Ford Puma review

You might remember the Ford Puma name on a small coupé back in the Nineties, but here we're reviewing its staggeringly successful small SUV reincarnation.

What does staggering success look like? Well, for the Puma it meant winning our overall Car of the Year award and spending many months at – or near – the top of the UK's sales charts.

Echoing the original Puma, the latest model looks sportier than most other cars in its class, and is more fun in other ways – as we’ll come on to explain. That's true even of the regular Ford Puma we're reviewing here, but if you're after more serious performance, check out our Ford Puma ST review.

The Puma was recently treated to a minor mid-life facelift – the operative word being minor. Visually, you might notice the front-facing Blue Oval badge has been relocated to the grille and the design of the LED headlights are different. There are other changes inside, too, because you get a new infotainment system and an updated dashboard and steering wheel design.

So, should you buy a Ford Puma instead of, say, a Nissan Juke, Skoda Kamiq or VW T-Roc? Read on to find out, as we rate it in all the important areas and compare it with the best small SUVs...

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All engines are 1.0-litre petrols with 48-volt mild-hybrid (mHEV) technology, which can shut the engine off to save fuel when you’re coming to a stop. As you engage a gear, the engine fires back into life in the blink of an eye, and a small electric motor adds a bit of zip to help you on your way.

Even the entry-level Ecoboost mHEV 125 was able to accelerate from 0-60mph in 9.6sec in our tests – far quicker than any Juke or the T-Roc 1.0 TSI. It pulls reasonably well from low revs and maintains cruising speed effortlessly. If you want more pace, the Ecoboost mHEV 155 is much faster, hitting 62mph from a standstill in 8.7 seconds. That's as quick as pricier small SUVs, including the Audi Q2 35 TFSI. 

The mHEV 125 comes standard with a six-speed manual gearbox, with the option to upgrade to a seven-speed automatic. The 155 mHEV, however, is exclusively available with the seven-speed automatic.

If ride comfort is a priority, you’d be better off looking at the Skoda Kamiq or VW T-Roc. Both have softer suspension, which means you feel less impact from lumps and bumps as they pass beneath the car.

In fact, if you want the most comfortable Puma, Titanium trim is your best bet as it’s the only version to come without the even firmer sport suspension fitted to all ST-Line variants. Even so, the Puma is far from a bone-shaker and never gets uncomfortable – it just follows the contours of the road more closely than the Kamiq or T-Roc.

There's a positive trade-off too: better body control equals less bouncing along undulating country lanes. We think most buyers will quite like the compromise. The Juke jostles you around in your seat far more. While we recommend sticking with 17in or 18in wheels if buying a Puma, even the largest 19in alloys (optional on all but the entry-level trim) don't make the ride too harsh.

If you enjoy driving, the Puma will really win your heart. It's super-nimble by small SUV standards and you’ll notice this agility whether you’re merely scooting around a roundabout or flying down your favourite country lane.

To experience the Puma at its most entertaining, you'll want an ST-Line version with the sports suspension. This helps to keep the body more upright when cornering, although even the entry-level Titanium version darts into bends more eagerly than most of the competition.

Then there’s the steering. It’s quick to respond and gives you a far better sense of connection to the front wheels than you get from a Hyundai Kona, a Juke or even a Kamiq – again, something you can appreciate whether you're driving on quicker roads or zipping about town.

There are certainly quieter small SUVs than the Puma. Its engines have a slightly sporty rasp and there’s a fair amount of tyre roar at a steady 70mph – especially with 18in or 19in wheels fitted. On the motorway, the Kamiq and T-Roc do a much better job of keeping unwanted noise from reaching your ears. 

On the other hand, the Puma’s precise, snickety gearshift, feelsome clutch pedal and progressive brakes make it a really easy car to drive smoothly. Although the slick manual is our pick, the seven-speed automatic gearbox is also smooth.

The stop-start system goes about its business incredibly unobtrusively, and you hardly even notice when the engine switches off and on. It’s smoother and much quicker to respond than the system fitted to the Jeep Avenger e-Hybrid.

