“THAT 6CM LIFT IS NOTICEABLE, BUT IT’S NOT EXACTLY SUV ALTITUDE”
This could go either way. On one hand, it’s a small crossover based on the Fiesta, so it ought to be fun to drive in a way few crossovers are. But on the other, the EcoSport is also a small crossover based on the Fiesta, and that’s pretty rubbish. In fact, across the piece, Ford’s crossovers are pretty spotty. Anyone remember seeing an Edge on British roads? Or a Ka+ Active? Deserved flops, the pair of them, moribund long before they actually pegged it last year.
Spoiler alert: it went the right way. The Puma is at heart a taller, longer Fiesta, and that’s pretty much how it steers and rides. But there needs to be more to it than that, because as runaway sales of the existing small crossovers prove, dynamics have barely registered in buyers’ priorities. F’rinstance 2019 was the EcoSport’s best-ever selling year in the UK, and it will live on after the Puma arrives. Shows how much people listen to me.
Number one, the Puma has some really rather clever ideas around its rear end. Yeah, TG doesn’t normally home in on the boot this far up a road-test. Because boots are boring. But having to leave your stuff behind is boring too. And so is cleaning out the wet carpet of a boot that’s been soiled by muddy gear.
The Puma has a big, deep, rubber-lined box below its boot floor where you can carry your mess. And when the box itself gets too wet, you can simply open a plughole and sluice it out. Even when dry, it’s the biggest and most convenient boot in the small crossover class.
Number two, they added a lot of tech. There’s a digital instrument pack. The auto transmission version has the option of level-two assisted driving, similar to the Juke’s ProPilot. And all Pumas have a permanent internet connection, used for more than just satnav traffic info. If any compatible connected car (and soon there’ll be lots) in the neighbourhood crashes, or skids, or breaks down, it’ll send a warning to the cloud. That’s picked up by the Puma as it approaches, so it’ll warn its driver what’s just round the corner.
Third Puma USP is the engine. Two versions of the three-cylinder have 48-volt mild-hybrid assistance. Works like this. They gave it a bigger turbo for more power – 155bhp is a lot from just a litre – which would normally have made it horribly laggy. But the electric motor kicks in at low revs and fills the hole. When you’re not at full noise, it helps economy too. In other words, more performance at some times, more efficiency at others.
The Puma isn’t too heavy, so the 155bhp engine, especially as it’s torquey and quickwitted, does a decent job. It’s worth revving high as the power keeps swelling toward 6,400rpm, but unfortunately so does the noise.
The steering is very Ford-like, if a bit more rubbery than in a Focus or Fiesta. It’s intuitive and clean, with a bit of feel. The Puma contains cornering roll decently, and balances the grip at the front and back. You can bowl along through a set of tricky bends and get the impression it won’t shirk the challenge.
To be clear, a Fiesta, certainly one with the ST-Line set-up, is simply more fun. So’s a Focus. But for a crossover, this is good. What isn’t so good is the road noise, with some gritty hubbub coming through the tyres. The ride is a bit bobbly, but the suspension accepts hits well enough.
You sit 3cm higher off the floor than in a Fiesta, and the floor is 3cm higher off the road. That 6cm lift is noticeable, but it’s not exactly SUV altitude, and the driving position isn’t too upright. Compared with the Fiesta, the wheelbase is nearly 10cm longer, so you’ve decent rear room. It’s also wider in both body and track, which engineers say was crucial to getting decent cornering out of a tall vehicle.
The layout of the controls is very easy to get your head around, with Ford’s Sync 3 touchscreen neatly handling all the infotainment duties, while separate physical climate controls do their stuff. The digital dials bring things on-trend, and stitched soft-feel plastics on the dashtop and doors impart a higher-end feeling than a VW T-Cross. Talking of which, in a T-Cross you can expand the boot by sliding the rear seat forward. In the Ford you can’t, but you can hinge up the floor over the wet bin to give yourself a space that’s extremely tall.
A decade after the small crossover mania started, we’re at last getting some decent ones. With their new second generations, the Juke, Captur and 2008 have all put most of their former faults behind them. The Puma is as solid an effort as any.