Ford Puma review - Interior & comfort

The biggest change to the Ford Puma following its facelift has been the interior, but while we had hoped for an uplift in material quality – one of the low points of the outgoing car – the changes have centred around a new large infotainment system. While it’s a good change, the interior still lacks flair and feels a bit behind compared to rivals.

Ford Puma dashboard

The updated Ford Puma now has a much more minimalist dashboard design compared to before. Ford has added a much larger 12.8-inch infotainment display into this small SUV and it’s impressive. It now runs SYNC4, compared with the SYNC3 system from the old eight-inch display, and the software is much crisper, more responsive and user friendly than before, while load times are markedly quicker.

There’s one big drawback, however; in order to make space for this larger system and create the minimalist look, Ford has decided to do away with some physical switchgear which we think is much easier to use on the move. There are still some physical tactile controls in the bottom of the display at least, and they’re always visible.

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Equipment

Ford offers the Puma in Titanium, ST-Line and ST-Line X trims – having discontinued the ST-Line Vignale following the facelift – as well as the high-performance ST model. Every model gets Ford's 12.8-inch touchscreen, LED rear lights, body-coloured exterior trim, power-folding heated mirrors, a reversing camera and selectable drive modes.

ST-Line is similar to Volkswagen's R-Line and SEAT's FR trims, offering a sporty appearance inside and out thanks to a body kit and different alloy wheels, a leather steering wheel and alloy pedals, and sportier suspension is fitted. 

ST-Line X includes 18-inch wheels, privacy glass, a powered bootlid, wireless smartphone charging, as well as a premium Bang & Olufsen sound system.

As well as the power bump, the ST adds 19-inch alloys, more aggressive styling, Ford Performance seats and a 360-degree camera as standard.

Options

Our ST-Line X test car had lots of options fitted, raising the price to over £35,000, which seems a lot for a car like this, so it can add up. The Winter Pack adds a heated steering wheel and seats, but we didn’t get to test it fully given the hot summer weather. We were big fans of the Desert Island Blue paint, but we’d skip the 19-inch alloy wheels because of the tradeoff in ride comfort.