The Ford Puma is back for 2020...

  • Thread starter FT-1
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Can't agree with the comment about so many better cars for the same price. The Puma was said to be an absolute driver's car compared to the Vauxhall Tigra or Toyota Paseo it was up against.
 
VXR
Can't agree with the comment about so many better cars for the same price. The Puma was said to be an absolute driver's car compared to the Vauxhall Tigra or Toyota Paseo it was up against.
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Yeah. When it was new it was pretty much the best drivers' car for the money. I recall it being beaten in group tests by the 106 GTi and later on by the first BMW Mini, but it wiped the floor with everything else in the class. The Racing Puma's often right up there in "best FWD of all time"-type lists too.
 
Plus the Yamaha 1.7 was praised to the hilt. I'd rather that than the 1.6 Ecotec Vauxhall was peddling.
 
VXR
Can't agree with the comment about so many better cars for the same price. The Puma was said to be an absolute driver's car compared to the Vauxhall Tigra or Toyota Paseo it was up against.
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Indeed - there was only one better car at the time...
 
Famine
Indeed - there was only one better car at the time...
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Well, obviously:

1997-1999_Toyota_Camry.jpg


And yes, it is a 2.2.
 
Famine
Indeed - there was only one better car at the time...
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Well, quite. The Megane Coupe 16v :D

I've never found a review of the one you're actually talking about tested directly against the Puma, as I think the period where both were on sale simultaneously was a bit too small. It gets beaten in both the tests I do have of it though :lol: Loses to the 205 GTI/Clio Williams/SW20 MR2 in one in Car, and to the aforementioned Megane in a Top Gear one.

The Puma, from memory of mags I have lying around the place, beats the Tigra (Autocar), beats the Megane and Xsara VTS in another (Car), loses to the Mini in a couple (Auto Express and Top Gear) and loses to a 106 GTi in another (Top Gear again). The Racing Puma always did pretty well too but almost always found itself tested against the DC2 Integra R, which was probably a little too much for it.

Definitely fair to say, in context of the overall discussion, that the Puma was a) one of the best cars in its class, b) one of the best cars Ford produced in the 1990s full stop, and c) the Racing is among the best-handling front-drivers ever.

And on a personal opinion level, I've always liked the way the Puma looked, and the Racing is absolutely stunning.
 
Why do they have to revive Names of sporty looking cars and make a SUV or a Crossover out of it?

Still annoyed by Mitsubishi for abusing the Eclipse for an SUV
Now the same with Ford Puma.
Nissan uses Skyline now for SUVs aswell.

Certainly there are possibly even more which I don't remember right now...
 
Street Racer 77
Why do they have to revive Names of sporty looking cars and make a SUV or a Crossover out of it?
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Brand recognition mostly. People already know the Puma name, or at least know it better than some never heard of name before.
 
Remember the old Ford Puma? It was a cool looking, kind of cute compact car. It was a cool little Ford as much as the old Ford Ka. This? Naw. This is no Puma. This may end up being a modestly intriguing automobile, but I'd hate to consider this a Puma.
 
2020 Ford Puma: This is it
fa90c4f0-ford-puma-10.jpg

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The front end will take some getting used to, but I must say it looks quite attractive from the side and the rear. Still not keen on the use of the Puma nameplate, but it is what it is.
 
At least when they resurrected the 'Cougar' name (and moved it from a coupe to a crossover) they changed the spelling to reflect the change in segment. They should have badged this the 'Poumer'.*



Edit * this is for the North American market.

The European model would be badged 'Pewmer'
 
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I quite like it, but it's the ST-Line model and they always look more aggressive. I feel like the regular model might end up looking a bit awkward with that front end sitting so high up.
 
I really like it surprisingly. Those taillights are super Kia though lol.

This is another vehicle that's never coming to North America yeah?
 
On my Twitter, reaction to this thing seems to come under one of four categories.

1) Hideous
2) Amazing (mostly Ford employees, so doesn't count)
3) People who hate that Ford has revived the name for a crossover
4) "At least it's better than the Ecosport" ("Being kicked in the arse is better than being kicked in the testicles")
 
bremics
I really like it surprisingly. Those taillights are super Kia though lol.
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Kia are producing some great looking cars at the minute IMO, there's nothing wrong with taking some influences from some of their models!
 
bremics
I really like it surprisingly. Those taillights are super Kia though lol.
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Moglet
Kia are producing some great looking cars at the minute IMO, there's nothing wrong with taking some influences from some of their models!
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Interesting observations since this (the XCeed) was officially revealed the same day as the Puma, and the similarities are... See for yourself:
86ea880d-kia-xceed-5.jpg
 
Moglet
Kia are producing some great looking cars at the minute IMO, there's nothing wrong with taking some influences from some of their models!
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Oh yeah, I'm not complaining lol. Just saying that I swear I've seen those taillights in traffic already lol.

Thankfully there's very few bad looking cars these days lol.

Now everyone just has to switch back to RWD drive based platforms and it will be glorious :P
 
homeforsummer
On my Twitter, reaction to this thing seems to come under one of four categories.

1) Hideous
2) Amazing (mostly Ford employees, so doesn't count)
3) People who hate that Ford has revived the name for a crossover
4) "At least it's better than the Ecosport" ("Being kicked in the arse is better than being kicked in the testicles")
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I'll have numbers 1 and 4, with a side of "please don't make an ST version".
 
All that controversy over the name and it ends up looking so ordinary. It'll probably sell decently but it just looks like a jacked-up Fiesta.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
I would rather be kicked in the testies than given an Ecosport for free.

h3D7NfL.jpg


LOOK AT IT!
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It really does look worse in person, somebody who lives at the same apartment owns one :/

I'm curious about how much they cost now, might use the configurator. Can't see why anyone would buy this over... Anything really.

Starts at over $20k... $23k with taxes. Why.
 

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