Test drive Ford Kuga since 2008 SUV

Clearance in a big city

The car for the metropolis should be compact, yurk and extremely economical. In Europe, this rule works, but in Moscow, auto -evolution is moving in a different direction. The higher the steering wheel above the road, the more powerful the engine is under the hood - the better. Demand for crossovers with large wheels and high clearance, which persistently pretend to be urban, and therefore grows both on yeast. It doesn’t matter that due to all-wheel drive and worst aerodynamics, such machines burn more fuel than cars comparable in dimensions. But in them you feel yourself at least a participant in the road, and not with some funny crustacean, rubbed with boorish and other large-crushed into the asphalt silt of a large city.
Focus with the rise. Infrequently, cars with a new name appear in the Ford model line. Therefore, the release of Kuga - a crossover, built based on the concept of 2006 iOSIS X - should be considered a significant event. The manufacturer tries to explain the simple thought: Kuga is a completely new product. Design and content, idea and embodiment - there was nothing similar. A spectacular advertising video that is spinning on Russian television channels calls for consumers to start from scratch. This marketing technique turned out to be very effective - in the spring, when the car had not yet managed to enter the dealers, Ford already had a decent number of orders.
In fact, Kuga is not a car developed from scratch. It was created on the same platform that underlies Ford Focus and C-Max. And in corporate kinetic design, secondaryness is already visible. Spit-tied headlights, a complex trapezoidal air intake and massive arches of the wheel arches, we have already seen on a S-MAX, a back with a hexagonal glass and an upturned window of windows-on Mondeo Wagon. Well, okay, this is your own, dear. But there is (even scary to say aloud) and borrowing! The longitudinal stamping on the hood is exactly the same, like Nissan Qashqai (spied, in turn, Porsche Cayenne and Mercedes SL). And with spectacular air excrees behind the front wheels, Ford designers are a little late - such elements have long been decorated with Emki BMW, the second Freelander, Range Rover Sport and even Kuga opponent for this test.

Maxim Egorov, magazine 5 wheel
Have you had to drive Opel Antara by off-road or did your test drive take place only in the city?
Well, the off -road I went to is difficult to call it off -road Antara drove it without problems. Her all -terrain possibilities will be enough to get on bad roads to the cottage. Further, it is unlikely.
I will list the criteria, and you will call those that Antara answers best. Dynamics, handling, economy, comfort, design, spaciousness, functionality ...
First of all, design. Another quality of materials. And, probably, that’s all.
Exactly all? Now I understand why Opel dealers complain of low demand on Antara.
Opel is loved for a good price/quality ratio, but you can’t say this about Antara. The car is expensive and at the same time does not reach the standards of its class. There is especially a lack of strength in a 2.4-liter model.
And who, in your opinion, will buy such cars?
Man of 35-45 years old, with a summer house and two children. He has no driver ambitions. He does not like the design of Ssangyong, and he wants a courageous car, and not some kind of ladies' SUV.
But I will not write down all this into shortcomings. A completely new car, like a car owner, would rather alert me than I was delighted. The novelty, if it affects the critically important components of the machine, often brings more operational problems at first than any benefits-it is better than what is tested by experience and well debugged. As for the design, this is, alas, a common car trend. Times have passed when the novelty was obliged to look original and authentic. Much better models are sold, which look modest in the spirit of time. It seems to me that next to the Kuga you can put a sign of autumn-winter 2009 and there will be no end to buyers. This is a squeak of the season!
Kuga is one of the few cars, the acquaintance with which is not in a critical, but in a positive way. The salon is made beautifully and soundly, even with a claim to sports. The second row is not cramped (although I hoped that it would be a little more spacious here). The trunk as a trunk is a neat and roomy womb, with a double luggage door. The steering wheel, pedal, the pen of the checkpoint-everything turns and moves humanly, clearly, softly and clearly. Even the scenery in the cabin - a weak spot of almost all cars of this class - do not cause rejection. In short, Kuga is the charm itself. I won’t be surprised if someone falls in love with this car at first sight.
There is only one but. So far, Kuga enters the sale only with diesel and mechanical transmission. Those who dreamed of buying a crossover with a powerful gasoline engine and a machine gun are asked to be registered in the queue now and wait for the beginning of 2009.
Eastern support. Antara is also loaded with positive energy - the first city crossover in the OPEL lineup. Strong lines, strong proportions, a lot of chrome - this car looks even more brutal and all -terrain as Kuga. Once the company from Russelsheim had a rather strong position among SUV and SUV manufacturers. The Frontera model, produced since 1991, remained in its segment for several years the number one car in Europe and won a lot of new customers for the brand. Experts, of course, will immediately clarify that Frontera is actually Japanese development. The same medium -sized SUV was produced under the ISUZU brand and was named Rodeo, and after updating in 1994 it also appeared to the buyers under the guise of Honda Passport.
Antara is actually not a one hundred percent Opel. This crossover has much in common with Chevrolet Captiva, which, in turn, was originally developed by the South Korean design bureau GM as Daewoo Winstorm. But we must pay tribute to Opel - they seriously corrected the external and internal design, using the stylistics tested at the Opel Antara GTC concept. The result was a completely European product. Nothing shocking is a functional, well -equipped and completed car.