“The VW T-Roc might be a little more comfortable than the Puma, but when it comes to driving thrills, the Ford is streets ahead. It’s the kind of car I find myself taking for a drive just for the sake of it.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

No matter which trim you go for, the driver's seat in the Ford Puma is comfortable and comes with adjustable lumbar support to help prevent back pain on long journeys. A minor gripe with the entry-level Titanium’s seats is that they could do with a bit more side support, but that’s solved on all ST-Line versions with their thicker bolsters. 

All Pumas have front seat-height adjustment and plenty of movement to get the steering wheel just where you need it, no matter your shape or size. And while you don’t sit as far above the road as you do in a T-Roc, you’ll prefer it if you favour a sporty driving position.

Depending on your driving position, you might find the aggressively angled front pillars block some of your view at junctions and roundabouts. Visibility out of the back of the Puma isn’t brilliant, either – blame the rising window line and the chunky rear pillars for that.

On the plus side, all Pumas come with a reversing camera and rear parking sensors as standard. If you want front sensors and a 360-degree reversing camera, you’ll have to option the expensive Driver Assistance Pack, which also adds adaptive cruise control.

LED headlights come as standard, too, while glare-free Matrix LED headlamps are a reasonably priced option.

As part of the Puma’s mid-life facelift, it receives a new 12.8in touchscreen that’s located lower down on the dashboard than the 8.0in unit it replaces. This means it’s no longer in your line of sight and, as a result, you have to look down and away from the road to use it. 

However, the increase in real estate does mean the big virtual buttons are easier to hit while driving, and crucially it’s running Ford’s latest SYNC4 software. Therefore, it’s noticeably faster to respond to inputs than the old system, which places it ahead of what you’ll find in the Juke and T-Roc. It’s just a shame the operating system isn’t as modern-looking as the system in the VW.

Unfortunately, the physical climate controls from the pre-facelift car are gone, and instead, you'll find them incorporated into the bottom section of the touchscreen infotainment display. This is a shame, because it’s more distracting to use while driving than the previous setup.

Range-topping ST-Line X models benefit from a wireless charging pad for your smartphone and a punchy 10-speaker B&O sound system. If we’re being picky, the sound quality it delivers isn't quite as warm or enveloping as the Bose system in range-topping versions of the Juke, but it's still good.

As part of its mid-life facelift, the dashboard received a comprehensive makeover that will be familiar to those who’ve peered inside the current-generation Ford Focus. The infotainment screen has been moved lower, the air vents have been moved higher, and all cars now get a soundbar that sits atop the dashboard. 

However, what hasn’t changed is the level of fit and finish. Most of the plastics on the dashboard feel cheap to the touch and the faux leather-wrapped trim pieces aren’t very squidgy.

Overall, it’s more lavish than what you’ll find in a Hyundai Bayon or Toyota Yaris Cross, but it can’t quite match the Juke, Peugeot 2008 or T-Roc for upmarket feel. Meanwhile, the Lexus LBX feels significantly plusher and more robust inside.

“The steering wheel, pedals and gearlever are perfectly placed for a sporty driving position. For me, it's intrinsic to the Puma’s already impressive driving experience.” – Dan Jones, Reviewer

Unless you’re exceptionally tall, you’ll fit just fine in the front of the Ford Puma and won’t find yourself struggling for head or leg room.

It's not as roomy as the VW T-Roc though – that car has a few more centimetres of head room, along with a slightly broader interior that provides more shoulder room between the driver and front passenger.

There’s plenty of storage space, with decent-sized door bins, a cubby in front of the gear lever, another one below the front armrest and a couple of cupholders between the front seats.

The Puma's small rear side windows don’t help create an impression of roominess and, in real terms, a couple of six-footers will have less knee room than in the limo-like Skoda Kamiq, or either the VW Taigo or T-Roc.

Head room is also worse than it is in both those rival cars, but in case that all sounds rather damning, you can still carry a couple of tall passengers in the back without too many grumbles.

It’s best to avoid the Puma's optional panoramic roof, though. It lowers the height of the ceiling and reduces head room further, especially in the back.

