall.

The first generation version won plaudits for its sporty handling and for generally being great fun to drive. It was cramped in the back though, and had a small boot.

The second generation model addressed those issues, increasing size and thereby boosting practicality, as well as upping interior quality.That car has since been given a mid-life refresh, bringing us what we have here.

Smart styling, an upmarket interior and lots of technology are among its calling cards.

There’s one petrol engine and two diesels offered in the Kuga, although they do come in a variety of power outputs. The 1.5 EcoBoost petrol comes in 120hp, 150hp and 182hp guises. There’s a 1.5 diesel with 120hp and a 2.0 diesel that can be had with either 150 or 180hp. Front or four-wheel drive options are on the table.

Prices start around the £22,000 mark and the car I spent a week with was one of the most expensive versions. My 180hp diesel engine in high spec Titanium X trim with automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive weighed in at £33,445 – and that’s before a couple of thousand pounds of options were added.

It wanted for nothing though – full leather seats, panoramic glass roof, power tailgate, xenon headlights, electric heated seats and all manner of other gadgetry abound.

For those who need their Kuga with even greater luxury there’s a Vignale version – Vignale being Ford’s luxury arm.

The Kuga’s now a much more well rounded car than the original. Adults can fit in the back, dogs can go in the boot, and there are more and cleverer cubby holes and stowage areas.

Ride and refinement are much better too. I took my Kuga up to Pitlochry and it’s proved to be a comfortable cruiser along the A9.

What’s lost, unfortunately, is some of the pin-sharp handling that made the original such fun. It’s still handles quite well but it’s rare for a Ford not to be the best driver’s car in its category and Mazda’s dynamic CX-5 certainly offers greater involvement.

Not everyone cares about chucking an SUV around a bend, though, and a drive down a few of Dundee’s residential streets shows the Kuga’s a popular enough car – plenty of driveways have one parked on them.

The Kuga is up against some tremendously talented opposition, including the aforementioned CX-5, Nissan’s Qashqai and Hyundai’s Tucson.

The latest round of updates keep it in the game.

 

Vital stats:

Price: £33,345

0-62mph: 10 seconds

Top speed: 124mph

Economy: 54.3mpg

CO2 emissions: 134g/km