Ford Kuga 2.0 TDCi Titanium Review & Road Test

We review the Ford Kuga Titanium

Ford has always produced cars that the great British public think of as ‘Family ‘ cars. When I was knee-high to a grasshopper my Dad had a quite ancient sit up and beg Ford Pop. Slow, unreliable and far from roomy, it still functioned as a symbol of prosperity and personal freedom for a post-war generation.

As the sixties moved on and Ford’s customers became more prosperous it was the Cortina that symbolised family motoring. Not just family motoring, but Motorsport too with iterations like the Lotus Cortina.

So it would be fair to assume that it is perhaps the Mondeo that has inherited the ‘Family Car’ mantle from it’s illustrious ancestors or perhaps – in these cash strapped times – the very able Ford Focus, with models from a load-lugging family estate to the unbelievably able Focus RS. But if that’s what you believe, you’d be wrong.

The true inheritor of the family car mantle, and symbolising the aspirations of a new generation of families, is the Ford Kuga. True, it may often be bought as the second car; the runaround for the wife to do the shopping; ferry the kids; go to the gym. But that shouldn’t demean the Kuga. In many ways it just proves what a clever car it is.

The Kuga fulfils an innate tendency in the hearts of British car buyers that somehow a Ford is a ‘Patriotic’ buy. That’s nonsense – Ford hasn’t made a car in the UK for a very long time – but that ‘Britishness’ attached to Fords shows no more sign of going away than it does in Jaguar or Land Rover. But it also offers something so many buyers now want – the high driving position and the butchness of an SUV. And most don’t actually care whether it comes with 4WD or not.

So despite the plethora of choice we now have – from every corner of the globe -  a sizeable chunk of us choose to buy a Ford. So it’s a good job that, actually, Ford is a very good choice across all of its range. And its latest model range, the Ford Kuga – which first hit showrooms in 2008 – is very good at what it does. But it needs to be. There is some very stiff competition.

The Kuga we have on test is the 2.0 litre TDCi with AWD – the pick of the bunch. True, the 2.5 petrol offers more oomph, but not enough extra to live with the fuel economy. And with Ford introducing the 161bhp version of the 2.0-litre Ford Duratorq TDCi diesel engine for 2010 there’s even less reason to opt for a petrol lump in the Kuga.

Not only is the Kuga Titanium we have on test the top of the range, it also gets the ‘Individual’ pack option which adds goodies such as premium leather, 19″ alloys, Ali roof rails and privacy glass. Ford have really gone to town on this particular Kuga and have also thrown in a Touchscreen DVD SatNav with Bluetooth. These two options – plus the black metallic paint – shove the Kuga up in price by an eye-watering £3,500.

Despite the almost 15% jump in price by speccing up the Kuga, Ford is actually being very sensible by offering such a highly specified Kuga. For apart fr0m the ‘Second Car’ option for families, the Kuga is filling a role as a ‘Trade-Down’ car. There’s something about an SUV – even a compact SUV like the Kuga – that sets it apart from any real connotations of being ‘Down-Market’. It’s perceived as more a of a lifestyle choice than one imposed by cost. So it’s a great trade-down option.

But enough of analysing why the Kuga is – and where the Kuga fits in to the grand scheme – when what really matters is whether it’s any good. Is it good to drive? Is it value for money? is it well built? Is it likely to be economical to run? Easy. Yes to all. Review ends.

Oh, alright. I’ll elaborate.

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By Cars UK