All Pumas have 60/40 split-folding rear seats, which matches what you get in almost all small SUVs, including the Kamiq, T-Roc and Lexus LBX. 

However, it's a pity that there’s no ski hatch in the Puma (there is in the T-Roc), or any other neat touches, such as the sliding rear seats offered in the VW T-Cross.

You can fit six carry-on-sized suitcases in the Puma's main boot compartment – one fewer than you’ll squeeze into a Kamiq, Toyota Yaris Cross or T-Roc. The Puma has a trick up its sleeve, though: if you lift up its 'false' boot floor, you’ll find a large well underneath that can swallow two more cases.

The boot floor can clip to the rear seatbacks so you can stand two sets of golf clubs, or a couple of large pot plants, upright in the well. There’s even a removable plug at the bottom, so you can hose out any mud afterwards.

The boot floor is height-adjustable. When it's set to its highest position and the rear seats are folded down, there's no step in the floor of the extended load bay and only a very small lip at the boot entrance. The tailgate-mounted parcel shelf lifts up when the boot is opened to give excellent access.

“The underfloor storage grabs the headlines, but I’ve also found the 12-volt power socket in the boot to be very useful.” – Stuart Milne, Digital Editor

There are no weedy engines in the Ford Puma line-up, nor are there any super-basic trim levels. That explains why the car's starting price is higher than those of the Juke and Kamiq. However, in like-for-like form, it’s actually cheaper than both those cars, and also undercuts the equivalent T-Roc.

PCP car finance deals are usually pretty attractive, helped by the fact that the Puma is predicted to depreciate more slowly than many of its peers. It’s more economical, too – in our real-world True MPG test, the pre-facelifted 1.0 Ecoboost mHEV 155 averaged a very respectable 45.1mpg.

The Puma pumps out less CO2 than many small SUVs so it's a relatively cheap company car (just not as cheap as an electric car or hybrid alternative, such as the Volvo EX30, Yaris Cross or LBX). Mind you, an electric Ford Puma is coming soon.

The cheapest trim, Titanium, doesn’t feel that ‘entry-level’ at all, with 17in alloy wheels, automatic LED headlights, automatic air conditioning, cruise control, a 12.8in digital instrument cluster, automatic climate control, and heated door mirrors, alongside the standard infotainment features and parking aids.

Our favourite trim is ST-Line, because when paired with our favourite engine (the 155 mHEV), it’s only marginally more expensive than entry-level Titanium trim. And yet, it builds on that car’s already great specification with sportier styling, power-folding door mirrors, sports seats and sports suspension.

ST-Line X trim is too expensive to recommend, but if you want all the kit then it’s your only choice. It introduces 18in alloy wheels, keyless entry, the B&O sound system we mentioned earlier, a powered tailgate, part ‘synthetic leather’ seats and adjustable lumbar support for the passenger’s seat. 

The Puma finished 17th out of 22 small SUV models in our 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey – below the Juke and T-Roc, but above the Kamiq.

As a manufacturer, Ford finished mid-table, claiming 17th place out of the 32 brands included. That’s one position below Skoda and two above Nissan, while VW finished 22nd.

All Pumas come with a three-year/60,000-mile warranty as standard, although that can be extended to five years (with a 100,000-mile limit) for an extra charge. That’s about average for a small SUV, but you get longer standard warranties with the Hyundai Kona and Kia Stonic.

All Pumas come with the modern preventative safety aids you’d expect, including automatic emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, lane-keeping assistance and traffic-sign recognition.

The optional Driver Assistance Pack is well worth considering. It’s not cheap but it introduces adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, an ‘Evasive Steering Assist’ system and Cross Traffic Alert (to stop you from pulling out on an unseen vehicle).

Euro NCAP awarded the Puma four stars out of five for safety in 2022 – a rather disappointing score. To keep would-be thieves at bay, all Pumas come with a Thatcham category one alarm and immobiliser.

“While air-conditioning comes as standard on all models, I find it odd that climate control isn’t offered – even as an optional extra.” – Steve Huntingford, Editor

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