Puma Reviews

ProjectPuma

Help Support ProjectPuma:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
A glowing review on Yahoo:

http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/car-reviews/ca" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 04294.html

The handling was refined by a team that included no less an expert than former World Champion Jackie Stewart; if you can imagine what that might mean out on the road, you won't even bother to test drive anything else.

As we've said, the finest small coupe ever made bar none.

;)

EDIT: Yahoo post now gone - same review here:

http://www.scotsman.com/motors/reviews/ford/the-cat-s-whiskers-1-2663501

THE CAT'S WHISKERS


Published on Saturday 12 March 2016 22:22

Introduction
This was the car that proved Ford to be back on track as a company that really could design affordable sports cars that were versatile, yet exciting to drive.
Based entirely on the excellent Fiesta running gear, the Puma got its own 1.7-litre engine before adding the Fiesta's 1.4-litre unit as demand increased. Jackie Stewart and the design team really produced a winner here, so residuals have stayed high. Don't worry: pay the extra and own one. It's the finest small coupe ever made.

Models
Models Covered: Puma - June 1997 to date 1.4 /1.7/1.7 Racing special edition

History
The Puma was launched in 1.7-litre form in June 1997 and demand was instant. So much so that a Fiesta-engined 1.4-litre model was added in February 1998. Both handled superbly with their tuned Fiesta running gear. Only one 1.7-litre version was offered initially and there was never an automatic option.
However, there was a stunning limited-edition 1.7-litre model called the Racing, introduced early in 2000 and likely to be sought-after once they trickle through to the used market. Only 350 were built and they all had an extra 25bhp and a lowered, sleeker-looking body with flared wheelarches finished (only) in Ford Racing Blue. Suspension modifications included a wider track while grippy Recaro seats, a CD player and air conditioning were all standard. In late 2000 the 1.4-litre Puma was replaced by a punchier 1.6-litre model using the same 100bhp engine found in the Focus and Fiesta. In late 2001 a special edition Ford Puma Thunder was announced to mark the final passing of this cracker of a coupe. Going out at the top of its game, the Puma looks set for future classic status.

What You Get
Certainly, this car turns heads, with its fared-in headlamps, kicked-up tail and distinctive side slashes. The hunched profile is also surprisingly practical. This is one of the very few small coupes you can buy that can actually seat two adults in the back. It's more likely however, that owners will want to flip the rear seats forward and make use of the generous 240-litre load capacity.
The detail touches are pleasing too. Both the fascia and the doors are trimmed with aluminium, while the gear-knob is a single cast lump of the same stuff and the Racing has it on the pedals, too. The instrument dials strike a different chord too - white-faced a la Fiesta Si. There are also thoughtful touches, like the full-sized bottle holders on either side of the two rear passengers' legs and the mobile 'phone receptacle in the centre console.
As for equipment, you'll find all the convenience features a quick coupe really needs fitted as standard; electric windows, remote central locking with security alarm, a driver's airbag and a classy hi-fi. There's no provision for a sunroof, but in compensation, the optional air conditioning was, at only £360, one of the most affordable on the market, so many owners specified it. 'Air' was standard on the Racing.

What You Pay
Refer to Car & Driving for an exact up-to-date valuation section. Click here and we will email it to you.

What to Look For
Not much goes wrong but watch out for thrashed examples and botched bodywork repairs from high-speed shunts. New headlights are expensive so check carefully for damage.

Replacement Parts
(approx based on a 1997 1.4 ex Vat) A clutch assembly is around £70 and a complete exhaust system (inc Catalyst) is about £415. Front and rear brake pads will be in the vicinity of £30-50 each.
A radiator is about £95 with aircon, an alternator about £140, a starter motor £110, and a replacement headlamp can be up to £260.

