Bucket Seat: Ford Puma

The Ford Puma started its life as a compact coupé back in 1997. Available only in Europe, sales weren’t the greatest and it never really caught on apart from the UK, hence it was retired in 2001. Fast forward to 2019 and the badge was revived by Ford and spawned into a compact crossover. Based on the Ford Fiesta platform, the revived Puma became quite a hit, offering a different take on the crossover from everyone else with it being almost like a raised sporty hatchback. Now I know what you’re thinking, if the Ford Puma was launched in 2019, why the hell did we only get it in 2023? Well, there were a number of factors for this, biggest being Ford South Africa still had a lot of Eco Sports to sell. While there is big difference between the two as I soon found out after testing the Puma, the price point would have had the EcoSport killing its own sibling in the market. So what Ford decide to do? Kill the EcoSport for the sake of the Puma. Will this pay off though? That is the question.

DESIGN

The Ford Puma styling is really top notch, even with it arriving in SA a whole 4 years later it doesn’t seem dated at all because it’s so unique. The sport lines and curves with its bulging headlamps give it that feline look of it ready to pounce. I don’t think there is a bad angle on the particular car and it’s so easily recognisable that I could spot it a mile away in a parking lot. The detail on the front of the car is quite cool, from the chrome border grille to the silver accents on the bottom diffuser. The way the nose is sculptured from the grille up to the pronounce headlights and which then transcend to the windscreen following the curves of the wheel arch really give the car a higher look that what it really is. Everything about it is bold and funky, which adds to the appeal to the youth but as I noticed while spending time with it, it was often the old folk that I would catch staring. The rear is well rounded off with winged tail lights that extend a bit over the side and this particular model being the ST Line, featured a nice rear wing to add to the sporty nature. The bottom diffuser is finished off with more silver accents with borders around the dual tail pipes. The interior follows the standard Ford design guidelines, and I did mention it looked similar to the EcoSport, which wasn’t completely wrong but there are some big differences, biggest being the quality of materials used in the Puma, these are much more high end that the EcoSport.

PERFORMANCE

So how does this 1.0-litre 3 cylinder Ecoboost engine perform in the Puma? Look at the brochure and it will give you the power output of 92kW and 170Nm of torque, not a lot you might think for a car that’s asking price is north of 600K. The big question is how does it drive? Well, I have to be honest it goes rather well, that 7-speed auto gearbox works like a charm in both city driving and on the highway. One must remember this car is made for Europe so the key factors were for small commutes and city driving, it serves those two purposes like a charm. On the open road it can reach a cruising speed of 120km/h without it breaking too much of a sweat and can maintain it on uphills as well. The car feels solid and the ride quality is pretty decent, there’s a big difference between driving this and the Ecosport so one could say that this does deserve its higher price tag. I like taking the car cars through some twistys and the Puma navigated whatever I threw at it rather well with its punchy acceleration and well mannered cornering. With my heavy foot and aggressive driving nature, it did not bode well for the fuel average but Ford claim it can do 5.3L per 100km.

COMFORT

So it’s described as a “compact crossover” but it is still rather spacious. Look, it won’t fit a family of 7 but 4 adults can go along comfortably. I must commend the quality of the seats though, not sure if it’s specific to the ST Line but the quilted leather styling was not only great to look at but extremely comfortable too. There wasn’t a heating function for the seats, and don’t see if it’s available as an extra on the website but it’s not a deal breaker for me. The car does have single zone climate control which was a let down for me, I expected minimum dual zone for it. The Puma comes with a nice 8-inch TFT touch screen with but it still has SYNC 3, because it’s still an old model. This means it has mobile applications built in but your device needs to be plugged in for use. The car came with an impressive 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen premium audio system that wasn’t listed on the extras sheet so I’m guessing it’s standard. Other notable standard features include keyless entry and push button start, tyre pressure monitoring two USB ports and wireless phone charging tray. Safety features include lane keeping assist, 6 airbags, ABS and cruise control with adjustable speed limiter.

