TailgateGate

o two ways about it – I am naturally pernickety. I like things to be just-so, I like to know the facts, and I like the facts to be represented correctly. But I am also enormously, hugely impatient, so, when it comes to technology, I don’t read manuals (no Apple computer user does), and I expect to be able to understand and manipulate tech by intuition alone.

So, when the Kuga boot mechanism started to misbehave and drop a few inches from its full open position, I simply stared at it and waited for it to explain itself. Beyond all expectation, this did not solve the problem. I had to refer to the manual. Who the hell does that? I think I’m probably the only TG staffer to do so since the beginning of time.

However, it turns out you can learn a lot about your car from the manual. Including why the tailgate might misbehave. (Although not the reason it randomly began doing it in the first place...) This exciting information I shall now pass on to you, in case you have the same problem with a power tailgate...

For the shorter members of the cardriving world, or for those whose garages do not have sufficient headroom, it is possible to programme the power tailgate to open to your preferred height and not to open all the way to the very top.

This is a superb facility, useful to many people, and this is how to operate it: to change the height to which the tailgate opens, simply open the boot and then push and hold the button on the inside edge of the boot door, wait for a peep, wait for the tailgate to start to close and then release the button when the tailgate reaches

NREPORT 8 1997cc, 4cyl turbodiesel, 4WD, 161bhp, 251lb ft 47.9mpg, 154g/km CO2

0–62mph in 9.9secs, 123mph 1692kg £28,795/£32,865 Total mileage 16,583 Driver Esther Neve Why it’s here Is this the ideal mix of off-road and on-road capabilities?

your preferred height. The car will then remember this and only open to this height in the future. Keyless opening with the hands-free power tailgate costs £350 as an option. Much as I like the keyless opening (OK, I love the keyless opening: it’s genius and means I never need fumble in my bag for keys again), I was not convinced by the lazy boot facility. However, I must admit that I’m warming to it. I use it when I have armfuls of shopping, I use it when I don’t, just to show off. And now I have changed it back to full opening, I might warm to it even more.

In other Kuga news this issue, the economy continues to improve, with 37.4 showing after several long B-road trips. OK, so it’s a long way from 47.9, but at least it’s getting closer now.