The Ford Kuga is Ford’s entry into the rapidly-growing crossover market, which combine the attributes of 4x4 Sport Utility Vehicles with the ride and handling of a coupe.
Such vehicles are generally engineered to extremely high standards to withstand the rigours of the rough stuff, which translates into high crash test scores.
The Ford Kuga is one of the newest of these vehicles and is expanding in terms of the engines and equipment levels it offers, having arrived here initially with a two-litre diesel power plant.
There are two trim and equipment levels of the Ford Kuga, the Zetec and Titanium. The Ford Kuga Zetec comes with alloy wheels, air conditioning, remote central locking, four electric windows and a CD player with MP3 connectivity. The Ford Kuga Titanium version adds climate control, automatic lights, rain sensing wipers, half leather upholstery and cruise control. Options are metallic paint, parking sensors, Bluetooth and satellite navigation.
The Ford Kuga has earned the highest EuroNCAP safety score of any small 4x4, with a maximum five stars for adult occupant protection, four stars for child protection and three out of four stars for pedestrian safety. This is a combination unrivalled by any of its competitors. All models also come with anti-lock brakes, ESP electronic stability programme with ARM anti-rollover mitigation, TCS traction control system, EBD electronic brake-force distribution, EBA emergency brake assist and TSA trailer stability assist. There are also ISOFIX child seat mountings. The Ford Kuga uses Ford’s high-efficiency 2.0 TDCi engine, which has a CO2 rating of 169g/km and average economy of 44.1mpg.
Initially powered by a single 2.0 TDCi engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission there is a power output of 134bhp and a torque figure of 236lb/ft. The top speed of the Ford Kuga is 112mph with acceleration to 60mph in 10.7 seconds and economy of 44.1mpg. The vehicle weighs 1613kg and has a maximum braked towing capacity of 2100kg.
Initially there are two models on offer, the 2.0 TDCi Zetec and Titanium with prices of £20,500 and £22,500.
