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Ford Puma gets the ST stamp of approval

 By Matt Lawrence, Motoring Correspondent FIRST performance-focused

0-62mph, with both the Fiesta and Puma taking just 6.7 seconds to hit that bench- mark. Another of the Puma’s shared components is the ST-engineered six- speed manual gearbox, sending power to the front axle as on the high-perfor- mance Fiesta. Keep your foot planted, and the Puma will push on to 137 mph before tickling the limiter. Besides raw power, there’s plenty more technological trickery going on under the Puma ST’s skin. Take its cylin- der deactivation technology, for exam- ple, which automatically shuts off one of the EcoBoost’s trio of cylinders, thereby greatly increasing efficiency and fuel consumption in more sedate driving scenarios. That said, sedate isn’t exactly the Puma ST’s style. While you can’t be careering rally-style across the countryside all the time, there is of course plenty of scope to unleash the Puma ST’s inner predator. Much effort has be piled into optimis- ing the slightly loftier Puma’s handling and corning ability, bringing it as close as possible to the poised and brilliantly balanced Fiesta ST. Torque vectoring control is standard, giving the cross- over some much need stickabilty in the corners by applying brake force to the inside front wheel. This goes hand in hand with the Puma ST’s first-in-segment limited-slip differ- ential. Though you’ll need to specify the £950 Performance Pack to get it, this extra piece of gadgetry is a key weapon in the battle against understeer. This essentially dishes up more torque to the wheel with the most grip, thereby pre- venting it from spinning helplessly. An optimised chassis features a bespoke twist-beam, anti-roll bar and ST-tuned dampers. Ford sources promise us that the unchained Puma’s steering should be around 25 per cent sharper than that of the standard car while its brakes have been bolstered

to meet the demands of its new found muscle. Specially-developed Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres also help make this the most agile Ford SUV yet. On board, the driver can further shakes things up by selecting one of four ST drive modes; Normal, Eco, Sport and Track. While Eco mode disengages the aforementioned superfluous cylinder in low-strain conditions, the latter takes away the crutches of traction control and electronic stability control, letting you hunt for lap records on your own two feet. Although any Ford ST model is only as good as its underpinnings, on a superfi- cial level there are still some pretty exact- ing standards to live up to. The Puma ST, like the Fiesta and Focus before it, does indeed look the business. That slop- ing roofline silhouette and flared SUV- style wheel arches remain but are now padded out with some suitably heavy duty pieces of body kit. The front splitter, for example, beefs-up the look of the front bumper, but most importantly works to boost front end downforce by a staggering 80 per cent. It’s a similar case at the rear, which gets a large spoiler and distinctive diffuser integrated into the bumper. The ST family face, with its signature upper and lower grilles, also perform the dual role of giving the Puma some extra visual punch as well as feeding the 1.5-litre turbo the cooling air it craves. Active exhaust valve technology, a staple these days for ever more eco-con- scious performance models, amps up the three-pot engine’s already sporty soundtrack. In terms of other finishing touches, the 2020 Puma ST comes stan- dard with 19-inch alloy wheels and six available exterior body colours including this rather fetching ST-exclusive green. Elsewhere, a gloss black finish for the roof, grille surrounds, door mirror caps and rear roof spoiler is standard.

Opening the doors prompts the Puma’s wing mirrors to project the ST logo onto the ground, while the skid plates and Recaro sports seats also bear ST branding. Once you’re fully settled in, you’ll find a flat-bottomed leather steering wheel and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster with all the usual race-based teleme- try at your disposal. On a more practi- cal level, the Puma ST comes standard with a wireless charging pad, heated windscreen and front and rear park- ing sensors, bringing it in line with the most well-appointed of the base-car’s iterations. Infotainment is provided by an 8-inch central touchscreen, compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Ford will even throw in a premium B&O sound system at no extra cost. Despite its new-found performance prowess, the Puma is still an SUV at heart. That means it’ll still lug up to 456 litres of shopping, outdoor activity par- aphernalia or golf equipment. The latter of these would fit very snuggly in the Puma’s optional MegaBox cubbyhole beneath the boot floor, lending it an extra 80 litres of versatile storage. Safety tech aboard the all-new Puma ST includes pre-collision assist with active braking, active park assist, cross traffic alert as well as an intelligent speed limiter. Available from £28,495, the 2020 Ford Puma ST will set tyre to tarmac here in the UK before the end of the year. When it does touch down, it’ll likely lock horns with another new member of the hot-crossover fraternity; namely Hyundai’s as-yet unreleased Kona N. Thus far only spied in full camouflage during testing at the Nurburgring, another Hyundai N vs Ford ST matchup makes for a tantalising prospect indeed. 

Ford SUV gets 197bhp of Fiesta ST muscle under the bonnet along with a host of track- honed tech. Hot-hatches are a heck of a lot of fun, of that there is little doubt. Whether we’re taking the Renault Clio RS, Audi S1 or Ford Fiesta ST, pure unbridled driving fun can often come in the smallest of packages. But why not take those thrills and raise them up a few notches? About 60mm to be precise. It seems a little puzzling that Ford, purveyor of the excellent Fiesta ST, has taken so long to copy that stamp of per- formance quality and paste it onto one of its SUVs. Sure, the EcoSport crossover has received a superficial ST-Line make- over, but nothing approaching the real invasive surgery that turns a practical family car into a Ford flying machine. While almost no one was clamouring for a hotted-up version of the rather underwhelming EcoSport, pulses will surely be set racing by the impending prospect of its younger, more refined sibling joining the ranks of the Fiesta and Focus as Ford Europe’s third ful- ly-fledged ST model. We are referring of course to the all-new Ford Puma ST, on sale now in Europe and with more than a few tricks in its newly bolstered armoury. Powered by the same 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine that drives its Fiesta namesake, the Puma ST can call on 197bhp, that’s 46bhp more than the top-spec standard Puma currently in showrooms. Torque is uprated accord- ingly, with a significant hike in rotational power from 214 to 236lb/ft lending the hot-crossover some extra potency. Despite its increased weight, the Puma ST will match its hatchback coun- terpart blow for blow in the sprint from

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