Post by Big Blue on Sept 4, 2018 21:16:51 GMT
So, upgrade at the Nice rental desk to a fully loaded and seemingly gigantic Ford Kuga.
I was taken aback at just how big it was. I remember the early Kuga being a small sized mini-soft roader but this is the size of a Mk1 Range Rover. At least we all fitted in.
Firstly, pulling out of Nice Airport I was under the impression I’d never had a less certain steering rack since I drove a 1970s Japanese mini-tipper truck with column change - incredibly difficult to place accurately. That didn’t get much better all week.
Loads of space but still fails the child seat test. Almost all cars with “5” seats can’t realistically take 5 with a car seat in place (the exception being separate seated MPVs like the Touran), let alone 2. Nice big boot with none of the false-floor bollocks: what you see is what you get (remember wysiwyg? It was the acronym for the first MS Word and even Wordperfect).
As I said it was fully loaded so jam-packed with goodies like apple car play, comfort access, nav, glass roof, Reverse Camera but it’s all a bit low-rent compared to a VAG car. The computer does its job but the graphics aren’t the best, the cruise cancels when you change gear without touching the brake (something the Golf did which is great when you change down to overtake then back up again to cruise speed without touching the brake), no voodoo-cruise and then.....there’s the sat nav.
I’ve used many nav systems, from phones like the Blackberry, Experia and iPhone to apps like ViaMichelin, dedicated kit like the Snooper and cars from VAG, BMW, Renault and Citroën. This Ford Kuga has touchscreen but the nav entry is the least intuitive I’ve ever come across. I used it on a trip down to La Ciotat but reverted to Apple maps for the return. It’s that horrific. I also set it to avoid the Autoroute which it did quite diligently but on three occasions it took me on a slow, narrow, prolonged route round towns which certainly didn’t save any time or fuel.
The fuel. Diseasal. I’m a remainer, in that I remain of the opinion that heavy oil is for boats buses trucks and trains. This car did nothing to convince me otherwise. Cruising along at the legal 50kph it insists I move to 6th. The drivetrain judders so much I feared for the engine mounts. 5th wasn’t really the right gear either, so 4th it was. In the out of town 90kph zones 5th was the order of the day. It seems that in some insane pursuit of cruising at minimal fuel use the Ford “engineers” have sacrificed comfort and useability at the altar of economy. I suspect some people are driving these things thinking the drivetrain is utterly risible as they're following the change-up notices on the dash.
Driving pleasure was completely compromised by the vague steering, an engine that was never in the right gear and a gear change that made selection of third or fifth a game that Bet Fred would be proud to offer to punters. Want to change down from 4th into a mountainous hairpin? Fifth it is, out of the power band and chugging like Ivor the engine. Just joined the autoroute and want to change up on your way to cruising speed? Try third, sir, so the engine can feel like the pistons will emanate through the head before you can say “clutch in!” Oh yes, the clutch spring (or hydraulic plunger i suppose). One assumes Ford make these for some of the larger box trucks and the occasional F150 that might get a manual.....and then just use the same part across the range. Heavier than a heavy thing that sits under a block of concrete under a set of building foundations.
In terms of build, the seats are comfy, the shutlines are all tidy, nothing fell off but inside the use of cheap plastics makes it laughable as a prospect for longer than 24-36 months of ownership. The plastic in the centre console around the touch screen would have just snapped by then, although the peripheral controls on the wheel still don’t suffer from anything as bad as the 1980s Renault switches still in use. The air con was far too keen to just keep blowing icy air in the “auto” setting such that the fan speed had to be reduced thus making the concept of “auto” exactly that - a concept only.
Economy was 38.74mpg over 530kms. Drove through the hills to the coast, along the autoroute, up the mountains to the lake and around town. You will notice that this is considerably worse than that achieved by the petrol Golf which I mercilessly thrashed relative to the way I drove this chugger - diesel is indeed dead.
In short I’d never buy one of these. Ever. I can see why people buy them but a Picasso would be a better family mover and a Quashqai (I was offered one at the desk but had never had a Kuga before - fnarr fnarr) annihilates it as a faux off-roader as do a lot of other things I should imagine.
