Ford Kuga tested in Adelaide, Australia
Since the Fiesta arrived in 2010, Ford has embarked on a bull run in Malaysia. Almost every segment it touches seems to turn to gold, with double digit growths invariably following. The Mondeo and S-Max are not selling as many numbers as they should, but the Ranger and Focus have proved immensely successful products, recruiting scores of owners to the Ford brand.
Buoyed by its success in the small passenger car and pick-up truck segments, Ford now sets its sights on the mid-size C-segment SUV market that it has traditionally competed in with the Escape. Wiping the slate clean, Ford is starting anew in the segment with the all-new Kuga, which we recently had the opportunity to have a quick drive in Adelaide, Australia, before its impending Malaysia launch in a couple of months.
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| The Kuga is another product that is being underpinned by the new Focus’ Global-C platform. |
Prices & Variants
The fleet of test cars assembled for the Aussie media drive comprised of vehicles with price tags ranging from AU$31k to AU$55k. In terms of powertrain options, Aussie buyers are offered the choice of 1.6-litre EcoBoost or 2.0-litre TDCi engines. The former is offered with the option of FWD, which is available in manual only, and AWD, which is exclusively automatic. The TDCi comes standard with the PowerShift dual clutch transmission. All gearboxes are 6-speeders.
There is also the option of three trim levels, starting from the base level Ambiente going up to the range-topping Titanium, with the mid-spec Trend sitting in between. In contrast, Malaysian buyers are only offered one option, which is to take the Kuga in its 1.6 EcoBoost AWD automatic guise in Titanium trim. Official prices are not announced yet, but dealer postings advertising an estimated RM165,000 have been briefly spotted in Mudah.my and oto.my before being removed.
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| Titanium-spec comes with LED daytime running lights and HIDs. |
Specifications
The 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine powering the Kuga is a familiar unit from the Volvo S60 T4 and V60 T4, but it is making its first appearance in Malaysia with a Ford badge. Outputs are rated at 177hp @ 5,700rpm and 240Nm @ 1,600 – 5,000rpm, which is on par with its Volvo applications, though this time it is paired not with the ubiquitous 6-speed PowerShift transmission, but a standard torque converter auto, also with 6 speeds and manual overriding.
Under the Kuga’s sheet metal is Ford’s new global C platform that began life in the current Focus and a glance through its specs sheets will thus reveal even more familiar elements. There is the patented Control Blade multi-link rear suspension to start with and the equipment list includes goodies such as Torque Vectoring Control, Ford SYNC, Active Grille Shutter, along with keyless entry with push button start.
There are also new and unfamiliar items such as Roll Stability Control and Curve Control to counter against severe body roll and understeer respectively. The electric power steering is complemented by Torque Steer Compensation and Active Nibble Compensation to filter out unnecessary feedback. Still on the handling front, the Kuga’s electronically-operated Intelligent AWD system analyses 40 parameters in 16-millisecond intervals to deliver optimized traction.
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| Rear suspension is the familiar Control Blade design trademarked by Ford. |
Exterior
In our shores, the Kuga replaces the Escape, and like what we’ve seen with the Focus, this new model is a multi-fold leap and departure over its competent but aging predecessor. Where Fords of old used to drive pretty neatly but look utterly unremarkable, the Kuga follows the Fiesta, Focus, and Ranger’s well-trodden path by first wowing the customer with ultra-modern styling at the showroom. Good looks sell cars, and the Kuga’s styling certainly makes life easier for Ford salespeople in Malaysia who have spent years casting envious looks towards their friends over at Toyota.
The Titanium spec test cars you see in our pictures wear 19-inch alloy rims, but Malaysia-spec models will settle for more moderately-sized 17-inch items. Having tried the Kuga with three wheel sizes during the media drive – 17″, 18″, and 19″ – our opinion is that this is a sensible omission. The cars that were shod in 19″ rims had poorer ride quality and higher levels of road noise; 17″ as it turned out, proved to be the best.
