Tell me about....Ford Puma's

[Cti Stu]

Ive been offerd a Ford Puma but I no nothing about them!! what they like to live with? very quick? good on fuel? reliable?

[frag]

Is it the 1.4 or 1.7 ?
I had a FRP (racing) puma,pretty much the best puma you can buy and i wouldn't describe that as 'very' quick,
(handling was great,but i feel it could take much more power to get the benefit of it)
Fiesta floorpan/running gear in a fancy frock........
I do like them,but they rot like most fords,rear arches usually first.
Be wary of rear seat legroom if you intend to use it with more than 2 people,i got shut of my FRP because front seats touch rears in my driving position.Couldnt even get the kids in...........
(i`m around 5'11 but FRP seats are much different to normal ones)

A good,cheap,reliable car with parts easily available.......
Don't seem to sell for a great deal so don't pay over the odds.

[Cti Stu]

Cheers, its a std 1.7, I'm 6ft and a little overweight!! so the size was a issue (ive not been to view it yet)

[frag]

Might be worth asking if its had a cambelt,the 1.7 has variable valve timing,can't remember change interval off the top of my head........
Might be 60 or 100K ? or 5/10 yrs

A good car to be fair,if it 'fits' you ?
Define 'quick',what are you used to ?

[Cti Stu]

Quick, umm at the moment I'm using my 1.6 eunos

[sweendog]

arch rot and make sure there's no water in the footwells

my good lady has a 1.7 and I pretend not to like it

been more reliable than my veedubs (admittedly newer) and good to drive. Arches starting to bubble though. Worth getting the bigger engine though, otherwise it really is a frocked fiesta.

visibility not fantastic either but overall good motors decent on fuel

[buzby]

I had one of the very first 'retail' Pumas (i.e. not press or publicity cars) in the UK. The first 500 owners got invited to trackdays by Ford where you got to bomb around in a variety of cars and events and were presented with a special polished gearknob with a numbered insert (which I still have, despite selling the car 10 years ago).

It was one of the best-handling FWD cars I've ever driven and the most fun to drive car I've had. I bitterly regret having to get rid (though I did trade it in for one of the first ST170s), but circumstances change and I had nowhere to keep a second car back then. I had it for 5 years from new and there were no major reliability problems (though a couple of minor ones - see below). In regards to practicality, the boot aperture is quite small with a high lip so it can be quite difficult to get large items of luggage in the boot (I could just about get a mountain bike in there with the seats folded if I was careful and took both the wheels off). In terms of economy it was quite good if you drove it gently and didn't rev it enough to activate the variable cam timing (which was hard to resist as the engine loves to rev). I seem to remember the gearing being quite short though which didn't help the MPG (on motorway journeys the tank never seemed to be big enough)

There are a couple of things that were different in the very early cars (P and early R reg) which you may want to look out for (in the unlikely event you will come across one for sale). The front suspension geometry was slightly different on the early cars which resulted in more camber - this gave excellent cornering, but meant a new set of front tyres would be bald on the inside edge before the mould flash had worn off the outside edge (<10k miles). This was changed with a modified front crossmember quite early on I think.

By far the worst problem though was the front brakes - the early cars used Fiesta RS Turbo discs and calipers which already had a reputation for overheating and warping, and I used to be lucky to get 5k out of a set of discs before it became too unbearable to put up with (it didn't matter what discs I tried either - drilled and grooved ones warped just as quickly). I think the brakes were changed to Scorpio-sized discs and calipers (and possibly modified hub carriers?) after either 3 or 6 months of production.

Regarding the above problems, we got an early indication of what to expect at the track day as the press cars Ford brought for us to drive on the track were getting the front tyres replaced after about 15-20 laps, and you could only do 2 hot laps in a row before having to coast round to let the brakes cool off.

