Brought to you by Intelligent Car Leasing

With lockdown easing and summer well and truly on its way, we may soon have the long-awaited opportunity to get out of the house for some much-needed recreation. However, enjoying the rugged outdoors tends to come at the cost of a dirty car. 

So, say hello to the car that comes with its own flushable boot room. If outside adventures define your sort of lifestyle, then the Ford Puma should be on your shortlist for your next car. 

We’ve had crossover/SUV models before that have even come with their own shower, but nothing as useful as a fully drainable deep storage area in the boot. 

In it, you can put muddy boots after a country walk, perhaps the wet towels you’ve used to dry down your soggy dog, or if watersports are your thing, somewhere to store your wetsuit without getting the carpet wet. It can even take a set of golf clubs standing upright. The actual boot floor can be adjusted to two different heights as well (so you won’t squash the tops of your Wellington Boots) or stored upright and out of the way. Ford prefers the term MegaBox for this extended boot area, but we’ll stick with boot room. There’s a drainage plug so you can sluice it out. In fact, thinking about it, you could probably put some ice down there and use it as chiller to keep your fizz of choice on ice… 

The Herald:

As a multipurpose boot goes, then, this is pretty much champagne standard.  

And it’s attached to a good-looking vehicle - the Puma is Ford’s competitor in the compact crossover/SUV sector, going up against vehicles such as the Renault Captur and Peugeot 2008. While it might be compact, it’s surprisingly spacious inside, and being an SUV it is remarkably adaptable to whatever your outdoors lifestyle may be. 

he car is powered by Ford’s award-winning 1.0 turbocharged three-cylinder engine. This might sound a little small, but the three-cylinder engine emits an engagingly growly note accompanied by plenty of urgent forward momentum whenever you use the right pedal. What’s more, it’s a mild hybrid unit - Ford calls it a Hybrid mHEV. This means it cannot run on the electric battery alone, but the 48v system adds extra efficiency to the engine for better economy and performance. 

Officially you’ll see an mpg of 52.9 for the ST-Line model we were driving but we managed more than that during a 360 mile long run - with over 57 showing - and averaged 47.1mpg in total. CO2 emissions are 99g/km. 

Thanks to its SUV styling, the seating position provides excellent visibility - although a rear parking sensor is also included - while the seat and steering column can be adjusted to taste.  

The satnav system is via Ford’s 12.1 inch touchscreen providing access to the navigation, radio and smartphone integration. Other useful features include safety features such as lane keeping assist, the brilliant blind spot alert - the door mirrors flash a warning for motorists cyclists or motorbikes coming up behind you perhaps unseen – a heated front screen for those instant defrost getaways (no scraping the windscreen for you out in the cold) and the brilliant easyfuel filler cap to avoid misfuelling. 

In many ways, the Ford Puma makes an excellent choice for your next lease car. It’s easy to drive, economical and above all practical. Especially with that extra boot room.