VERDICT

The Ford Puma is a disrupter to the segment, it’s a wild kind of car that is a cross over but could easily pass as a hatchback. There are few things that didn’t sit overly well with me, one was why did Ford decide to bring this model in now when there’s a facelift due very soon and secondly, I know I said the car did warrant to cost more than the EcoSport but it is A LOT more than the EcoSport which makes me wonder of the market would take to it. I got it on test a good 5 months after it was launched and haven’t seen a single one on the roads of Durban but mind you, spending the beginning of the month in Cape Town, I saw quite a few! So I’m guessing it would take some time to see them filter through the various spots but it’s nice to see such a refreshing option in the segment and even better seeing Ford bring something new, other than 20 variants of the Ranger.

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine	1.0 -litre turbo, 3 cylinder
Gear Box	7-speed automatic
Torque	170Nm
Power	92kW
Fuel consumption	5.3 liters per 100km
Price	R615,440*

*base price

 

Bucket Seat: Opel Mokka GS Line

Opel have always seemed to be the forgotten German brand, while they may not be punching high with their counterparts, their offerings are aimed more at the middle end market. Over the years in SA, the most popular model has to be the Corsa, apart from the quirky TV adverts, the car was the perfect fit for the lower income person, offering something that was not only affordable to the masses but looked great and was reasonable reliable. It was a hit with students and new earners, the model then expanded over into commercial types and then the introduction of the Corsa Bakkie just took the country by storm. Other models that were quite popular included the Astra and the much loved OPC models. The brand however remained under the radar for a while but in the past year with the introduction of some new models, the Opel name seems to be coming up again. While the newer Corsa might not be hitting the selling points as its original model, the cars offerings and designs are getting noticed. The latest model to arrive locally from the brand was the revised Mokka. A car that has garnered a lot of attention world over, thanks to its striking looks and great engine, I was quite keen to see what just had everyone out there speaking so highly about this car. 

DESIGN

One can't fault the Opel design team on this one, striking is a word that seems to be over used of recent but I can't come up with another superlative for this car. It has great European roots with a bit of modern American coming up with the chiseled front face. The colours just add that extra "perzaz" to the design and make the car pop more than it would when in the crowd. its definitely bold in appearance and while the design might be minimal, the little details add so much character to the shape. One thing that would get people scratching their head, is the flat grill which the headlamps fit on either ends of. There is no perforations, making it look like an electric car but sadly this one isn't as the vent is featured neatly below with the bigger grille slotted in the front diffuser at the lower end. The wheel arches are big and bold with black outlines, giving the car that bold crossover look. There are lots of black elements finished off in hardy type bumpable plastics that add to the rugged look of the Mokka. Side profile on the Mokka makes it look bigger than it actually is, also some elements of the new Corsa come through when looking at it from this perspective. Moving to the rear, more of that clean design comes through with the new signature Opel L shaped lights with the Mokka badge evenly spread apart on the tailgate. One thing that confused the hell out of me was finding the boot latch, but I later found out that it was hidden in the actual bumper of the car, rather than just using the key all the time to access the luggage compartment. 

PERFORMANCE

The Mokka is powered by a 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder Turbo engine, producing 96kW and 230Nm of torque, which at first didn't excite me too much but after driving around with it, it surprised me quite a lot. I guess that 8-speed gearbox has helped a lot in terms of delivering the right amount of power and torque to mitigate the lack of power by delivering the higher torque on the lower gears. You'll be surprised by the amount of power and speed you can get up to in a short distance with the Mokka, the motor puts out quite a punch from stand still, this will however impact your average fuel economy but its plenty of fun especially with a car this size. Handling on the Mokka is great, you don't actually feel the car being like an SUV but rather sporty hatch with a crossover type frame. The car handles great around bends and even out of corners with it being front wheel drive gets good acceleration when exiting. Overall, it seems like Opel have a good little engine on their hands, and even with me driving it most of the time on eco mode, I didn't really feel the need to switch the drive into sport mode.

