Ford Puma ST Gold Edition 2022 long-term test

This, then, could be the last word in affordable, usable performance: engaging without being exhausting, practical without being boring and attractive without drawing too much attention.

Yes, I thought, I’ve cracked it. After all, with sporting options so limited at this circa-£30,000 price point, the lure of decent load space, usable second row of seats and promising efficiency is simply too great to be ignored.

And while I wouldn’t call the Puma ST rapid, it’s certainly deserving of all its performance-oriented design accoutrements, and it steers pretty sweetly, too. Settled, then? Not quite.

Because the question of the Puma ST’s desirability can be levelled at anything with sporting pretensions that sits this high off the ground and accommodates five occupants: think Hyundai Kona N, Volkswagen T-Roc R, BMW X2 M35i and the like.

The truth is that – for all these cars’ individual strengths and undeniable appeal – there is always a smaller, lower-slung and better-established equivalent in each marque’s line-up that does the whole ‘everyday hooligan’ thing a touch more effectively. And in no case is that sibling rivalry more prevalent than with the Puma ST.

Because, as we found when we put the two small fast Fords up against each other, the closely related Fiesta ST is in many respects the more enjoyable of the pair to punt down a clear stretch of winding Tarmac.

There are utility issues to consider: the smaller car’s capacity for load-lugging and family conveyance is vastly reduced, for example, and that stretch of Tarmac had better be smooth for the sake of your coccyx, but you’d have to imagine anyone swayed by these black marks could be persuaded to sacrifice a bit of dynamic appeal and visual rowdiness and swap into a standard Fiesta or Puma – still agreeable driver’s cars, both.

Which prompts the question: who buys a Puma ST? Well, judging by the number of times I’ve nodded and waved at fellow ‘owners’ over the past few months, a fair few people.

Which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Jacking up a popular car and stretching the wheelbase seems a recipe almost guaranteed to succeed these days.

And that applies to hot hatchbacks as well, because if you can go roughly as fast in a straight line, get your knee down in corners and install the dog and the kids comfortably in the back, who’s to deny the enhanced appeal?

By this point, I’d been standing in this lay-by, attempting to resolve the Puma’s existential crisis for several minutes, when a current-shape Mazda MX-5 pulled in behind me so the owner could put the roof back up before driving towards a rapidly darkening sky. “Typical, isn’t it?” he shouted over. “First time I’ve had it out all year and we’re due a monsoon...”

Interesting, I think. There’s a car that’s similarly priced, roughly as potent and – on paper – just as quick, but crucially, it had been sitting in a garage or driveway for months while the owner awaited a glimmer of sun, and now he was going to drive straight home and lock it back up.

It’s not as if he could get much from  Homebase or Costco in that boot, and only a truly committed driver would take the rear-driven MX-5 to ten-tenths on greasy, wet roads.

So there was my epiphany handed to me on a plate: the Puma ST excels by virtue of its duality. Sure, you can let loose when the mood takes you – and have a barrel of laughs doing so – but when rain stops play or your parents need a wardrobe emptied, it’ll be on hand to dependably, frugally and comfortably get the job done.

Fundamentally, it’s a formula that’s existed since Volkswagen – or Simca, depending on who you ask – invented the hot hatchback, only here it’s just that bit less compromised and more grown-up.

Or it would be, had we not specified the racing stripes and gold wheels. But then where’s the fun in that? 

Love it 

Stage presence: I wasn’t sure at first, but I quickly learned to love the Gold Edition’s lairy looks. 

Fruity tones: Exhaust note is just naughty enough to sound convincing without inviting glares. 

Cheap thrills: Eco mode got a workout as the fuel crisis bit, highlighting the ST’s frugal side. 

Loathe it

Screening process: Lethargic and simplistic touchscreen continues to be one of the Puma’s weaknesses. 

Loosen up: Super-sharp steering and stiff springs could grate at the end of a long day. 

Final mileage: 3270

Banging beats from a set of bassy Bang & Olufsen speakers - 29 June

With the sun blazing, I’ve been letting my inner yob run wild, winding down the windows and pumping out tunes for all to enjoy. Not too loud, obviously, but I have been appreciating the Bang & Olufsen speakers: bassy but not overbearing, well balanced and far crisper than some systems I’ve tried recently. I only know one ELO song, though, which is bad for the neighbours. 

