“If you’re his friend, you can talk to him whenever you want. Ana (The Spirit of the Hive, 1973)

It’s Paco’s fault who retired with him and his bar. I reluctantly sit down at the table of this boring, stupid franchise coffee shop and order a stupid, boring cappuccino. And the girls in the front are shouting at Pili and waving their hands. And Pili is coming. A cumulonimbus of curls obscuring a smile with them sits between the teasing laughter. They tease everyone but hers. From now on, Pili is my world, a world where I have no place, where I don’t belong. And this cappuccino is cold. I hate cold coffee. The coffee has to be like hell: bitter and hot. The lamp is too low and I have to move to see it again. Watching her laugh again as she grabs the cup with both hands. He has small hands. His gaze drifts away from the conversation and seems to be heading towards me. I hide behind the lamp. I hit her head too fast and the light moved across the table. She draws circles until I stop her with my hand. The waiter approaches: he is gray-haired and thin, moving with difficulty. Smile too much. In hellfire and bitterness and without smiles. He asks me if I’m ok that he told the owner that the lamps should be higher.

Don’t worry, I smile, he pretends to try to fix the lamp, but how the hell was he going to shorten it? Meanwhile, he intervened, I do not see her. I don’t know if it’s still there. I hear laughter. She? Her friends? Or it will be someone else. Not impossible. It was his laugh. I’m getting impatient. Thank you, you can leave the lamp. I’ll be careful. I smile again. The gray haired man shrugs. Do I want something else? He moved away a little. An empty table behind him. She’s not there. Your cup will continue to keep your little hands warm on the table. What if I want something? Yes, I want to travel twelve minutes into the past, I want the courage to tell you that I’ve been dazzled, that I’ve been dazzled by a life full of cynicism and bitterness, I want to ask you if you mind if I sit down with them , I want to discover myself, I want to discovering bit by bit, trying to do it happily step by step, minute by minute, burdening my thoughts with their interests, winning their glances with tenderness and clumsiness, spending everything exploring their existence in detail, conquering their breath. And his laugh, soak in his laugh, enjoy his smile. What I want? Another cappuccino. Very hot. Without sugar.

There is no doubt that the Puma is one of Ford’s most successful models today. As we have already been able to prove on several occasions, the combination of a compact SUV body bordering on a sedan, habitability, a good trunk and a great position on the asphalt are winning ingredients. Therefore, we wanted to test this success of the American manufacturer once again, this time with a variant of the ST sports version, for which a less powerful engine is offered than the previous version, but thanks to micro hybridization it can wear the zero label. system..

It’s a variant that means this ST version of the Puma can aspire to be a more versatile car, even if, as we’ll see, it loses a bit of power when driven more sportily. With the Eco label and more reasonable consumption at low speed, together with compact dimensions, good maneuverability, habitability and luggage space, this Puma model offers more than ever a good compromise between emotion and practicality. Of course, all this is on paper, and only a test on asphalt can dispel doubts whether we are dealing with a too decaffeinated ST or from a practical point of view nothing to contribute.

ST Aesthetics

We have talked about the aesthetics of the Puma several times, including in the ST Gold version, the most exclusive that we can find in the Ford catalog. If the lines of this compact SUV are already sporty, the aesthetic details of the ST variant finally give this model a dynamic and aggressive aesthetic. These are modifications carried out by the office of the American manufacturer Performance, which leave traces on some parts of the car, such as the door frame or the front spoiler. And the logo of the ST variant can also be found on the front fascia, trunk or steering wheel.

As we have mentioned on other occasions, the Puma line is misleading, it has the shape of a compact SUV, but in fact the dimensions are around passenger cars, so aerodynamics and a sporty look have been signed on a model that does not leave. indifferent to anyone, especially when it has traces of the ST version everywhere. The red brake calipers peeking out from behind the spokes of the sports wheels bearing the historic Ford logo match perfectly with the bright blue and black plastic surfaces adorning other Puma racing details.

Inside, the front seats are tank-shaped, but articulated with a huge wrap-around headrest that obstructs the view of the rear passengers, but gives the front passengers plenty of comfort, especially during sporty driving. The sidewalls also hug the body for good stability on winding routes at high speeds. There is a Ford Performance seal and very pleasant to the touch upholstery in a combination of leather and suede. The visibility for the driver and the layout of the controls make driving pleasant and easy.

