14 January 2021
Ford Performance, the product development team behind cars like the Ford Focus RS and Ford Mustang, has never made a performance SUV before.
The new Ford Puma ST is their first half-attempt at one, which effectively puts the 197bhp three-cylinder turbo engine and a lot of the front-drive running gear from the popular Ford Fiesta ST into a jacked-up Puma crossover hatchback body.
But there's more to this car than that, as Matt Saunders explains during our first drive along the rolling - and unexpectedly bumpy-feeling - Sussex Downs.
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It sounds like exactly the dog's breakfast I expected it would be. Crossovers cannot be made to handle as well as lower riding hatches/saloons.
Buy the Fiesta ST if you want a performance hatch, or the ordinary Puma if you want the styling and boot box. You can't have both in one package, without unacceptable compromises.
Why on Earth would a larger diameter wheel increase scrub radius?
I've never heard such a ridiculous explanation!!
Must be the first car then where a customer might or even should ask for a smaller diameter rim and a not so wide tire.
Problem is also the bigger wheels increase unsprung weight which make ride control harder to achieve at speed, calls for even stiffer dampening to deal with -- smaller wheels is probably the right call for this car; probably makes it lot more pleasant to drive.