Ford Puma ST
It’s inspired a 500bhp rally car, but does our 197bhp Puma also deliver?
WHEN JOHN BARKER AND I DROVE UP TO M-sport’s headquarters in Cumbria a few weeks ago to interview and photograph Malcolm Wilson for evo’s My Life & Cars series (issue 298), it seemed fitting to take our then-new Ford Puma ST long-termer. After all, where better to photograph it than among its Puma Hybrid Rally1 relatives in the workshop where they’re built?
My intention was to return our ST to its keeper, Sam Jenkins, just a couple of days later. However, a fault with my own long-termer, the Skoda Kodiaq VRS (see p141), meant I ended up staying in the Ford, so as I write, I still have it. The Puma had just 300 miles on the clock when I first borrowed it. I’ve since added another 4000 to that. Sorry, Sam…
On first acquaintance I wasn’t bowled over by the exterior styling of the Puma. The front and rear end are quite bulbous, and with that large front grille and high-set headlights the crossover vibes are strong. Suffice to say, the lower, wider M-sport machine looks far more purposeful and appealing.
Thankfully our Puma doesn’t disappoint once inside. Its interior design is very similar to that of the Fiesta ST, with its familiar entertainment system, sports steering wheel and bucket seats. So while it’s hardly a glitzy or glamorous space, attention has been paid where it counts.
The Puma ST has four drive modes: Eco, Normal, Sport and Track. I’ve covered miles in all of these now and have found Sport to be my favourite, as it gives a more immediate throttle response than you get in the sluggish Normal setting. It also opens the valve in the active exhaust system to make the 197bhp three-cylinder engine more vocal.
The dampers are passive items, so they’re unaffected by your chosen mode. The ride is firmer than you might expect from a crossover, but it suits the ST’S sporty remit. That said, when covering ground apace on British B-roads it can be a bit lively and needs your concentration and frequent steering inputs to keep it in line. Fortunately the steering is very responsive, and when the corners arrive the old-school-feeling Quaife differential (part of the £950 Performance Pack) ensures the front end hooks up in a surprisingly aggressive manner. The handling seems to be quite tail-happy, which can be exciting in the right circumstances, as John Barker found when sampling our ST around M-sport’s new test track in the wet.
I can appreciate the benefits the Puma has over the smaller Fiesta, as it can seat four adults comfortably and the extra boot space is pretty substantial (whisper it, but I’d have the Puma over a Focus ST anyday); the higher seating position is great for motorway driving too. However, if you don’t need or desire any of those attributes, the Fiesta ST is likely to be the more appealing car. That said, I’m not in any hurry to return our Puma to Sam just yet…
Date acquired April 2022 Total mileage 4301 Mileage this month 1802 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 33.1