On the Road
While the Puma shares many of the attributes of Fiesta, Escort and Mondeo, there's little doubt that it takes the road going experience on offer to a different level. The more powerful of the two standard versions sports a 123bhp 1.7-litre Zetec-SE engine, capable of rest to sixty in just 8.8 seconds on the way to nearly 130mph. The smaller-engined 1.4-litre Puma is visually indistinguishable from the more powerful car. It reaches 60mph is a still respectable 10.8 seconds, incidentally, while average fuel consumption of 38mpg makes it a car you buy with both your heart and your head. If you can find a Racing, you'll enjoy 0-60 sprints in about 7.5 seconds and a top speed of 126mph while averaging around 34mpg.
Whichever model you choose, it comes with an impeccable pedigree. The handling was refined by a team that included no less an expert than former World Champion Jackie Stewart; if you can imagine what that might mean out on the road, you won't even bother to test drive anything else.

Overall
As we've said, the finest small coupe ever made - bar none.


Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/motors/reviews/ford/the-cat-s-whiskers-1-2663501#ixzz42jKZMvBu
Follow us: @TheScotsman on Twitter | TheScotsmanNewspaper on Facebook
 
Few more if anyone fancies some interesting reading...

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/f" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... -1997.aspx

http://www.whatcar.co.uk/used-car-summa" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 603&type=1

http://www.channel4.com/4car/rt/afforda" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... test/514/2

http://www.wisebuyers.co.uk/motoring/ca" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... 2%29/1013/
 
Its funny how the alternatives rarely mention the tigra, normally the hyundai coupe or the megane coupe. :)
 
DradusContact said:
Its funny how the alternatives rarely mention the tigra, normally the hyundai coupe or the megane coupe. :)

A mate of mine (who has a limited knowledge of cars to be fair) said my Puma was very much like a Tigra, I felt like saying 'noooo, it's on a different level to a Tigra!'
 
chris3boro said:
A mate of mine (who has a limited knowledge of cars to be fair) said my Puma was very much like a Tigra, I felt like saying 'noooo, it's on a different level to a Tigra!'

Well that proves it then ;)
 
Dal said:
Well that proves it then ;)

yeh exactly, he just thinks theyre both coupes therefore both the same. However, when I told him I was planning on getting one he said 'get one of those, they're so cool' so, he knows something :cool:
 
When you get it - take him out in yours round some twisty lanes (When your used to it's handling) Then tell him to try it in a tigra and see how far he gets...
 
Dal said:
When you get it - take him out in yours round some twisty lanes (When your used to it's handling) Then tell him to try it in a tigra and see how far he gets...

To be honest, I probably wouldnt suggest he does that. He owned his first car, a clio 1.2, for less than 24hours before going down a narrow track which was icy and spinning it. He's still waiting for it to be repaired. He's not a bad driver, but his lack of experience showed that time, and wasnt wisest decision to go down a icy road when you have little driving experience and have JUST got your car. Still, he'll learn, atleast he was ok :)
 
A little 2 page review / spec of the 1.6 from the AA

http://www.theaa.com/staticdocs/pdf/car" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... _OCT01.PDF
 
Dal said:
A little 2 page review / spec of the 1.6 from the AA

http://www.theaa.com/staticdocs/pdf/car" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... _OCT01.PDF

I read this just before I got mine Dal, like all Puma reviews there's little it's criticised for :D
 
I wonder how many Puma owners have driven or even been a passeneger in a Tigra though?

I've been a passeneger in one though I'll freely admit I was only really in it because of the girl driving it :wub: :oops:

It was OK but we managed to get very lost :shock:
 
5th gear review-Future Classic:

http://fifthgear.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... ageid=1435
 
You know, When tiff first tested the Puma, he was full of praise. But when testing the FRP. he made a little reference to the original car in not so glowing terms. wonder if he's changed his mind over time. I know Clarkson likes em! :-D

I've been trying to find original Puma reviews that haven't already been posted but they're plagued by 15 year olds calling it a hairdressers car. :roll:


edited because i can't spell.
 
Tiff wasnt so much ragging on the FRP in his initial test of it.... just saying that compared to the 1.7 he didn't think the 'advantages' of the FRP were worth the extra cash outlay (at the time).
 
