Ford Kuga (08 on) - Review

Review by Matthew Proud on
Last Updated: 02 July 2010
The Kuga may be a 4x4 but it's not meant to be a hardcore off-roader. Instead it is designed mainly for driving on tarmac - which explains the sporty rather than chunky styling. It's based on the Focus, one of the best small family cars around, so it's no surprise that the Kuga is good to drive with impressive performance and neat handling - it's certainly unlike traditional off roaders. Of course models with four-wheel drive are capable of tackling more demanding terrain such as muddy tracks while it also makes a good tow car. But for those who don't need the extra traction a cheaper two-wheel drive model is available. Surprisingly, the Kuga is one of the greenest cars of its type – so emissions and tax costs are lower than most alternatives.
4 out of 5

Other Ford reviews

4 out of 5

Running costs

The Kuga is easy on fuel and cheaper to tax than most similar sized alternatives. List prices are competitive and residual values should be among the best in class.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£2,192 - £2,273 *

Diesel

£1,364 - £1,563 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

12,500 miles or 12 months.

Warranty

Three years/60,000 miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£170.00 - £460.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

4 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
    154
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
    244
  • M

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

The Kuga is one of the greenest cars of its type with surprisingly low CO2 emissions. The frugal four-wheel drive version of the 2.0-litre diesel returns around 44mpg and emits just 169 g/km CO2 while the 2WD is even better, emitting just 159g/km of CO2 and returning 46mpg.

Find the exact engine and CO2