2008 Ford Kuga Zetec review from UK and Ireland

Nothing at all.

The Kuga is Ford Europe's first venture into the SUV market... and what a result!!

The Kuga is fantastic... I am not normally a 4x4 or SUV driver as I have always had quite sporty cars, but I immediately fell in love with the Kuga on first sight.

Looks wise nothing in this sector comes close, Ford were late to the SUV market and quite literally blew everyone out of the water!

It's not the most hardened off roader by any means, but will hold its own over most rough ground (yes I have taken my off road), and anyway, how many will actually go off road?

I chose the Zetec version with appearance pack (blacked out windows, 18" alloys and roof rails) in Panther Black and it looks amazing.

The 2.0 TDCI engine is a peach, and is perfectly suited to the Kuga in every way. Bags of torque for overtaking and a fantastic cruiser due to the 6 speed manual gearbox.

Interior quality is second to none, all the materials are fantastic and everything feels very well screwed together.

The dash is beautiful and the drivers seat is a great place to be.

There is plenty of room up front, and the higher seating position gives a brill view of the road ahead.

Rear space is adequate, but anyone over 6ft will struggle over long distances.

The boot is not huge; for a car of this size it should be bigger, but I find it OK for my family's needs. The split rear bootlid is an absolute gem, you don't realise how handy it is until you start using it.

List price of my Kuga was £21500; with the employee privilege voucher (dad works for Ford) and dealer discount I paid £17350 for it, which puts it at higher spec Golfs etc, and in my opinion the Kuga is a different class.

I'm currently getting around 38mpg (420 miles a tank full), but from my experience of Ford TDCI engines, I will see a lot more once the car has covered around 10k miles.

All in all, a fantastic car from Ford. I have had mine for 2 months and 3000 miles. and I still love getting into it every time.

Do yourself a favour and try the Kuga before you buy a Qashqi, Tiguan, Freelander, FRV or any other SUV available.