Mileage: 3070

Back to the top

And now for the toughest test of all: a fight against its more athletic-looking sibling - 15 June

Do any two performance cars from the same manufacturer tread so firmly and conspicuously on each other’s toes as the Ford Puma ST and the Ford Fiesta ST to which it’s so closely related in platform, powertrain and price?

Oh yes, maybe the Volkswagen Golf R and T-Roc R. And then there’s the Hyundai i30 N and Kona N sibling, I suppose. What about the Mercedes-AMG A45 and GLA 45, you ask. Well, yes, quite.

A few years ago, the concept of the hot crossover was so alien and scandalous to traditional driving fans that it seemed a niche unnecessarily filled and sure to not catch on.

But here we are in 2022 and damn near every conventional hot hatch still on sale can effectively be specified with a raised body that lets you see over the odd hedge. So why would you pick the higher car?

That’s exactly why we’re running the Puma ST: to see just what it offers over its acclaimed smaller sibling beyond the added reassurance and visibility of a higher driving position. And that’s a question you could pose of any of those rival pairs of siblings.

It’s also a question that has just become a good deal more pertinent for the prospective fast Ford buyer, given the Fiesta ST is now available only with five doors and so, in theory, is nearly as practical as the Puma ST.

The Fiesta ST’s 292-litre boot is comfortably outsized by the Puma ST’s, at 456 litres (plus 80 more under the floor), and the supermini’s back seats– while now easier to access as standard – are still best saved for the smaller passenger, but realistically there are few real-world scenarios where the crossover would be the only car fit for the job.

Plus, with the Fiesta ST now priced from £27,445, compared with £29,770 for the Puma ST, splitting the real-world cost of each over the course of a 24-month PCP deal is a true cigarette-paper job.

Let’s not muck about. Get these two cars together on the same wiggly bit of road and there’s no question that the Fiesta ST is the finer steer, which will come as no surprise to anyone who has driven one or read even a fraction of the effusive reports that have flowed from printing presses since its launch four years ago, or indeed its more recent facelift a couple of months hence.

Both cars share a 1.5-litre turbo triple that sends 197bhp to the front axle through a six-speed gearbox, but it’s a combination that just feels more responsive and rewarding to exploit in the smaller car.

The clicheÃs are all true: it really is a grenade launcher dressed up as a pistol, capable of outstanding point-to-point pace and every bit as demanding of its driver in challenging conditions as sports cars costing several times as much.

The taller car essentially matches it for straight-line pace but feels every bit the more incongruous sports car: a little more prone to rock and roll, slightly less poised and aggressive and – being totally honest – less obviously admired by bystanders.

So is the Puma ST– all but mechanically identical, right down to the Quaife limited-slip differential fitted to both the cars pictured here – the one you would leave at home when the B-roads are calling on a fine Sunday morning? Bluntly, I think it depends how much you need to grab from Tesco on the way back.

If you’re stupidly serious about driving and therefore need to know that your daily driver won’t be shaded over any stretch of road by anything else with four wheels, chances are you’re looking at something lower, less accommodating and much more specialist altogether than these two cars, so the question of which is more engaging is almost a moot point.

Yes, it’s the Fiesta ST, but only the most perceptive and critical driving enthusiast will regularly push it far enough to feel smug that they have made the right call. At no point over the past few months have I felt that the Puma ST didn’t deserve to wear the hallowed badge, and not even a back-to-back drive with its older and less gangly brother made me think any less of its credentials.

Plus, anyone who has driven the Fiesta ST over crumbling Tarmac will tell you that there’s a lot of room for improvement when it comes to refinement, and the cushier Puma ST ticks that box nicely, rounding out potholes and damping road noise much more effectively.

With the battle over and the hatch nipping into the sunset with its head held high, I climbed back into the crossover wondering if I would spend my remaining time with it feeling like I was missing out on that extra bit of engagement and excitement.

But then my girlfriend called to say she had found a cheap bedside table for sale online and would I mind picking it up on my way home? No, I said, calculating a twisty route to the seller’s house and opening up the Megabox in the boot. No, I would not.

Love it 

Sounds naughty

Turbo triples never sound truly scintillating, but this feisty Ecoboost unit has a properly naughty undertone on a cold start.

