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The history of Ford SUVs that have been sold in the UK can be described as short and inglorious. There was, of course, the Maverick, based first on the Nissan Terrano and then Mazda’s Tribute, and then came the best-forgotten Explorer.

More encouragingly and, to be fair, more directly related to the Kuga was the Iosis X concept car, first unveiled at the Paris motor show in 2006. Ford called the Iosis X a ‘crossover’ vehicle and would like to see the same qualities in the Kuga, but, t...Read the full article

I work for a Ford dealership and we recently had a Kuga arrive to sit in our showroom, so I grabbed the keys sharpish and had a look..

On first impressions its a great car, good looking, great performance from the 2.0tdci engine (happily pulls away in 3rd gear from standstill) and admiring glances where everit went. However..

Upon closer inspection the build quality was nowhere near Fords usual level. Interior carpets are very thin and badly fitted with sound proofing material visible through holes around the centre console. The exterior was no better in places. The fog lights fitted in to recesses in the front bumper seem very lose while the bumper iitself seems to be made of rizla's. A very, very slight tap to the front end will most probly cause the fog lights and grills to simply drop out. Small details around the car also seem to be thrown on, with plastic trims you can pop off with ver little effort.

I love Ford and only hope these are merely teething troubles with thier new baby, which despite this I still love and know we'll be seeing many of on our roads.

What a shame. It had the makings of an attractive SUV but for a start that very plasticky looking rear scuff guard just doesn't need to be there, it looks like it fell off the old Rover Streetwise! pity because otherwise the rear is 80% there. The nose is not cohesive either, like they wanted it still to be a Ford so kept the group grill, then panicked and though they better stick an Audi/VW fake one on as well underneath. Ford's enthusiasm for silver sprayed plastic dashboards is horrible, has to be real metal or best left black - really. I would like to see one in silver as I suspect looking at the colour of the external trim it would look far more classy.

I'm not sure about the Kuga's looks, especially in red! The car looks too fussy with some forced styling details. Ford's kinetic design theme has worked well on all its other models, inc the facelifted Focus, but on the Kuga it looks a bit of a mess and is trying too hard.

Mind you, it may look better in the flesh!

It seems that the Autocar journalists liked the silver sprayed plastic dashboards in the New Mondeo and SMax but mysteriously have now changed their minds for the Kuga.  I have recently bought an old style Mondeo to avoid all that dashboard silver and red lighting.   

I love the fact that the TV advert for this car proudly claims that Ford has rewritten the rule book with this one- started from scratch- come up with an idea Toyota was doing about 15 years ago with the Rav4. Nice one Ford- a totally original idea.

How good is the Kuga off road???

I hope this is a genuine off roader and not a jacked up ford focus estate.

What a totally cool looking car, crisp, youthfull and fresh, with a great interior, zesty performance and true Ford chassis ability...and excellent mix!

I think you lot are just TOO old to enjoy it!

ed747:

I hope this is a genuine off roader and not a jacked up ford focus estate.

You've hit the nail on the head there, mate. I just can't see the point of this or any other soft roader. Compared to the hatches on which they're based, they're higher (therefore less capable on the road) and heavier (hence both slower and thirstier) without offering any advantages in return. The S Max is so much better than the Kuga it's not even funny.

Colonel Snappy:

ed747:

I hope this is a genuine off roader and not a jacked up ford focus estate.

You've hit the nail on the head there, mate. I just can't see the point of this or any other soft roader. Compared to the hatches on which they're based, they're higher (therefore less capable on the road) and heavier (hence both slower and thirstier) without offering any advantages in return. The S Max is so much better than the Kuga it's not even funny.

Sure, overall I also prefer the hatches these vehicles are based on, for the reasons you mentioned. But just for the sake of stirring a bit of debate here are couple of "points" these vehicle might have over their hatch cousins.

First, because of their height they give better and more commanding view of the road ahead and the surrounding area (we've all got stuck behind vans and MPVs in traffic without being able too beyond the damn things and know how frustrating that can be). Second, in today's pot-holed and road-humped riddled roads, it can be pretty handy to have vehicles with high ground clearance.

Btw, why is the S Max "so much" better than the Kuga?

 "...the terminally dull performance ditch in which these cod off-roaders wallow..." Genius.. spot on chaps! I buy Autocar because I like cars and I enjoy reading good, witty writing. If only more of the car buying public actually bought Autocar or similarly well written mags (of which, I admit, there are few) they might just make better informed purchasing choices. I like Fords, and would certainly take the Focus or S-Max over the Kuga, because I don't really need 4wd. That said, I'd take an Evo or Impreza over any of them, but that wasn't really the question...

I also remember the "Cod Off-Roader" Group Test from last year. Great stuff Messers Autocar. Long may you continue to provide us with, well, Autocar.