To continue on my voyage of discovery through Ford's newest range I was to spend some time with the latest Kuga Titanium in its 2.0-litre diesel guise.

Having long admired the Kuga, but never having driven it I was very interested to see what it had to offer.
It's a good-looking, roomy car with excellent visibility all-round. It sits quite high off the ground too, making it much easier to navigate heavy traffic, having that extra look-ahead possibility. With the 'Powershift' Auto gearbox and smooth, effortless power steering, driving couldn't be easier, especially around town, when you want your car to be somewhere you feel comfortable and stress-free. It's a big car too, with huge, high and easily accessible luggage space, flexible seat configurations to allow even larger loads to be carried and the really useful option of just

opening the rear window instead of the whole hatch - ideal when you just want to grab something quickly from a full load.

Once on the open road the Kuga is still quiet and comfortable, but with a tendency to have a little too much body roll for my passengers' liking. It was described as 'sicky-making' - the worst accolade offerable by the 'C' household. Despite this, its roadholding and handling were competent, although not what I'd describe as high-performance. I'd rather the outstanding Mondeo for performance, but at a small space premium when compared to the Kuga. From the comfort point of view it's beautifully finished and upholstered, with seats you could fall asleep in - figuratively speaking, of course!

Well fitted-out with all the latest Ford technology it becomes and interesting, entertaining and safe place to be while driving and once familiar with the layout of all the controls and how they worked (including the voice controls) driving was a breeze.

The biggest disappointment of all was fuel consumption, which appeared to be far worse than expected.

The vehicle has a limited range, with us struggling to get good results in spite of the quoted 41.5 mpg (combined) in the spec sheets. Much of the driving we did was in built up areas, but we did include a return trip from Cardiff to Southampton in the running. Even so, after only 400 miles we were sitting on a very low fuel gauge.

Overall, living with the Kuga was pleasant and even fun at times, but its strengths seem overshadowed by its few weaknesses. If fuel economy doesn't come high on your agenda it's a great versatile, tough old workhorse but with all the comforts of home. If it's a long distance touring car with performance and luxury you need then consider the Mondeo Estate as an alternative.

Model Driven
Ford Kuga 2.0 Duratorq TDCi (DPF) 163PS 6-speed Powershift auto.
Price on the road £27,195.00 (with extras as driven £30,320.00)

Nigel Crawford,
November 2011

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