A feature of the Kuga that is being much-hyped in Ford’s pre-launch campaign is the handsfree power-lifted tailgate, where the user only needs to aim a kick under the bumper to get the tailgate to open automatically. To safeguard against accidental opening, the feature is only active when transponders detect the key fob in close proximity of the tail gate, and there are two sensors hidden behind the bumper that make doubly sure that the owner is aiming a deliberate kick before actually opening. It is a nice feature to have when your hands are full with grocery bags, or when you just want to show off what your brand new car can do to your friends.
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| Rear luggage can be opened by a hands-free tailgate. |
Interior
Being based on the Global C platform, it is unsurprising that we find the Kuga’s cabin to be very reminiscent of the Focus. It’s not a carbon copy, but the borrowed design cues are obvious and shared switchgear plenty. The cabin scores top marks with respect to design, but falls short with regards to ergonomics and practicality.
Small item storage spaces are not well taken care of, with barely enough space available to park our usual complement of handphones and keys in easy to reach locations. The Sony-supplied head unit provides decent levels of sound, but the interface feels cluttered, and its gloss black finish is likely to glare under the Malaysian sun, and susceptible to thumbprint stains.
Controls on the steering wheel, carried over from the Focus, are not optimally placed, and don’t even get us started on that rocker switch-operated manual shift feature of the automatic transmission. Credit, however, must go to the multi-info screen in the instrument cluster, which is the only one we have ever tested that allows the simultaneous display of available range, average speed, average consumption, and instantaneous consumption in one screen. Why this simple convenience is not offered in any other car is just puzzling.
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| Central display in instrument cluster illustrates working status of the AWD system. |
Driving Impressions
Having sampled various guises of Ford’s ride and handling handiwork from the Fiesta to the Mondeo and S-Max, our expectations for the Kuga are accordingly high as far as driving dynamics are concerned, and true to form, Ford delivers once again with largely pleasing results – the Kuga’s handles with impressive agility and well-measured body control.
For all the good handling that it has blessed its cars with, Ford has also never given us any bones to pick over the ride quality of its cars – the Focus ST, for example, has an impressively comfortable ride for a performance hatch. In the Kuga, the bigger 19″ tyres were a poor dynamic fit, peppering the cabin with unwelcome jiggles and harsh levels of road noise on the move. Downsizing to 17″ tyres did a world of good, and our recommendation is that you not upsize your rims unnecessarily.
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| Ride felt harsh in the 19-inch rims of our Titanium test car. |
Though the Kuga is an urban SUV, our drive programme in Adelaide also included a very brief mild gravel path, which to our surprise, the Kuga traversed impressively well, even with the maligned 19″ rims. We don’t recommend taking it off-road of course, but the mud and sand parking lot of your favourite seafood restaurant ought to feel a lot less painful to navigate.
Less impressive, but not exactly at fault, is the 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine up front, which feels noticeably less responsive than it did in the Volvo S60 T4, though it should be noted that the S60 had the Powershift dual clutch transmission as opposed to the Kuga’s torque converter auto. Where the engine felt muscular in the S60, here it feels adequate in the Kuga; it’s not underpowered, but don’t expect it to pin you to your seat under full bore acceleration – which is something we will evaluate more closely back home in our less strictly policed roads.
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| Our test cars in Australia had three trim levels – Ambiente, Trend, and Titanium. |
Verdict
With the Kuga, Ford renews its assault on the mid-size SUV segment long-dominated by the Honda CR-V and now filled with highly competitive options such as the Mazda CX-5 and Hyundai Tucson. The Kuga unfortunately loses out against the CR-V in terms of overall practicality, but keen drivers will happily see past that shortcoming and embrace the Kuga’s sharp dynamics and usable if unspectacular performance of its EcoBoost engine.
Compared to the Escape which it replaces, the Kuga is no longer just a quietly competent SUV contend to live in its own corner of the world. Like what it has done with the Fiesta and Focus, Ford has infused the Kuga with striking looks and cutting edge technology to set it apart from its rivals whilst not forgetting to deliver a highly enjoyable driving experience. Conservative buyers are unlikely to migrate from the CR-V, but trend setters now have a credible alternative alongside the CX-5.
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