Ford Puma morphs from coupe to crossover
Mini SUVs are all about compromise. But Ford’s new Fiesta-based Puma shows how good they can be
It’s the fizzy 999cc engine you notice first, pulling you forward like a Chihuahua with the scent of love in its nostrils, bowling you along with a broad spread of punch surprising from one so small. And your ears prick up to the effervescent flutter and buzz of three-cylinder combustion, a far more engaging sound than a micro-canine’s yapping. What’s Ford put in this small SUV’s feeding bowl?
Currents – and we’re not talking dried grapes. Ford’s venerable 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine has been modified with 48-volt mild-hybrid technology, where a battery-fed starter-generator can act as a motor and ladle extra torque into the driveline. Chiselling the alternator off the engine and replacing it with the belt-driven integrated starter-generator (BISG) has multiple benefits, from snappier stop-start to fuel saving, but the one that will universally appeal is the enhanced performance. Yes, this is Ford’s equivalent of cycling squad Team Sky’s infamous Jiffy bag, though everything is legit.
You feel the supplemented torque every time you flex your right foot. It makes a tiny three-cylinder engine exhibit the characteristics of a pushrod V8: it feels suciently tractable at low revs that you could spend all day driving around in too high a gear without the engine bogging down. Not that the six-speed manual gearbox is something that discourages interaction: shifts are clean, crisp and close. At medium revs a larger turbocharger takes over, providing decent shove until you reach the 6k rev summit.
In Normal mode, the mild-hybrid system’s focus is on recuperating energy, which is harvested during braking and coasting to replenish the 48-volt lithium-ion battery in the boot. Kick down and the belt whips up a torque overboost of 15lb ft, and on average fuel economy is improved by almost 2mpg. Thank the electric assistance taking the strain off the engine.
It’s obvious when the EcoBoost Hybrid is boosting or hybridising, but Ford of Europe’s first digital instrument binnacle features a Jeremy Vine-style swingometer just in case. It rotates from Tory blue boost (to the right, naturally) back to lefty green when you’re braking or coasting and harnessing energy.
If you’d like another shot of e-boost steroids, fumble for the bank of five microscopic switches somewhere around your knees. Use one button to toggle through the five driving modes – Slippery and Trail adjust the powertrain and braking settings to enhance traction in icy or dicey conditions, Eco optimises economy – and alight on Sport, whereupon the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster glows red and does a jig of animation.
The revs rise and another mini-slug of overboost is there when you punch the throttle, but it’s the steering tweak that’s most welcome. In Normal mode, twist the silken leather steering wheel and the front end reacts responsively, but the action feels light and therefore a touch sloppy. The Normal steering map gets better at speed, but Sport mode irons this out across the board, adding heft and positivity.
This Puma is an ST-Line X, which costs from £23,645 – £3100 more than the entry-level Titanium model. There are no downmarket ⊲
trims at first with the Puma, and your initial engine choice is between two versions of the same 1.0-litre mild-hybrid triple – our car, with its 153bhp, or a 123bhp model.
The base car has good standard safety equipment: the Puma will automatically brake if it anticipates a collision with car, cyclist or pedestrian (or in the aftermath of a crash), and will sound a warning and countersteer if you veer out of lane.
The key inches are 17 for wheels and eight for the central touchscreen, which runs Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; included luxuries number massage seats, wireless smartphone charging and eye-catching DRLs in the headlamps. Also standard is the Megabox, essentially a rectangular recess beneath the boot floor. Ford says it’s ideal for carrying tall items like pot plants or golf bags, or dumping muddy wellies – it has a plughole through which you can hose out sediment. That’s the only advance over Honda’s otherwise identical Ultra Luggage concept from nigh-on 20 years ago. Megabox doesn’t foul a twist-beam rear suspension with bigger shocks and increased stiffness than the related Fiesta’s; up front, the Puma’s body perches on independent MacPherson struts. The ST-Line X has retuned sports suspension, and the ride quality feels taut on 18-inch rims shod with Goodyear Eagle rubber.
Each contact patch acts like a divining rod, feeding back a deep level of detail on the road surface: cats’ eyes can cause a spot of turbulence, and the Puma feels well lashed down over sharp crests. The overall feel is tense but not harsh, and tyre noise is well contained.
However, the rubber doesn’t always feel at ease on a cold, damp morning: scythe into a roundabout, get the power on, and the nose glides off line. But it all comes together in one afternoon stretch across the Dunstable Downs: Normal-mode steering carving sweetly as the nose dips and grips into corners, the charismatic e-boosted engine hustling us along, ride tension dissipated.
Incredibly for a small SUV, it reminds me of a Porsche 911 – because of the curved front wings bookending my field of vision, not because I’ve lost my mind. Talking of Porsches, the design has a hint of mini-Macan, embellished by an undulating shoulder line and exaggerated rear haunch. To these eyes the Puma looks great – particularly from the rear three-quarter.
But Ford could really do with spending a few dollars more on its cabins. There’s some faux-carbon dashboard trim enveloping the digital screens and a trail of red ST-Line upholstery stitching, but otherwise it’s a painfully sober and dull place, occasionally betrayed by some hollow and scratchy plastics. But what you sacrifice in character you gain in spaciousness, with sucient room for six-foot adults in tandem, thanks to thin seats with space beneath to poke your Jimmy Choos.
All told, the Puma is a distinguished newcomer in an undistinguished class. It’s the most fun to drive, extremely eye-catching and packing a really sweet powertrain. To me, a small SUV is a contradiction in terms: either enjoy the superior agility and frugality of a supermini, or upgrade to a bigger SUV if you need genuine spaciousness and versatility. But if you really must, the Puma is the one to have.
The Puma is a distinguished newcomer in an undistinguished class. It’s the most fun to drive, packing a really sweet powertrain