I was taken aback at just how big it was. I remember the early Kuga being a small sized mini-soft roader but this is the size of a Mk1 Range Rover. At least we all fitted in.
Firstly, pulling out of Nice Airport I was under the impression I’d never had a less certain steering rack since I drove a 1970s Japanese mini-tipper truck with column change - incredibly difficult to place accurately. That didn’t get much better all week.
Loads of space but still fails the child seat test. Almost all cars with “5” seats can’t realistically take 5 with a car seat in place (the exception being separate seated MPVs like the Touran), let alone 2. Nice big boot with none of the false-floor bollocks: what you see is what you get (remember wysiwyg? It was the acronym for the first MS Word and even Wordperfect).
As I said it was fully loaded so jam-packed with goodies like apple car play, comfort access, nav, glass roof, Reverse Camera but it’s all a bit low-rent compared to a VAG car. The computer does its job but the graphics aren’t the best, the cruise cancels when you change gear without touching the brake (something the Golf did which is great when you change down to overtake then back up again to cruise speed without touching the brake), no voodoo-cruise and then.....there’s the sat nav.
I’ve used many nav systems, from phones like the Blackberry, Experia and iPhone to apps like ViaMichelin, dedicated kit like the Snooper and cars from VAG, BMW, Renault and Citroën. This Ford Kuga has touchscreen but the nav entry is the least intuitive I’ve ever come across. I used it on a trip down to La Ciotat but reverted to Apple maps for the return. It’s that horrific. I also set it to avoid the Autoroute which it did quite diligently but on three occasions it took me on a slow, narrow, prolonged route round towns which certainly didn’t save any time or fuel.
The fuel. Diseasal. I’m a remainer, in that I remain of the opinion that heavy oil is for boats buses trucks and trains. This car did nothing to convince me otherwise. Cruising along at the legal 50kph it insists I move to 6th. The drivetrain judders so much I feared for the engine mounts. 5th wasn’t really the right gear either, so 4th it was. In the out of town 90kph zones 5th was the order of the day. It seems that in some insane pursuit of cruising at minimal fuel use the Ford “engineers” have sacrificed comfort and useability at the altar of economy. I suspect some people are driving these things thinking the drivetrain is utterly risible as they're following the change-up notices on the dash.
Driving pleasure was completely compromised by the vague steering, an engine that was never in the right gear and a gear change that made selection of third or fifth a game that Bet Fred would be proud to offer to punters. Want to change down from 4th into a mountainous hairpin? Fifth it is, out of the power band and chugging like Ivor the engine. Just joined the autoroute and want to change up on your way to cruising speed? Try third, sir, so the engine can feel like the pistons will emanate through the head before you can say “clutch in!” Oh yes, the clutch spring (or hydraulic plunger i suppose). One assumes Ford make these for some of the larger box trucks and the occasional F150 that might get a manual.....and then just use the same part across the range. Heavier than a heavy thing that sits under a block of concrete under a set of building foundations.
In terms of build, the seats are comfy, the shutlines are all tidy, nothing fell off but inside the use of cheap plastics makes it laughable as a prospect for longer than 24-36 months of ownership. The plastic in the centre console around the touch screen would have just snapped by then, although the peripheral controls on the wheel still don’t suffer from anything as bad as the 1980s Renault switches still in use. The air con was far too keen to just keep blowing icy air in the “auto” setting such that the fan speed had to be reduced thus making the concept of “auto” exactly that - a concept only.
Economy was 38.74mpg over 530kms. Drove through the hills to the coast, along the autoroute, up the mountains to the lake and around town. You will notice that this is considerably worse than that achieved by the petrol Golf which I mercilessly thrashed relative to the way I drove this chugger - diesel is indeed dead.
In short I’d never buy one of these. Ever. I can see why people buy them but a Picasso would be a better family mover and a Quashqai (I was offered one at the desk but had never had a Kuga before - fnarr fnarr) annihilates it as a faux off-roader as do a lot of other things I should imagine.