Loathe it

Keep waiting

The infotainment takes ages to get its act together on start-up, which is annoying if I need the sat-nav.

Mileage: 3020

Searching for a knocking solution - 8 June

Recently I reported that I had taken to buckling in the Puma’s rear seatbelts to combat a quiet but nonetheless irritating knock from the rear that I can’t pin down. Not only has this not worked, but now when I turn the engine off, the car loudly alerts me that I’ve left my non-existent kids in the back. I can’t think what else to try.

Mileage: 2820

Back to the top

Life with a Puma ST: Month 2

Even at around-town speeds, it has us feeling like Craig Breen - 18 May 2022

Life begins at 40, so say those in the know. They’re talking about the acceptance of the inevitable ageing process, of course, and the notion that existence isn’t futile beyond your nightclub years. But it’s a clicheà that you might also use to describe the paradox that blights owning a driver’s car.

Yes, fast is fun, and so are all the sensory pleasures that come with the accumulation of pace on the road, but when the highest legal speed you can achieve off track in the UK is 70mph (and less than that on the twistier roads at our disposal), where can you have all this fun? More often than not, the roads that I drive on are subject to a harsher 40mph limit, so the potential for gung-ho helmsmanship is scant at best.

But the Ford Puma ST, I’m finding, is providing an interesting counterargument. It is a quick car, no doubt about it, and has concretely proved itself among the more engaging steers in this high-riding segment, but more surprising is its capacity to enliven those sub-speed- limit errand runs and urban slogs.

My commute is only around five miles each way, and most of the route is covered at less than 30mph, so whatever the car, I tend to wait until the weekend to dabble with Sport mode and find out what the chassis is made of. But one sunny evening last week, I had such a laugh punting through tight gaps, whipping round buses and perfecting my green-light launch that I completely forgot I was on the South Circular at rush hour and listening to a podcast about cooking.

The throttle response off the mark and accompanying soundtrack make the Puma ST feel much more seriously sporting than it outwardly seems (this is, you understand, not a car that takes itself altogether too seriously), which means I’m less annoyed when I see a red light up ahead. Although with Sport mode activated and the exhaust merrily crackling away, I have attracted a couple of withering glances from some of my less extroverted fellow road users, perceiving our car’s ’90s-style racing stripes and gold wheels as indicators of boy-racer tendencies I don’t actually have.

But because it is quite quick, I do have to come off the accelerator almost as soon as I’m under way, the 0-40mph sprint being dispatched in just a whisker over four seconds.

But no matter, there’s usually a hairpin (T-junction), crest (railway bridge) or ‘don’t cut’ (overflowing storm drain) ahead that I can use as a prop in my increasingly unrealistic Tarmac rally fantasies, in which I – Craig Breen – am piloting M-Sport’s Puma ST Rally1 to victory in the oft-overlooked Hounslow round of the World Rally Championship. I bet he doesn’t have to worry about low-traffic neighbourhoods, mind.

Like

Wash and go

Call it an SUV if you want, but my local hand car wash charges me the £10 ‘small car’ fee. A win for the segment-straddlers.

Loathe

Belt up in the back

Pulling the rear seatbelts across hasn’t stopped an intermittent clunk from the back over speed bumps and potholes.

MIleage: 2750

Back to the top

Life with a Puma ST: Month 1

A more grown-up alternative? - 20 April 2022

A chance to get the Puma together with our now-departed Peugeot 508 PSE made me wonder which would appeal more to the fun-loving family driver. Set aside the £20k and 160bhp chasm between them and I reckon the ST just edges it for whimsy and poise. Even with lurid green accents and sports wheels, the 508 looks more executive than extrovert.

Mileage: 1890

Back to the top

From B-road heaven to ‘the Beige Hell’ of the M25​ - 13 April 2022

Call it an inconvenient truth, but the way of the world dictates that even diehard driving enthusiasts will generally cover a good many more miles on Britain’s monochrome motorway network than they will on a race track or demanding B-road.

Thus modern sports cars (of all shapes and sizes) must be ready at will to set aside their prevailing traits of dynamism and pep for a slightly more cosseting, frugal and laid-back approach to long-distance driving. That duality is evident in some of the fiercest performance weapons on sale, like the BMW M4 Competition and Porsche 911 Turbo, but needs to shine through even more tangibly in those more affordable sporting propositions that double up as daily family transport.

