Ford Kuga Trend 2013 Review

Ford Kuga

Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 134kW / 240Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel / CO2: 7.7L/100km / 179g/km
Wheels / Tyres: 18x7.5-inch / 235/50
Safety: Seven airbags / Five-star (ANCAP)

EXECUTION OF INTENDED PURPOSE
Though cleverly packaged, Kuga couldn't completely hide the fact that it was smaller than the others on test. It trailed the pack for front shoulder and legroom, and also finished last for rear legroom. Where Kuga impressed, however, was in its rear headroom and comfortable, contoured rear seating, though as one tester commented, “I wouldn’t want to be in the middle seat.”

Front seats were comfortable if narrow. Electric adjustment enables a good driving position.

The Kuga’s steering wheel was impressively free of clutter, but like most Fords these days, the centre stack was awash with confusing, oddly placed switchgear.

The sequential gear-shift operation – on the side of the gear-shift knob and completely counterintuitive – was universally panned by our judges on this occasion.

Where Kuga was bigger than it looked was in cargo space, with 406 litres on offer with the rear seats up. That extended to 1603 litres with the 60:40 rear seats folded flat; good enough for third place in both categories.

A diesel-like chatter accompanied Kuga on start-up, but it soon settled into a smooth, polished turbo-petrol delivery with little in the way of vibration –though it could get raucous under acceleration. The low-profile tyres also made their presence felt.

Four-up, Kuga’s high sides and small rear window meant side and rear visibility trailed the best.

One final concern centred around the low-hanging intake piping under the front of Kuga’s engine bay. Fortunately this serves only to direct cool air to the back of the engine, and not supply intake air.

Among the busy, angular design aspects of the interior, we found plenty of poorly finished, sharp edges on plastic trim pieces – as well as the flimsiest feeling glovebox lid. The leather trim on the steering wheel felt more like rubber.

That said, the Ford’s imposing dashboard felt mostly solid and the switchgear – especially the rotary ventilation and headlight controls – had a positive action and quality feel.

The plasticky Sony-branded audio system, with its tiny buttons and confusing, cheap-feeling large central controller was another let-down.

The Kuga was the only car tested with a fully-carpeted cargo area, which featured a 12V power outlet, two plastic bag hooks, and two metal tie-down points.

The engine bay was neat and tidy and all doors closed with a satisfying thunk.

On the exterior, the Kuga’s panel gaps were the tightest of all the cars tested and consistently spaced throughout.

The polarising shade of metallic brown paint (called Burnished Glow) on our test vehicle was flawless but lacking in the depth of shine displayed by the Forester or the sparkle of the RAV4. Contrasting silver-painted roof rails added a touch of class, however.

The quality of exterior plastics was generally high, though the plastic lower body and wheel arch cladding did not feel as solid as that of the RAV4, and lacked the classy finish of the CR-V.

The well-balanced and sure-footed SUV provided plenty of confidence in its ability, with high grip-levels, well weighted and accurate steering, and brakes that offered good initial bite and consistent pedal pressure. The Kuga also cornered relatively flat for this style of high-riding vehicle.

This dynamic discipline did come at a slight cost to ride quality. Simply, the Kuga did not prove as plush as its rivals.

On the gravel sections it was impressively capable and sure-footed right up to the point of losing grip, at which time its stability control kicked in rather clumsily.

The 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine was smallest on test, giving away almost a litre in cubic capacity to its rivals. However, the addition of a turbocharger ensured a competitive output of 134kW/240Nm.

The Kuga exhibited noticeable turbo lag when hauling out of tight corners and needed to be driven hard in these conditions. The force-fed engine also sipped more expensive 95-98 RON premium unleaded, where its rivals were happy on regular 91 RON.

Its claimed 7.7L/100km combined cycle figure was second only to the frugal Mazda, but the harsh reality of open-road testing again demonstrated how far removed these laboratory dynamometer figures are from real-world driving.

The Kuga’s best on test 9.3L/100km was 1.4L/100km worse than the Mazda, which consistently returned the best fuel figures, while its worst of 19.9L/100km was 2.3L/100km thirstier than the Mazda.

The clearly marked ‘phone’ button was brilliant in its simplicity, but beyond this, phone pairing was a guessing game. Four buttons at the bottom of the centre display correlate to menu options on the 4.2-inch inset screen. These buttons were also the key to successful Bluetooth audio streaming.

The navigation of the Kuga’s infotainment functionality was far from the frustration we experienced in the Subaru Forester, but a surprising flaw in its otherwise logical design.

The Ford Kuga Trend was our only vehicle on test to offer full electric seat adjustment but was the only vehicle not to offer a reversing camera. It also joins the RAV4 and Forester in its absence of satellite navigation.

A technology trump-card for the Kuga, however, was its emergency call-for-help system. In the event that the airbags are deployed, or the fuel pump shut-off, the SYNC system automatically uses the driver’s paired phone to call 000. It can even provide your GPS location and an emergency message if the driver is unable to do so.

As the newest vehicle in this company, the Kuga arrived as standard with a competitive level of standard equipment and pipped its rivals with the inclusion of DAB+ Digital Radio, part of the Sony-sourced nine-speaker premium audio system.

Ford offers an industry standard three-year/100,000km warranty on the Kuga Trend. The warranty package includes 12 months of included roadside assistance.

Under the myFORD capped price servicing plan, the Kuga Trend is covered for a period of seven years/105,000km, whichever comes first. This equates to seven services when the recommended 12 month / 15,000km interval is applied. As a guide, each service is capped at $300.00.

Where resale is concerned, the Kuga is quite the newcomer in the Ford stable. As such, the three year period normally recognised in our mega-tests cannot be applied. Instead, we look at a 12 month old TE Series Kuga Trend which Redbook tells us sells privately for a median price of $27,500. This equates to 70 per cent of its new price after one year.