Ford Puma 2021 review: ST-Line

Is there anything not interesting about the Puma’s design? It gets Ford’s swoopy, grille-heavy, design language out of Europe and pours in extra fun factor.

It’s hard not be charmed by this car’s big smiling face.

It’s hard not be charmed by this car’s big smiling face, its light clusters which ride up the bonnet as part of its contoured fenders help to give it a very defined front three-quarter that stands apart from the crowd.

These lines run down this car’s stout sides and into its coupe-like roofline. The rear is rounded out by a strong spoiler which references the brand’s other performance products, cool LED light clusters, and trendy text across the bootlid.

The ST-Line separates itself from the base car with more interesting filler panels and two-tone alloy wheels, even if they are the same size.

You could call the design 'risky', especially compared to some of its more conservative rivals, but one of the benefits of all these new light SUV nameplates popping up is the lack of a design rulebook for them. They all seem to have a bit of a different take, giving this class of SUV an unusually broad selection of personality and the Puma is no exception.

Standout interior features include the spongey flat-bottomed steering wheel.

On to the inside, and the Puma’s fun exterior promise isn’t really matched with much flair. The upright dash and tight dimensions are mostly monotone in their approach, although this ST-Line brings a bit of fake carbon trim in line with its sporty badge.

The design and plastics are all pretty average, though, with the standout features including the spongey flat-bottomed steering wheel and the multimedia screen. Ford’s 'Sync' software looks good and operates well.

The digital dash cluster helps this car not feel as plain as the base model on the inside.

The digital dash cluster helps this car not feel as plain as the base model on the inside, but would it hurt to ask for one with a faster frame rate? It’s not very reassuring to see the simulated analog dials have to skip a few frames every now and again…

The ST-Line also gets its own seat trim, which offers a more interesting design.

The ST-Line also gets its own seat trim, which offers a more interesting design and better bolstering than the base car.

Light SUVs are generally pretty small on the inside as most are based on small hatchbacks. In the Puma’s case it’s based on – and for our market, replaces – the Ford Fiesta range.

This little SUV wears some of its small car flaws on its sleeve, though, and that’s evident as soon as you jump in.

The interior feels a little claustrophobic thanks to the proximity of items like the multimedia screen and A-pillars.

The interior feels a little claustrophobic thanks to the proximity of items like the multimedia screen and A-pillars that make it feel tall but narrow and closed-in.

The ST-Line seats are a notable upgrade in terms of comfort from the base car but are still far from the best in the segment.

Adjustability is okay, but thankfully there are soft-touch finishes on the doorcards and centre console box, making the cockpit a relatively comfortable place for front occupants.

There is a large bottle holder and trench in the front door cards, a tiny slot where the wireless phone charger is kept under the climate unit, two decent bottle holders between the front seats, and a centre console box with a narrow but deep storage area inside.

Connectivity-wise there is a single USB-A port jutting out of the transmission console (seems susceptible to debris clogging it up), as well as a covered 12V outlet, and there is a single USB-C port hidden in the centre console box.

The back seat is a little tight to get into thanks to the descending roofline, and rear seat room is a bit tight for me behind my own seating position (I’m 182cm/6'0" tall).

The back seat is a little tight to get into thanks to the descending roofline.

The seat trim offers decent comfort levels in the rear, and those soft-touch finishes continue to the rear doors. Headroom is okay, but if you were any taller than me you might have issues, especially with that panoramic sunroof fitted.

There is a single bottle holder in the rear doors for medium-sized bottles, and some flimsy nets on the backs of the front seats.

Boot space is pretty good for the class at 410 litres, about what you might expect from a hatchback, for example.

In this segment the new Kia Stonic is a bit bigger, while something like Mazda’s CX-3 comes in with a fair bit less space.

The Puma has a variable-height load floor, allowing the space to either be smaller with a flush finish to the rather high boot lip, or you can make full use of the space, but you’ll need to reach over the lip to load items in and take them out.

Either way a space-saver spare resides underneath. To boost practicality further, you can option the powered tailgate, available on the top-spec ST-Line V, for a reasonable $750.

The Puma is powered by a new 1.0-litre, three-cylinder, turbocharged petrol engine. This is part of a new breed of small-capacity turbo engines which offer healthy outputs with supposedly better fuel economy and power delivery.

Outputs are 92kW/170Nm which seem decent but not stellar for the segment, although that peak torque can be accessed from just 1500rpm, making for great responsiveness.

This engine is mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission in typical European fashion. The Puma range is front-wheel drive only.

The Puma has an official/combined fuel consumption number of 5.3L/100km which is not bad when you consider many rivals have older non-turbo engines with higher sticker claims.

The Puma requires mid-grade 95RON unleaded fuel and has a 42-litre fuel tank.

After a mostly urban driving week our car produced a slightly less impressive 7.7L/100km figure, a little above this car’s official urban number of 6.3L/100km.

The Puma requires mid-grade 95RON unleaded fuel and has a 42-litre fuel tank.

The Puma is covered by Ford’s competitive five year and unlimited kilometre warranty promise which is up to spec with most of its rivals.

You’ll need to service the Puma once every 12 months or 15,000km, and the first four services have a capped price at $299. The fifth service jumps to $320 and it does get a little more expensive from there.

The Puma is covered by Ford’s competitive five year and unlimited kilometre warranty.

The service calculator goes out to 12 years and while it’s not the cheapest car to maintain, you can definitely do worse.

Ford has made an effort to make the service experience a little more palatable, too, with such boons as a bookable free loan vehicle, or a pick-up and drop-off service. The brand tops up each year of roadside assist as you service, too.