Step forward our Ford Puma ST. With just 197bhp, five doors and a 0-62mph sprint time roughly on a par with the BMW 320d, it is hardly ever going to be considered in the same league as anything more purely focused on sporting engagement at this price point – maybe the latest and costliest Mazda MX-5 (driven, p39)? – but the balance needs to be there. We’ve got stiff suspension, a limited-slip differential and a sports exhaust, but do we also have the ability to cover large swathes of ground in comfort? I was almost certain the burbling soundtrack, snug sports seats and low-profile tyres would quickly dampen the appeal of a long-distance trek, but I was pleased to discover the Puma’s impressively composed character has not been overly obscured in line with the ST’s more sporting focus.

Ford highlights that the hot Puma’s exhaust is actually a whole one decibel quieter than that of the mechanically identical Fiesta ST, and while you can barely tell the difference on start-up, the soundtrack all but disappears at a steady cruise, which means you can actually hear the radio or have a proper conversation. Plus, though the stiff dampers and large alloys make for a firm treatment of speed bumps and potholes in town, the ride is generally composed at higher speeds and the road roar is largely unobtrusive. Get the bolster settings and lumbar support right and the seats are inoffensive, too, if a little tight for the larger occupant.

All is gravy, then, until you reach the concrete section of the M25 – a section of road more feared by car engineers than even the slipperiest sheets of ice in Arjeplog or the sharpest bends of the Nordschleife. Only here, on ‘the Beige Hell’, does the Puma ST drop points (and a good few of them, at that) for comfort. It’s loud in pretty much any car, but at any speed in excess of 60mph between Reigate and Chertsey, it is impossible to hear passengers, music or – more annoyingly – sat-nav directions and phone calls without turning it up to a volume that will deafen you when you emerge at the other end. Blame those rubber-band tyres and chunky 19in alloys, which no doubt add a healthy injection of kerb appeal to the bargain, but at the obvious expense of rolling refinement.

So not quite the perfect mile muncher, even if it nearly matches the standard 1.0-litre car for long-distance frugality. But now that’s out of the way, we’ve got some much more fun tests of character lined up for the Puma ST, and we can always take the back roads to get to them.

Love it:

Not a big drinker Whisper it, but there’s a genuine thrill to be had in nudging 40mpg when you’re not pushing on.

Loathe it:

Green around the gills Sharp throttle response and steering are a recipe for car sickness in town, according to one green-tinged passenger.

Mileage: 1850

Back to the top

Boot space to spare - 6 April 2022

There are three suitcases in the boot you see above. Yes, I can count, thank you. As usual, the underfloor Megabox steps in to save the day when I’m shuttling friends to the airport. But even with that extra 80 litres, the Puma ST’s boot is a small one, and a removable parcel shelf still has to go somewhere, which usually requires a bit of Tetris-style load management.

Mileage: 1597

Back to the top

Welcoming the Puma ST to the fleet - 30 March 2022

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in a Ford Performance planning meeting.

“Shall we do a ULEZ-compliant 284bhp sports pick-up?”

“Sure, why not?”

“A snarling souped-up Mustang to pay tribute to a 1960s film?”

“Let’s do it.”

“A V6 supercar channelling the spirit of a Le Mans legend?”

“For sure.”

Honestly, the Ford Puma ST must have been met with a sigh of relief from the exasperated accountants. Here’s a sporting proposition that actually meets the basic requirements of a mass-market car: accessibly priced, sensibly sized, pokey and none too thirsty. It looks almost staid parked up next to its sporting stablemates.

Well, perhaps not the limited-run Gold Edition that we’re running for the next few months. You don’t get many sub-£150,000 cars with racing stripes in the post-Max Power era, and much fewer still fitted with gold wheels and a fruity sports exhaust.

Take the Puma ST to dinner at your nan’s house at your own risk. Once she’s done fawning over its boy-racer looks, your uncle will want a briefing on the differences over the standard Ford Puma and your little cousins a few laps of the block. Ask me how I know.

The hot crossover is a category of car that we’ve come to know very well very quickly as manufacturers strive to appease dog-walking, school-running driving enthusiasts.

It’s not a concept that will appeal to staunch traditionalists, granted, but as far as high-rise hot hatchbacks go, you could do a lot worse than this.