COMFORT

Sports Coupe's are always impractical in one way or another and with the Mokka there is some gripes but nothing that is too concerning, we'll start with the good stuff. Seats, extremely comfortable for both driver and passenger. It has creature comforts such as dual climate control, seat heating and funny enough, massaging function for the driver which I found odd because the actual seat was manually adjustable but I wasn't complaining, after a game of golf, you will be surprised how much a lower back rub helps. The back seats however don't enjoy the same comforts and space is compromised as per normal with a sloped roof, there is just a single vent for the rear passengers and oddly enough the center front vent is one big which is located under the infotainment screen. The dash is designed very well with everything quite driver centric, with a large touchscreen infotainment and digital dash, my grip comes in with the interface for both. I feel that Opel have wasted a great opportunity by having big screens but not making good use of them. For example, the infotainment screen is squared out to show either the Opel OS or your mobile apps with big black borders either side displaying climate control settings. Then you get the dash, the animations shown are pretty bland and ordinary not making use of the entire display, so I think on their next upgrade they should focus on making these better. 

VERDICT

In the greater scheme of things, from what we're used to Opel, the new Mokka has taken massive strides into making the brand better and noticeable again. The amount of looks and comments I gotten while driving the Mokka, all of which was great feedback and I couldn't say anything bad about the car to them as well. So I hope the future models that roll off the production line from them yield similar interests as it will go a long way to help the brand get back up there competing with others. With a few tweaks this Mokka can be a great car for the market compared to its competitors, its a decent offering with good build quality and materials used on the inside, modern design and great little engine all at a competitive price. 

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine	1.2-litre Turbo
Gear Box	8-speed automatic
Torque	230Nm
Power	96kW
Fuel economy	6.1L/ 100km/h
Price	R527,900

 

Bucket Seat: Audi Q3 Sportback

Audi SA have finally launched their eye catching Q3 Sportback in the country. The sleeker coupe style variant of their ever popular compact crossover has gathered lots of interest on the internet since its global launch last year and now that its finally in the country it is sure to ruffle a lot of feathers in the market. Styling on the Q3 Sport back is on point, keeping the basics of the standard Q3 upfront but  adopting a lower roofline and muscular body just adds so much more dimension and character to the overall look of the car. Being just the second SUV-Coupe in the Audi line-up, the Q3 is essentially a baby Q8 and it ticks all the right boxes to make it just as attractive as its bigger brother. the Q3 Sportback adopts Audi's new design language both on the outside and the inside, ensuring the consumer gets a fresh new product. The eye catching Matrix LED headlamps are the show stopper in the front as it sits either side of the black octagonal single frame grille. 

Being an SUV, the Sportback offers both, on road and off road driving joy, with a suspension that's catered to be sporty on all kinds of terrains. It features progressive steering as standard, whose gear ratio becomes increasingly direct as the steering angle increase, along with the sport suspension coming into play. The drive can vary the cars characteristics via Audia's dynamic handling system as well as choose from six driving profiles. 

The Q3 Sportback engine line-up features two petrol engines which are the 1.4 TFSI badged as the 35TFSI and this delivers 110kW and 250Nm of torque ffrom the four-cylinder direct injection unit with turbocharging. It has a six-speed S Tronic transmission and produces a 0-100km time of 9.3 seconds. The second engine available is the 2.0 TFSI badges as the 40 TFSI Quattro S Line. This one delivers 132kW of power and 320Nm of torque from the motor via a seven-speed S Tronic gearbox with a 0-100km sprint of 7.8 seconds. The 40 TFSI has Quattro, Audi's all-wheel drive system which takes on the job of force transmission as standard and thereby makes for a more dynamic and stable drive. The Q3 Sportback comes packed with features as well as a host of optional extras to get your model up to your preferred specification. 

Pricing for the Q3 Sportback is as follows:

Audi Q3 Sportback 35 TFSI S tronic: R693,000

Audi Q3 Sportback 40 TFSI Quattro S tronic: R737,000