Ford Kuga (2017) Leasing Deals

Details	Fuel	From Price
Ford Kuga (2017) 1.5 Eboost Zetec 2WD	Petrol	£269.00 inc p/month
Ford Kuga (2017) 1.5TDCI 2WD Zetec	Diesel	£289.00 inc p/month
Ford Kuga (2017) 1.5TDCI 2WD Titanium	Diesel	£309.00 inc p/month
Ford Kuga (2017) 2.0TDCI AWD Zetec	Diesel	£319.00 inc p/month
Ford Kuga (2017) 1.5TDCI ST-Line 2WD	Diesel	£329.00 inc p/month
Ford Kuga (2017) 2.0TDCI Zetec Auto	Diesel Auto	£329.00 inc p/month

All deals subject to availability and finance approval.

Kuga (2017)

As I sit here and write this, London is under siege! Now since Steven Seagal isn't going to be able to kick the crap out of 1000's of looters/rioters, it has been left to the police to deal with. Now initially this wasn't possible as they have every dangling body part tied behind them so can only stand and watch as shops got looted, vandalised and even burned to the ground.

Thankfully, David Cameron has finally got his arse back off holiday (3 days to late if you ask me....) and issued the 10,000 additional police the right to start cracking skulls. But why on earth it took for him to return from holiday and then sit in 3 meets for this rule to be passed? The second these little parasites kicked off, the police should have had the authority to sort the problems out by any means necessary!

The reason is of course the EU human rights laws! The 'rights' of these scumbags take president over any damage, pain and suffering they are causing to the innocent, hard working tax payers who will yet again have to cover the cost because a minority of thugs and layabouts decided to steal TV's, trainers and burn businesses to the ground in the name of 'fun'!

Talking of fun, the jokes started almost immediately....... Because of the riots in the UK, the French have already surrendered and the Italians have fitted all of there tanks with a new single gear system......reverse! A 17 year old was stopped by police on his scooter with a 50inch TV, the policeman asked "Where did you get this TV from son?" "This ain't a TV" He said "It's me Sat Nav!" On a positive note for the Tottenham area, I understand that Spurs have just signed the Italian Grabatelli & the Chinese International midfield playmaker Lou Ting.....

At this point, I'm sure that you are wondering what on earth this has to do with the Ford Kuga? Well the honest answer is absolutely nothing! I simply fancied a rant and this was the next car on my list to review after having a 2.0TDCi Zetec for a week.

The Kuga, not to be mistaken for the Cougar coupe Ford released in the late 90's, is Fords attempt at the extremely competitive SUV market. Ford did attempt this in the past with the Ford Maverick. The Maverick was an utter dog of a car, BUT in Fords defence, they were only really competing for sales against the Vauxhall Frontera which was even worse! The Frontera was a rebadged Izuzu Wizard but I can assure you that the only 2 things magical about this car were IF it started in the morning and if, having got it started, you managed to make it round any slight bend in the road without it rolling over in to a ditch, then you had to be Houdini esq in your powers of illusion as these crapboxes lined the ditches of the British countryside for years.

Thankfully, things have moved on. Unfortunately for Ford that means that there is much more competition. Honda have the CRV, Nissan the Xtrail, Kia the excellent Sportage and even VW have joined the game with the Tigaun. Unfortunately, Vauxhall are miles behind with the truly dreadful Vauxhall Antara. Like the Frontera, the Antara is twined with another car, the Chevolet Captiva! This is like proudly boasting that your hometown is twined with Doncaster.....

Ford however, has decided not to 'twin' this car with any other car or town. Ok, so the underpinnings are from the C-max and Ford Focus but at least they opted to get the pen and pencil out and make it look different them. Just swapping a couple of badges over and calling it a new car is as lazy as the Porsche 911 designers of the past 40 years!

Ford's remit for the Kuga was that it had offer "the highest levels of ride, handling, braking and steering performance within the segment" which I think they have managed. You sit lower in this than in all other SUV's which gives it a sportier feel. The ride is help by the fact that the Kuga sits on the same suspension as the Focus but 80mm higher. The balance is good but you do lose some of the feel through the steering wheel when you are pushing on. I shouldn't let that concern you though as my idea of 'pushing on' means that I try to take bends at the same speed that Vettel currently does in his Red Bull F1 car.

Speaking of performance, the 2.0TDCi engine is responsive and smooth. The CRV 2.2CDTi is quicker through the gears but not as refined in my opinion. MPG wise, you'll get you around 42mpg depending on how you drive the 2.0TDCi 2wd. The Interior is well laid out with and very similar to the C-max. The quality of the materials on the dash is very good with a nice solid feel to them. The one area where the Kuga does lose out to its rivals is interior space. Don't get me wrong, it's not that small inside but there are more spacious cars in this market segment. The trim levels are good, on the Zetec you get alloy wheels, air-conditioning, keyless start, MP3 socket and electric windows. On the Titanium (in addition to the Zetec) you get automatic lights and wipers, tinted glass, part-leather trim, cruise control and dual-zone climate control.

The CRV and Xtrail are very dated now and both have new replacement's due out in 2012. The Tigaun is a great car but expensive for what it is and Kia Sportage is also a great car but does feel very cheap inside making the Ford Kuga, in my opinion, the most attractive and the best all-rounder currently in the market place.

Thanks for reading

Stuart McKay