Tell me why I should buy a Ford Puma 1.7i?

[Legend83]

I have always liked the Ford Puma. I have never driven it but have heard from numerous sources that it is unrivalled driving for the price. It looks great from the front (less so from the back), is vaguely practical, and has some interesting colour schemes (what is the millenium yellow all about?).

Sadly, my 'colleagues' at work seem to think it would be amusing for them, and a travesty for me, if I were to purchase such a bargain basement, female orientated, 'coupe' wannabee. Especially given my love for all things TVR!

So, please, tell me, why should I buy?

[mattyboy101]

Legend83 said:

unrivalled driving for the price

Only thing I can say is take one for a spin and see what you think!

[DennisTheMenace]

They look a bit gurly , but huge grin factor , handling by telepathy , you think where you want it to turn in etc and it just does it , also they left foot brake nicely for a bit of tail out if you so fancy .

[fidgits]

i bumped my head when i looked at one when they were first out... and im a shortarse...

if you want one, go try it - if you need convincing, thats a bad sign!

[deevlash]

Lift off oversteer!

[space_cowboy]

check out www.pumapeople.com

[Legend83]

Sorry guys, I think I may have just been persuaded to keep my Fiesta and save up for a TVR S3 - it's still basically a Ford!

[RDE]

I think mine's a bit of a hoot. If you're in a position to be thinking about a TVR then i'm not sure why you even considered it though. As for it being female orientated - I don't think that was the intention, it's just that most girls think it looks nice. It's definitely a fun drive, regardless of your sex.

As for lift off oversteer, how??! Is mine just extremely well behaved or something?

Edited by RDE on Friday 29th September 17:04

[niva441]

Only reason I sold mine was that I was enjoying it too much and thought it might catch up with me.

Still thinking about getting another to have handy.

[DennisTheMenace]

RDE said:

I think mine's a bit of a hoot. If you're in a position to be thinking about a TVR then i'm not sure why you even considered it though. As for it being female orientated - I don't think that was the intention, it's just that most girls think it looks nice. It's definitely a fun drive, regardless of your sex.

As for lift off oversteer, how??! Is mine just extremely well beahved or something?

try a bit of left foot braking they can be provoked into sideways action without the nasty bite back , try it on gravel or a wet carpark 1st untill you suss it .

[fwdracer]

Lift Off Oversteer...... Best palce to learn is on a track day or airfield....Go charging into a 90 degree bend (one with plenty of run off ) and come off the juice (not too abruptly now) as you turn in. Whole car will begin to pivot around front wheels due to weight transfer (effectively tucks nose into corner as back gently breaks away.....) dial in opposite lock and remember to keep your foot in. If you back off totally in a FWD motor the car WILL spin!

The Puma is absolutely brilliant at this..... Benign characteristc compared to 205 Gti.
Don't have to be doing stellar speeds either....Reason why I enjoy my Puma so much....

Use of left foot braking?

Edited by fwdracer on Thursday 28th September 11:26

[zippy144]

Hi

I always thought the Puma was a bit girly, untill my mate took me for a spin in his Racing Puma!!! WOW i was amazed, the seems to have no limits in the corners...

That was untill we took it to nurburg!!!!

The only comment i would make is that tey are a little under powered for the handling caperbilities of the car

But great fun to drive

Regards

Tom aka Zippy

[niva441]

I didn't think about the girly aspect until I sold mine when one of the girl's I worked with mentioned it. Previously I always thought of it as just an efficient, fun, fast way of covering ground.

[egomeister]

Aye, the Puma is a fantastic car - driving one for a few days indirectly led me to buying my Clio 182 (don't ask!)

Highly recommended.

[RDE]

I understand how you're supposed to do lift-offing, I was probably just being a bit too gentle. I assumed you needed to be carrying bucket loads of speed to get the Puma to do it, and therefore I didn't want to try it in case I didn't get it back! As for left foot braking, I think i'll leave that for a track - my left foot isn't very refined when it comes to pedal inputs.

[deevlash]

RDE said:

I understand how you're supposed to do lift-offing, I was probably just being a bit too gentle. I assumed you needed to be carrying bucket loads of speed to get the Puma to do it, and therefore I didn't want to try it in case I didn't get it back! As for left foot braking, I think i'll leave that for a track - my left foot isn't very refined when it comes to pedal inputs.

Yeah you need to be going too fast for the corner, its suprisingly easy to catch the slide when it happens though