Ford Kuga boot space, practicality and safety
- Lots of clever storage bins
- Flexible rear bench seat
- Poor load cover in the boot
How much space is there?
Enough for most families. Three average adults should be able to get comfortable in the rear, as the Kuga offers lots of head and leg room. It also features a split-folding 60:40 backrest – and you can slide the seat forwards and backwards to increase either passenger space or boot space.
Space in the front is equally plentiful. The centre console is quite thin, which leaves front occupants with plenty of elbow room. However, we found that the driver’s seat is set uncomfortably high. Even in its lowest setting, taller drivers might feel like they’re a little too close to the roof.
Boot space and storage
Boot space isn’t class-leading, with not a great deal more capacity than hatchbacks like the Focus. With the rear seats in place, there’s 412 litres on offer, but you can increase that figure to 1,534 litres by folding the rear seats flat. If you don’t option a spare wheel, you also get a handy storage area under the boot floor.
The Kuga isn’t without its problems, though. The seats don’t lie completely flat when you fold them down, which can make loading larger items a bit of a chore. The fabric load cover also looks and feels cheap, and we’ve seen test cars with ill-fitting upholstery on the rear seat backs (below).
Ford did a good job with the Kuga storage bins, though. There are plenty of cubbies dotted around the cabin, including a lidded locker in the centre console, deep door bins and a smartphone-sized space ahead of the gear selector with wireless charging on more expensive models.
Is it easy to park?
It isn’t bad – but bear in mind that it’s a family-sized SUV. Visibility of its corners isn’t the best, but Ford does fit every car as standard with front and rear parking sensors, which helps you place the car better. Titanium models and up also have a rear-view camera.
The door mirrors seem a bit small for such a large car, but they’re electrically adjustable as standard which means you can easily angle them down to check you’re not scraping the alloys along the kerb.
Safety
- Scored five stars in Euro NCAP tests
- Loads of standard safety technology
- Few safety-related optional extras
The latest Ford Kuga performed very well in its Euro NCAP crash tests, achieving a 92% score for adult occupants and an 86% score for child occupants. The testers were particularly impressed with the Kuga’s performance in the lateral impact tests, where it achieved a perfect score. Children are very well protected in an accident, too.
Most of the Kuga’s safety equipment comes as standard, too. In addition to its brace of standard airbags, every Kuga gets autonomous emergency braking, cruise control, lane-keeping assist and intelligent speed limit assist. Titanium models and up also feature full LED headlamps, a driver attention monitor and adaptive cruise control.
Ford also offers an improved Quad LED headlight system as a £550 optional extra. It performs superbly well, offering a greater range and width than the standard LED headlights. It’s certainly an extra we’d recommend if you do a lot of driving during the night.
You can also have a Driver Assistance Pack, which adds handy extras like a front camera, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, a blind-spot monitoring system and active park assist, which can automatically steer the car into parallel spaces.
Watch the Ford Kuga’s crash test video
Euro NCAP rating
What is Euro NCAP? ⓘ | |
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Adult Occupant: | 92% |
Child Occupant: | 86% |
Vulnerable Road User: | 82% |
Safety Assist: | 73% |
Equipment and options
- 3x3 point rear seat belts
- ABS
- Front electric windows
- Heated mirrors
- Height adjustable drivers seat
- PAS
- Rear electric windows
- Roof rails
- Sat Nav
- Alarm
- Body coloured bumpers
- Climate control
- Driver`s airbag
- Electric mirrors
- Electric passenger`s seat
- Partial leather seat trim
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Service indicator
- n/a
- Alarm
- Body coloured bumpers
- CD
- Climate control
- Cloth seat trim
- Cruise control
- Driver`s airbag
- Electric driver`s seat
- Heated seats
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Service indicator
- Sports seats
- n/a
- Alloy wheels
- CD
- Climate control
- Cloth seat trim
- Electric driver`s seat
- Heated seats
- n/a
- Alarm
- Driver`s airbag
- Partial leather seat trim
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Sports seats
- Body coloured bumpers
- Climate control
- Cruise control
- Electric mirrors
- Electric passenger`s seat
- Leather seat trim
- Lumbar support
- Service indicator
- Alarm
- CD
- Cruise control
- Driver`s airbag
- Electric driver`s seat
- Partial leather seat trim
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Service indicator
- Sports seats
- Body coloured bumpers
- Climate control
- Cloth seat trim
- Alarm
- Driver`s airbag
- Leather seat trim
- Lumbar support
- Parking sensors
- Partial leather seat trim
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Sports seats
- n/a
- Alarm
- Driver`s airbag
- Heated seats
- Partial leather seat trim
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Sports seats
- Alloy wheels
- Body coloured bumpers
- Climate control
- Cruise control
- Electric driver`s seat
- Electric mirrors
- Electric passenger`s seat
- Headlight washers
- Leather seat trim
- Service indicator
- Alarm
- CD
- Cruise control
- Driver`s airbag
- Electric driver`s seat
- Heated seats
- Partial leather seat trim
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Service indicator
- Sports seats
- Body coloured bumpers
- Climate control
- Cloth seat trim
- Alarm
- Alloy wheels
- Driver`s airbag
- Electric driver`s seat
- Heated seats
- Leather seat trim
- Parking sensors
- Partial leather seat trim
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Sports seats
- n/a
- Alarm
- Cruise control
- Driver`s airbag
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Body coloured bumpers
- Climate control
- Cloth seat trim
- Leather seat trim
- Lumbar support
- Partial leather seat trim
- Service indicator
- Sports seats
- Alarm
- CD
- Cruise control
- Driver`s airbag
- Electric driver`s seat
- Leather seat trim
- Partial leather seat trim
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Service indicator
- Sports seats
- Body coloured bumpers
- Climate control
- Cloth seat trim
- Alarm
- Driver`s airbag
- Leather seat trim
- Lumbar support
- Parking sensors
- Partial leather seat trim
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Sports seats
- n/a
- Alarm
- Audio remote
- CD
- Cruise control
- Driver`s airbag
- Electric driver`s seat
- Heated seats
- Leather seat trim
- Metallic Paint
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Service indicator
- Sports seats
- Alloy wheels
- Body coloured bumpers
- Climate control
- Air conditioning
- Alarm
- Alloy wheels
- Cloth seat trim
- Cruise control
- Driver`s airbag
- Front fog lights
- Lumbar support
- Passenger`s airbag
- Remote locking
- Sports seats
- Audio remote
- CD
- Electric mirrors
- Service indicator
Dimensions
Length | 4604mm - 4645mm |
---|---|
Width | 2177mm - 2178mm |
Height | 1623mm - 1742mm |