Ford Puma ST review

Prices start at £31,760 for the 1.0-litre mild hybrid while the fizzier, altogether more exciting 1.5 petrol is but a tenner more. We’re going to assume that’s a premium you’re happy to pay given its superiority in almost every department.

Happily there are no trim levels, so once you’ve picked your engine you’ve got a choice of seven colours (only white is free, the rest cost between £275 and £525) and then a smattering of extras.

The ST Performance Pack (with the mechanical slip diff and shift light indicator) is an essential tick at £950. A driver assistance pack with adaptive cruise control and various active safety gizmos is tempting at £650. A pano roof is £1,000; a powered tailgate is £400; a towbar is £550. Those you can leave. Ford offers rubber mats for the footwell, boot and MegaBox. And that’s pretty much all she wrote.

There’s not much in it for emissions: 144g/km CO2 from the hybrid plays 149g/km in the 1.5. So road tax in both is £255 in the first instance and then £180 annually thereafter. Having a Puma ST as a company car? Get you. BiK amounts to 34 and 33 per cent respectively.