Ford just revealed the facelifted version of its Kuga crossover and there is no surprise in the fact it looks almost exactly like the revised US-spec Escape
Ford just revealed the facelifted version of its Kuga crossover and there is no surprise in the fact it looks almost exactly like the revised North American-spec Escape. Yes, there are subtle differences in the styling, but the body is identical and just as bland and lacking in identity as the new Escape (it looks like it has a Hyundai front end grafted on…).
What’s more interesting than the styling is what’s going on under the skin, starting with the bonnet. There you’ll find a new 1.5-liter diesel engine 120 PS diesel engine which was introduced with the goal of lowering emissions and boosting economy.
The unit will only be offered in frugal front-wheel drive guise and the official promise is that it will return 4.4 l/100km or 53.45 mpg US / 64.2 mpg UK; CO2 stands at just 115 g/km CO2.
Move up to the larger 2.0-liter 150 PS diesel (carried over unchanged from the previous model), and if you don’t need all-wheel drive grip, you’re still promised decent economy: 4.7 l/100km or 50.2 mpg US / 60.1 mpg UK.
The top of the range diesel, also a 2.0-liter, pumps out 182 hp and is exclusively available with all-wheel drive.
Gasoline engines are the now familiar 1.5-liter turbocharged units that debuted on the revamped Focus. They offer either 120 or 150 PS if you only want front-wheel drive, or 182 PS if you need the extra grip offered by all-wheel drive; the latter is not available as FWD.