Ilya Fisher, Avtopanorama magazine
Did you manage to travel to Kuga gasoline on a European test drive?
No, there was no one then. Only with a diesel engine that we are already familiar with the tricks and C-Max. With him, the car rides very dynamically, with a cheerful drive.
About controllability, what can you say?
Kuga steer well and generally rides. It looks more like a car than other crossovers.
Ford said a new word in the SUVs?
You know, we all expected something like that, but my answer is: rather not than yes. Kuga is a fresh look at crossovers. Not more. There were controversial moments in ergonomics.
Which ones?
Ford seats, well, are not for me. Substampovka under the elbow on the window beam. First you think about how convenient! And later you understand that this is a harmful extra detail.
How popular can Kuga become with us?
I'm afraid that at such prices it will not be easy for her to compete with popular Japanese SUVs. The Ford brand is associated with the mass market and implies a democratic price. Although the crossover segment has not yet been developed. Boyko should trade in such machines.
In a number of characteristics, Antara looks preferable to its competitor. There are many decoration and configuration options. The car can be ordered with a standard with a 2.4-liter 140-horsepower engine for its class (it was such a model that came to our test) or with a solid 227-horsepower six of 3.2 liters. In Europe, Antara is also proposed with a 2.0 CDTI diesel engine (GM is considering the possibility of supplying such models to Russia). The car is equipped with a full -wheel drive system, which connects the rear axle through an electro -hydraulic differential when the front is slipping. Since this system is completely integrated with the anti -lock brake system (ABS) and dynamic stabilization (ESP), it may well be called intellectual. By the way, a similar principle of electronic all -wheel drive is used in Kuga.
Opel hoped with Antara to go to the leaders in the European cross -over segment. The presence of a finished platform and good opportunities for refinement of cars at their own training ground allowed Opel to release their model earlier than competitors. But the handicap turned out to be small-not even a year had passed when the VW Tiguan and the French clones Mitsubishi Outlander XL-Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C-Crosser made their debut. And now, next to the latest Ford Kuga, Antara is completely perceived as a thing that is about to get out of fashion.
Luck and lucky. Among the buyers of crossovers, the percentage of people who are little interested in the drivership qualities of a car are especially large. Give them every service, comfort, boxes for all small things. For those who look at the car as a continuation of the house, I specifically report that both Kuga and Antara according to these criteria are comparable to each other and almost do not lose to direct competitors. At first glance, even at the lower level of configuration, cars do not look poor or empty - a steering wheel in a leather braid, stylish devices, wrapped consoles with buttons. Only with a detailed study of the lists of equipment it turns out that there are no important things in cars. For example, the standard Kuga Trend equipment does not provide for seats, and ANTARA ENJOY is not laid by ABS. Of course, for the surcharge - any whim: parking sensors, xenon, leather, festive music ... I advise you to immediately add to the basic price of the one hundred - one hundred and fifty thousand. You will get a figure similar to a real price.
In the sled qualities of Antara and Kuga - two completely different cars. Opel is quiet, very soft, prone to the rolls (though uncritical). The steering is dull, this SUV reacts to sharp maneuvers as a heavy frame SUV. But brakes work in the passenger manner. You do not need to make a lot of effort to the pedal so that Antara stands as if dug. There is no point in discussing the acceleration dynamics of this machine, since it is absent - there is only a smooth lulling acceleration, accompanied by lazy jerks of the machine gun. If you sharply drown the gas on the floor, Antara will not become much faster. The motor will only give a portion of angry noise and choke a double portion of gasoline. Therefore, those whose routes run along the roads, where you often have to overtake, I advise you to choose another Antara - either with a pen, or with a much more powerful six under the hood. The combination of 2.4 AT does not have a combat driving.