Pistionheads SOTW : (Shed Of The Week)

SOTW: FORD PUMA 1.7 : Friday 29th January

Shed falls for a charming coupe that transcended its shopping-trolley roots


This week's shed is an odd-looking thing, really. The Ford Puma's styling didn't quite do it for many, who noted its attractive feline shape but felt it rather hampered by a gawkish stance and an oddly proportioned bottom. As such, many surviving examples have been modified in all sorts of ways, and plummeting used values have given the characterful coupe a rising following among the more tasteless car modifying communities (boo-hiss).

The scarcity of the hot Racing Puma (1999) also tempted owners of 'boggo' ones to try (generally unsuccessfully) to ape its beefed-up look. Which is why a nice, standard example like this week's SOTW is a refreshing sight - especially for the sort of money Shed keeps in its pocket.

The Puma pounced (sorry) onto the scene in 1997, and was an instant hit with critics. With one swipe of its tiny paws (sorry again), the Fiesta-based compact coupe trounced (admittedly ropey) rivals like the Vauxhall Tigra, Renault Megane Coupe, Mazda MX-3 and the truly awful Toyota Paseo. Here you could get an even sharper version of the contemporary Fiesta's chassis and a peppy, reliable 1.7-litre four-pot (developed jointly with Yamaha) mated to a slick, precise gearchange, all wrapped up in a distinctive and unabashedly modern body.

Despite the above reservations on the styling from some quarters it was certainly a bold shape, exemplifying Ford's 'New Edge' design philosophy that had been launched a year earlier with the Ka, and suggesting a sporty new direction for a company whose last effort at a coupe was the manifestly underwhelming Probe (which was coincidentally dropped in the same year).


Marketing played its part too. While fellow coupes like the Tigra went for the 'cute' angle, Ford pitched the Puma as something altogether more cool. Its clever telly ad won numerous awards, featuring clips of a Puma being driven hard through San Francisco spliced together with scenes from the film Bullitt, and even managing to make it look as though the deceased Steve McQueen was driving. Above all, Ford were pushing this as a driver's car, equipped with their marketing motto 'Puma: A Driver's Dream'.

At the same time, Top Gear made the Puma its 'Car of the Year' for 1997 (remember Tiff Needell doing that heroic J-turn?), praising the Puma's pin-sharp front-wheel drive chassis and cheerful chuckability. I remember sitting in the back of one as my older brother took it for a test drive shortly after the car's launch, having an absolute ball racing around local roads and conveniently 'not noticing' the speed dial as it crept to the car's advertised top speed of 125mph on the motorway. Surprisingly, the car was still pulling (and even more surprisingly with the young sales chap telling him to 'Keep pushing!').

The performance from the 123bhp engine was nothing special. 0-60mph in around 8.5 seconds was hardly going to melt tyres, but it did mean the Puma could keep up with the Golf GTis of its day, and that was arguably all a sub-£15k coupe needed to do at the time. A 1.4 version joined the range in 1998, offering just 88bhp but winning fans and sales with its low insurance premiums, until it was replaced in 2000 with a 100bhp 1.6. A multitude of special editions including Millenium, Black and the limited-run 153bhp Racing Puma emerged before the Puma was retired in 2002.


The Puma we've found appears to be a pretty straight example. It's an early model with the bigger 1.7-litre engine and looks just a T-Cut away from great in its bold red paint.

Like almost every surviving Puma we found at this price level it has some rust bubbles over the rear wheel arches (evidently a weak spot), and a damaged seat bolster (which has the added benefit of looking absolutely filthy in the photos). But apart from those bits this Puma doesn't seem to have fared too badly over its 102k miles, escaping the modifier's clutches and, because the Puma was never built or sold in particularly vast numbers, unmolested ones like this are getting rarer.

Ad reads:

Ford Puma 1.7
98 R reg
102k miles
8 month TAX
2 MOT
Air-conditioning
Central locking
Electric windows
Electric mirrors
Perfect working order with good bodywork for it's age.
Bad points - small rust bubbles to rear arch (common Puma trait) and a hole in the driver seat boulster
£950 no offers

tn_1458357-1-t.jpg
tn_1458357-2-t.jpg
tn_1458357-3-t.jpg


http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1458357.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 

Latest posts

Back
Top