Ford Kuga Titunium TDCI 2014 Review

Ford’s Kuga may not be the biggest selling vehicle in Ford Australia’s model lineup, but its performance in the last year or so has seen a healthy increase over sales of the original (short-lived) series. In fact the Kuga SUV and the Ranger LCV are the only current Fords recording improving year-to-date sales.

To find a place in the astonishingly well-subscribed medium-size SUV segment is not an easy thing to do: The segment is almost over-populated with practically everybody – including heavy-hitters like Mazda’s CX-5, Toyota’s RAV4, Holden’s Captiva 5, Hyundai’s ix35, Subaru’s Forester and Nissan’s X-TRAIL – all fighting for a share.

The Kuga might not yet have challenged the top performers in sheer numbers (4901 have been sold year-to-date compared to 3064 for the same period in 2013), but it’s on the way, even if there’s some gap to, say, Mazda’s CX-5 that is currently sitting on 18,237 sales for the year so far.

Lineball with all the major players in terms of size, weight and specification, the Kuga spans a price range starting comfortably below $30,000 in 2WD form and, like most of its competitors (except the Holden Captiva 5), stretching well past $45,000 for the top-level 4WD model.

So far, the Kuga has earned points for its general packaging, on-road dynamics and equipment. It’s more than just another entrant in a viciously contested category and will play an important role in the company’s market ambitions as it transitions from being a manufacturer to a full-line importer.

In its most expensive form – the $47,740 Titanium TDCi that comes as standard with all-wheel drive and Ford’s six-speed dual-clutch transmission – the Kuga is replete with comfort and safety gear that is about as close to cutting edge as a local Ford gets. Though you will need to fork out another $2650 if you'd like the optional Technology Pack; it adds autonomous braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot warning, lane-keeping assist, lane-departure warning, driver impairment monitor and a (questionable) auto high-beam function.

This is on top of standard Titanium equipment that includes things like sat-nav, self-parking capability, rearview camera, bi-xenon headlights, power glass sunroof, keyless entry and start, LED daytime running lights, hands-free tailgate operation, partial-leather seats (heated at the front) and a set of 19-inch alloys.

As we’ve found in recent encounters with Kuga, the medium-size Ford SUV packs-in its passengers and luggage with handy reserves of space. Minimum boot volume is quoted at 406 litres all seats in place, while with all seats folded it opens out to 1603 litres. This is class-competitive and compares favourably with Mazda’s CX-5 (403/1560 litres). Ford has done a good job of making the Kuga user-friendly with lever-activated single action, double-fold rear seats that provide a flat and useful load area.

The only problem we had with the Titanium Kuga on test was the power tailgate’s proclivity to be caught out if we asked it to close in a stiff wind. A number of times the sensors identified the howling draught as some other impediment – such as an intruding arm or other body part – and aborted the procedure.

In the cabin, the Kuga rates above adequate for rear-seat passengers, who have plenty of legroom regardless of who is occupying the front of the vehicle, and are also well taken care of by the Ford’s new-generation lightweight seats.

The Kuga is quiet and agreeably mannered on the road too, with a nice degree of silence as it cruises the freeway, as well as a smooth, controlled ride. It is dynamically among the top-runners in the medium SUV pack with nicely weighted, quickly responsive and accurate steering (it goes from lock to lock in a relatively fast 2.6 turns) and plenty of grip from the meaty tyres.

The 120kW/340Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel performs steadily, with a nice flat torque band coming in from an early 1750rpm, as well as the smooth, silent operation we are beginning to expect of diesels today.

Coupled with the six-speed tranny, it’s a strong diesel, always responsive whether it’s highway or urban conditions (and it’s due to get stronger with the arrival of a revised version punching out 132kW/400Nm early in 2015) and easily capable of dealing with the Titanium’s 1738kg kerb weight.

On test we fell short of the 6.4L/100km ADR Combined consumption figure, with our recorded average coming in at 7.5. Once again the upcoming revision will see the diesel’s official combined fuel figure drop to 5.7L/100km.

Did we have any reservations with the Titanium Kuga? Very little really, apart from the fact that the active cruise control sometimes closed-in too abruptly when approaching a slower vehicle, a keyless touch-lock function that rarely worked and the auto high-beam function that seemed a little too willing to switch from high to low beam without any provocation.

There’s plenty of heavy traffic to deal with in the medium SUV sector, but the Ford Kuga has the credentials to carve its way into a much more prominent position – as well as figure more significantly in Ford’s annual sales.

Also consider:
>> Mazda CX-5
>> Subaru Forester
>> Toyota RAV4