But Kuga is a completely different matter. It is only a little tougher, but it goes much more collected, much more acutely responds to the movements of the steering wheel. Clear handling distinguishes it among other crossovers - I can’t even choose comparisons. It seems that our Kuga has the same power in the passport, but three times more than Antara. The only minus of a two -liter diesel is a narrow range. In the range from 2000 to 4000 thousand rpm, it pulls so that only hold on. Outside of him - does not pull at all. Of the pluses, I note good sound insulation and economy. If the tachometer arrow is to keep 1.5-3 thousand in the region, then no more than 9-9.5 liters of diesel fuel will spend a hundred city kilometers.
Fords managed to make an interior in which simple straightforward forms do not conflict with cunningly curved panels. The dashboard is perceived as an integral array, into which a wide light central console naturally crashes. The four -spoke steering wheel is pleasantly in hand - the place of grip in both the cross -section and in the form are verified perfectly. With pedals, I am sure, there will be no problem either. The step and height, the size and effort of the course, the smoothness of the movements is simply exemplary. I can say the same words to the gear lever - everyone would be such a pen as on Kuga. But there are annoying things. By adjusting the seat up, you feel that it rushes back and forward. As a result, you have to choose a compromise landing. Management of the standard audio system was not put on the steering wheel, but on a bulky knob on the lower left side of the steering column. The solution is quite convenient, but I do not advise a newcomer to understand blindly - you can get so angry that the funeral march will play. An intelligence also causes a smart dressing hatch. Not all gas stations have such thin pistols that go into the neck, so you have to remove a kind of funnel from the trunk, and then sniff out a light amber of diesel fuel in the cabin.
Calm, neutral, tidy lines and forms in the Antara salon do not cause any violent enthusiasm, but it is in this interior that you are the fastest possible. The dashboard and the central console are not as angular and aggressive as that of Astra or Vectra, but is made in a classic Opel style. The purpose of each handle is instantly guessed, the position of each button is verified, nothing interferes with control. In ten minutes driving to this car you get used to it as if driving it all your life. She bribes both comfort and rationality. She holds a lot of baggage. It is also a sin to complain to passengers. The seats have a sufficient range of adjustments, harsh, but differ in a comfortable profile. The air conditioning system works great. The quality of the decoration materials is fully consistent with expectations-plasticity is no worse than some eminent pre-brands. The accuracy of the assembly is also at altitude - Opel has long began to pay special attention to such things, not only at his assembly enterprise in Rüsselsheim, but also in other factories. By the way, the model that was on our test drive was collected in Russia.

Ford Kuga
Gasoline engine, 6 in a row
Working volume (cubic meter) 1997
Power (L.S. at about/min) 136 at 4000
Moment (nm at rpm) 320 at 2000
The drive is connected full
Gearbox automatic, 6-speed
Length/width/height (mm) 440/1840/1710
Equipped mass (kg) 1540
Maximum speed (km/h) 180
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 10.7
Fuel consumption, city/highway (l/100 km) 8.1/5.4
The price in Moscow from 881,000 rubles.

Opel Antara
Diesel engine, 4 in a row
Working volume (cubic cub) 2405
Power (L.S. at about/min) 140 at 5200
Moment (nm at rpm) 220 at 2400
The drive is connected full
The gearbox is mechanical, 5-speed
Length/width/height (mm) 4575/1850/1703
Equipped mass (kg) 1805
Maximum speed (km/h) 170
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 12.5
Fuel consumption, city/highway (l/100 km) 13.9/7.9
The price in Moscow from 937 900 rubles.

We thank for help in organizing the shooting of the company Ford (495) 745-9790 and the company General Motors Cis 8 (800) 100-1011.
Text: Ruslan Tarasov
Photo: Andrey Danilov
 

A source: "Autopilot"