Ford Kuga

Our verdict

Ford’s first foray into the soft-roader, mini-SUV market proves the old adage about being last but not least. Won’t go up mountains, but will do most of the other things buyers expect of these cars. It’s a Ford, so dealer service will be middling

Comfort

You’ve got one of those classic sit-up-and-beg seating positions so comfort there is pretty good. There aren’t any complaints about the ride either, as it’s really well damped and never gets ruffled. The diesel engine is as quiet as they come.

Performance

Engine choice is limited at the moment to a 2.0-litre diesel, but a petrol will arrive later in 2008. Still, that diesel is all the engine you’ll ever need – it’s quiet at all points and also has more than enough power to make keeping up with traffic easy.

Cool

Can a soft-roader ever be cool? Not really I’m afraid. These things say so much about you having to join the crowd that you’ll lose any sense of coolness. Too desperate, that’s what you are.

Quality

There are lots of soft-touch plastics on the dash and everything feels pretty well screwed together. As with all Ford’s, poke around and you’ll see some cheap areas but all the touch points feel expensive.

Handling

Soft-roaders aren’t designed to be brilliant around corners, but as per usual with Ford, the Kuga does better than most of its rivals. The steering is sharp, the body roll is well contained – for a large car, this feels nimble.

Practicality

It’s not a small car, the Kuga, so you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that practicality is pretty impressive. Lacks the clever interior touches of the Renault Koleos but it’s still big inside.

Running costs

As with all diesels, there should be long life service intervals on this and the economy won’t be a problem. Depreciation might rear its ugly head if the bottom continues to drop out of the SUV market.