For starters, the Puma ST is based on one of our favourite crossovers currently on sale and shares much of its drivetrain with one of the most universally adored affordable driver’s cars around, the giant-killing Ford Fiesta ST. That means 197bhp and 236lb ft from a peppy and purposeful three-cylinder turbo petrol engine that sends its reserves to the front axle via a short-throw six-speed manual gearbox and – fitted as standard on the Gold Edition – a Quaife limited-slip differential. An enticing concoction, you must surely agree.

Plus, because it weighs just 50kg more than the Fiesta ST and is connected to the road by shorter, stiffer springs, beefier anti-roll bars and bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres, it’s not far off in terms of outright driver appeal.

The keener chassis set-up and lower ride height abate most of the roll that blots the dynamic verve of the regular Puma, which, together with hyperactive steering, means you can maintain much of your easily won pace beyond the end of the straights and well into tight bends.

Having spent a few very happy months in 2020 living with a regular Puma, I am well placed to judge the Puma ST on its own merits as a novel take on the hot hatchback formula. Obviously, it will still need to ferry me from A to B on a daily basis to make good on its promise of accessible performance, but I already know the Puma is a charismatic, comfortable and capacious runaround, so I’m not expecting much in the way of annoyances in that regard.

In fact, I wasn’t even thinking when I lifted up the boot floor yesterday to stow my recycling in the much-ballyhooed 80-litre Megabox; it was just muscle memory.

And I wasn’t at all surprised to see the economy readout tick past 41mpg on a recent motorway schlep; despite its extra 500cc and 43bhp over the standard Puma, the Ecoboost three-pot remains one of the smallest and most efficient engines fitted to a dedicated performance car today.

But somewhat paradoxically, it’s this overt and undeniably welcome emphasis on daily usability that most jars about the Puma ST’s overall conception: if you’re buying a car for the fun of driving, would you not buy something smaller, lower and less compromised? And if you need something frugal with a big boot, there are much quieter, softer and less luridly styled cars on the table, and some of them aren’t half bad to drive (the standard Puma, for one).

Yes, it’s a question that you could ask of any prospective hot hatch or super-saloon buyer, but it’s especially prevalent in this case, because the Fiesta ST is undeniably the better driver’s car yet barely diminished in terms of its functionality as a daily driver and, you could certainly argue, more likely to be taken seriously.

So is this a case of Ford being overly liberal with its deployment of the hallowed ST moniker? Can the Puma ST at once win us over on the grounds of its liveability while stacking up comfortably against its universally acclaimed range-mates in terms of performance?

First impressions leave little to be desired in terms of real-world dynamism (although I’m not yet sold on the slightly snappy steering and firm ride), or in outright punch, but I know just how quickly an overenthusiastic chassis and energetic motor can grate over the course of a few months’ daily drudgery.

A heavily varied few thousand miles beckon for Gold Edition number 4 of 999 over the coming months. I’m looking forward to seeing if I will come to the end of them pining for the refinement of something more subdued.

Second Opinion

More than 275,000 votes were cast on social media to help create this model, but with just 350 examples destined for the UK, only a few Ford fans will ever see one. At least it’s hard to miss. The stripes and ST badge can be like a red rag to a bull among easily triggered drivers when overtaking on motorways.

Tom Morgan-Freelander

Back to the top

Ford Puma ST Gold Edition specification

Prices: List price new £32,595 List price now £32,540 Price as tested £33,195

Options: Driver Assistance Pack £600

Fuel consumption and range: Claimed economy 42.8mpg Fuel tank 45 litres Test average 37.2mpg Test best 39.4mpg Test worst 32.6mpg Real-world range 368 miles

Tech highlights: 0-62mph 6.7sec Top speed 137mph Engine 3 cyls, 1497cc, turbo, petrol Max power 197bhp at 6000rpm Max torque 236lb ft at 2500-3500rpm Transmission 6-spd manual Boot capacity 456 litres Wheels 19in, alloy Tyres 225/40 R19 Kerb weight 1283kg

Service and running costs: Contract hire rate £418.51 CO2 155g/km Service costs None Other costs None Fuel costs £565.72  Running costs inc fuel £565.72 Cost per mile 20 pence Faults None

Back to the top