Ford Capri review

No surprise that the dash is shared with the Explorer. It's a clean, horizontally focussed design. Unfortunately when this is supposed to be a glam and design-led car, much of that structure is a sea of black and grey plastic. At least the fabric-clad soundbar cheers it up a little, and the B&O system in the Premium spec cheers your ears too.

The front seats have integrated head restraints. Very racy, even if it makes the back seem darker. They're supportive, and electrically adjusted as standard. Pretty well any driver will get comfy, thanks to straight-ahead pedals and lots of seat and wheel adjustment. The squared-off wheel is a bit of an acquired taste, mind. The concise driver display is small enough to be seen beneath its rim.

What about the controls and screens?

Don't be nervous that it's derived from VW's system. Yes, that was pretty terrible in its early ID.3 days, but later VW Group cars have got better processors for their centre screens. Ford has put its own skin on that one, and changed it to vertical format. It makes good use of its generous size.

Here's the configuration we settled on. A map takes up the top half of the screen, and three tiles sit below: stereo track on the larger tile, and on the smaller ones shortcuts to driver assist (so we can kill the lane-keep) and drive modes. Trip computer we chose to leave on the driver's screen as it's useful for range prediction.

That centre screen has an adjustable angle. We set it near-vertical to make it easier to reach; you might incline it for a sleeker look. Premium spec includes a useful head-up display too, which brings up navigation arrows and adaptive cruise info.

The drive selector is a big stalk on the right of the steering column, which frees up centre console storage space. The corollary is a left-hand stalk that's pretty busy with dip-switch, indicators and wipers. There's no rear wiper. Also, the steering-wheel buttons are touch sensitive. We prefer the positive click of physical switches.

Ford uses VW's idiotically counter-intuitive window and light switches. They say you'll get used to them. Trust us, you won't.

Does the ‘coupe’ styling cost you practicality?

This isn't a coupé, it's a five-door SUV with a slightly sloping rear window. Which means there's barely any sacrifice in utility unless you need the boot to ingest a chest of drawers or large dog. Actually, below the level of the parcel shelf, the long tail gives a huge boot; 567 litres from under-floor to seatback height. That makes up for the fact there's no storage under the bonnet.

The pivoting screen has another trick. It acts as a lid for a little cupboard behind, so that space is covered when the screen is lowered. The screen locks when you lock the car, for security. Other storage boxes for smaller stuff include a removable cupholder that clips either on top of the console, or below it to free up a vast laptop-sized covered bin.