Ford Kuga review (27/02/2014)
Going, it has to be said, on something of a wing and a prayer, the Japanese manufacturing giant decided to damn convention and not replace its well-established and very successful Primera family/ repmobile saloon with another predictable three-box variant on the well-worn theme.
Instead the company decided to take a massive punt on replacing the Primera with a sort of faux Jeepy thing, a cod soft-roader whose inspiration was based on the Matra Simca Rancho. The French machine of the late 1970’s was a rugged enough looking thing, but simple underneath the skin with front wheel drive motivation aimed at suburbanites who wanted something a little different from the norm. Nissan came up with the almost unpronounceable and almost unspellable Qashqai — named, believe it or not, after a semi-nomadic tribe who are based in mountainous south-west Iran — which, as sales and popularity began to mount after it debuted in 2006, was quickly renamed the ‘Qash-cow’ by other manufacturers, who were both madly jealous and horribly envious of Nissan’s inexplicable bravery and sudden profitability.
Inevitably those jealous and envious competitors were soon forming a queue to copy the Nissan and a whole new market segment was born — the Compact SUV.
Ford were among the first on the bandwagon with, what has to be said, was a car — the Kuga — which was okay, but not really all that good; not that the Nissan was either, by the way. Nevertheless both these mediocre machines proved to be both highly popular and highly profitable.
The Blue Oval has subsequently admitted that the Kuga was a poor stab at the genre because it was rushed.
that Ford could never be accused of and that is failing to learn from past mistakes. Thus, the second generation Kuga is a vastly improved vehicle over the one it replaces. It is better looking, roomier, more comfortable, more economical and a much better on-road prospect than that which it replaces.
Indeed, the new Kuga, which was launched last year, is perhaps the best second-generation compact SUV of the lot.
Although I will admit that I have yet to try the new Qashqai, but will be doing so shortly. I am generally a kindly soul and prefer to damn with faint praise rather than outraged pique and I would probably have to admit that I did not apply suitable levels of criticism to either the Qashqai or the Kuga, but the fact remains that irrespective of their abilities (or lack of them) both these machines have sold in huge quantities (the Nissan has sold two million worldwide and the Ford nearly 400,000 units in Europe alone).
People really like the lofty driving perch, the feeling of well-being it evokes (should that be evoques — just kidding); the family-pleasing practicality and the ruggedness of the look. In cuisine terms, they added a very pleasing flavour to the otherwise bland fare on offer. And while 4x4 was an option on both these cars, the majority of those sold have been of the front wheel drive variety. But that was part of the genius of Nissan’s original concept; they were selling people something which was a normal saloon car, but with much greater scope to appeal to people who wanted something different.
In the case of this week’s tester, however, I was equipped with the all-wheel drive version of the
Kuga and I have to say I came away impressed. Sure, I know not everyone in the market for one of these things will have the dosh to cough up for the 4x4 version — or even want to have it — but I’d have to say that if you can afford it, spend the extra few quid for the peace of mind its provides you on the road — and particularly so during the recent appalling weather conditions. On the engine front the tester came with Ford’s familiar 2.0 TDCi turbodiesel which still has a modest enough output of 140 bhp but whose economy has been improved by 10% over the previous incarnation.
There is plenty of torque on offer here and that is the key to this engine; keep it in the sweet rev range and you’ll not find it wanting. Ford has done a lot of work on the underpinnings and the results in terms of ride and handling are very impressive indeed. It is probably fair to say that the biggest challenge car makers have with cars such as these, is making one that doesn’t scare the crap out of suburban mums, but in this instance Ford has come up with an SUV with real car-like handling. It corners really well, grips like a limpet and steers progressively and positively. The interior too is pretty much generic Ford and that means everything is very well laid out and pretty much intuitive to use. The decor might be accused of being a little drab, but the general feeling you get is that the inside of this machine is a nice place to be. It is also very roomy and very practical. I am not, it must be said, a huge fan of this genre, but as far as that goes, the Kuga is now among the best in the category and should not be overlooked by anyone considering buying one.
It will be interesting to see how the new Qashqai matches up.