Sports interior

The interior features the aforementioned faux carbon fiber plastic elements, a generous screen (for the size of the car) for the infotainment system with the same software we saw on the last Puma model we tested. Good visibility, logic in the menus, Android Auto / Apple Car Play compatibility, but maybe waiting for an aesthetic renovation.

Part of the gauges continue to be digital with various customization options, changing the aesthetics and information when switching between the different driving modes that this Puma system allows. The change is automatic in this case, but Ford chooses (correctly in our opinion) a traditional lever, which is also covered with leatherette material and sports-tuned decorations.

There is enough space in the back for a sports version with space for two people and a third person, which is quite uncomfortable, especially thanks to the side space and the presence of a very large transmission tunnel. In any case, good habitability for the size of the car, which is completed by a well-capacity trunk. 456 liters plus space in the double bottom where we can place items that we don’t want rolling around in the trunk. A special detail that we looked at this time is the plug on the bottom to drain the liquid in case it spills into the trunk.

Advantages

We come to the part about the performance and behavior of the car. A check of the technical characteristics is mandatory: the three-cylinder engine has been reduced from 1.5 to 1.0 liters of displacement, which produces 170 hp at 5750 rpm (250 rpm less than the maximum power achieved by the 200 hp engine) to an assistant in the form of 16 horsepower electric motor, 10 of which are used to support the combustion engine on specific occasions, such as starting from a standstill.

As we mentioned, the transmission on this occasion is a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic Powershift with gear pair technology. As we said, this engine is worth this version for getting the coveted ECO designation from DGT, as well as reducing emissions, although not dramatically, and getting better results in the consumption section, as we will see later.

During city tests, the behavior of this Puma ST was very similar to that of the 200 hp version. When starting from rest for short drives, we hardly noticed any difference, and the agility and good handling of the car remained. What has improved a lot is of course the consumption, which fell below eight liters in our tests in the city, when we were above nine in the second version.

Agile Puma

When it comes to driving on the road, we noticed more differences. It’s still a car that definitely accelerates, especially with Sport mode engaged, but the combination of lower power and torque and the automatic transmission means it takes longer to achieve sustained acceleration. In fact, in the manufacturer’s data, the 6.7 seconds that the 200-horsepower ST needed to accelerate from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour remained in this version at 7.4 seconds. A difference of over half a second is noticeable, but that doesn’t mean this version of the ST is slow.

On the steering wheel and on the road, this difference in acceleration is noticeable, but it does not prevent safe overtaking and good speed. Perhaps the biggest difference we noticed was in the diversion routes. The chassis is identical, so it corners at good speed without hesitation, with good steering communication to the driver’s hands, but it’s a bit lazier on the exit when it comes to recovering its rhythm. Nothing drastic, but one more ingredient to understand the difference between the two engines.

Good consumption

On the road, consumption also drops significantly, even on routes in which the foot of the gas increases. We calculated a difference of more than half a liter per hundred on routes similar to those of the second model, the difference is even greater if in both cases we drive more slowly and carefully monitor the consumption. The liter three-cylinder engine behaves commendably austerely in these cases.

Put your sports car fans at ease in the sound section. When you set Sport mode, the Puma continues to activate the device in the exhaust, making the sound more throaty and sporty, filtering into the cabin. In this sense, we did not notice any differences between the two three-cylinder engines, which are among the best-sounding engines with this number of cylinders that we could test.

Conclusions

This 170bhp version of the Ford Puma ST is still a partial domestication of the cat that impressed us the first (and second) test drive. Reducing power and displacement and adopting an electric motor to work with the drive of this compact sports car is a rationalization plan that can make sense if we have to reconcile our motoring passions with a more rational use of the vehicle.

Therefore, we understand the sacrifice in performance, especially since not an iota of personality has been lost, which means that the excellent chassis of this Ford model continues to give us excellent feelings despite the loss of power and the use of an automatic transmission. Competent but unexciting. Having the ECO label and lower consumption should be reason enough to make the sacrifice for those who strive for this commitment. And if that doesn’t convince us, the difference of more than 2000 euros is to blame…