By: IOL Motoring Staff
Barcelona, Spain - Not wanting any cobwebs on its popular Rav4 rival, Ford has given its Kuga a midlife makeover, which includes some major design changes inside and out and a new diesel engine option.
The facelifted Kuga looks radically different up front, where its predecessor's softer, car-like face makes way for a more muscular, truck-like appearance, with a large trapezoidal grille taking centre stage. The back end gets a cleaner appearance with reshaped, smaller, taillights while new colours choices and alloy wheel designs round off the exterior changes.
A new 88kW 1.5-litre turbodiesel engine joins the range as the entry-level oil-burner, while the current 132kW 2-litre turbodiesel and 1.5-litre turbopetrol engines (in 88kW, 110kW and 132kW guises) soldier on, driving the front wheels in lower-powered versions and all wheels in the gutsier guises.
IT FINDS COFFEE FOR YOU
Inside the Kuga gets a few ergonomic enhancements and it's now available with Ford's Sync3 connectivity system, which Ford says is more "customer-centric" than ever after having listened to 22 000 comments on the system.
Operated through a 20cm touch-screen, it works like a smart-phone and it's also compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android, but perhaps the coolest thing about new Sync is the upgraded voice control that understands more "conversational" commands. Simply say "I need coffee" and it'll find you some nearby cafés, or "I need parking" when you want to locate a nearby parkade.
Other new available gadgets include automated perpendicular parking, an enhanced version of Active City Stop (which now works at up to 50km/h, up from 30) and Adaptive Front Lighting, which automatically tailors the headlight beam to the driving conditions.
Ford South Africa has yet to confirm local launch timing, but it is clearly coming our way.