The only other problem I remember was that if you didn't have mudflaps on the front arches, the amount of tyre that stuck out at the bottom caused stones to be kicked up directly onto the flared rear arches which meant plenty of stonechips - it's no wonder the rear arches ended up being a rust sopt on them (and from what I gather ther eis no repair panel available for the rear arches either?).

[phil73]

Mate traded his 1.7 on a new Fiesta and has regretted it ever since. Fun car, he managed to throw it round madly and we only came to grief once. Did rot as described above but that could be prevented if you find a good one. Disappearing rapidly from the roads, reckon definately a good choice for future retro cool.

[grez6232]

I had a 1.7 for a while - by far the best, most characterful car I've ever had. I taught myself how to heel-and-toe and left-foot brake in it. I learned all about lift-off oversteer as well. It won over my brother who was highly sceptical, too.

It worked well as a two-seater with a big boot though the back seat is surprisingly generous.

Every single one of them does have or has had crusty rear wheelarches. Obviously the quality of any repairs varies massively. The tracking is crucial to the handling, too. If its out the handling actually becomes quite unpleasant.

I'll get another at some point.

[stuboy]

ive fancied a FR puma.

[ianfearn]

I've got a 1.7 Puma, to have the cambelt, water pump and tensioners done using ford parts is ~£400. Its huge fun, does a genuine 38mpg (43mpg on a run from mine).

I changed the rear arches on mine using the pug 206 trick, check out my thread in readers rides.

They suffer few major problems, loads of bits in the scrap yard, small wheels so cheap tyres (Camskill Michelins are £50 a corner).

Mine cost a grand to buy and another £500 or so quid to get it really sorted, for that i've got a car thats mega fun to drive with a heated windscreen, aircon and a great stereo.

Mines going to live in Spain next year. I'd recommend one to anyone providing you don't mind looking like a hairdresser!

[Mad Max]

I like them, seem to be very cheap at the moment. I've often been tempted myself. Great looking little car IMO and can't be expensive to run.

As mentioned above they're a little handler too, proved by their use in the fwd section of Tiff Needels video 'Burning Rubber' where he shows you how to do all those cool driving moves you always wanted to do.

[chamba]

I agree with much of what has been said above. I've had mine for 10 years now and it's be best all round car that I've driven and I can't think of any other modern machinery that will give as many smiles pound for pound.

I've been amazed with the reliability of this car and have had no significant issues in 100k miles I've covered. The 1.7 engine is fantastic, but 125bhp doesn't really trouble the chassis enough and a 6th gear would have been nice. Roundabouts in 3rd gear can be incredible fun as you can use some oversteer can help pull you round the bend and is very easy to control/correct. Acceleration from 80 to 110 is pretty rewarding too.

I bought a 1.8 MX5 to replace the Puma, but sold it again as it wasn't as much fun to drive (I wasn't expecting that!) and the whole package didn't seem as clever.

Fast driving delivers 36-37 mpg, usual driving 42-44 mpg and I've managed 50 mpg on trip to Norfolk and back.

I'm 6' and have no troble with space. Boot is big, but the load lip is quite high up and an awkrward shape. The only bug bear I have is the brakes - they're not exactly inspiring - and that rear wheel arcch rot issue which affects all Pumas.

Oh, mine's for sale.... and I'm quite local to you

[DarrenW]

I've had one for a couple of months, I love it. 1700 with the variable valve timing, I got the cambelt, drive belt and the oil/filter changed for £350 at the garage round the corner from me, using genuine Ford parts. Only other thing it has needed is a starter motor but that's because it was standing for 8 months before I got it, cost £15 from the scrappers and a bit of swearing when removing/fitting.

Fantastic to drive, really agile handling. Not "quick" really but loves to rev and the lift-off oversteer is very entertaining ;D


Melina Blue Ford Puma 1.7 by retromotoring, on Flickr


Melina Blue Ford Puma 1.7 by retromotoring, on Flickr

[mk14dr]

I have some experience with Pumas having worked at a Puma specialist (PumaSpeed) for a couple of years back in 2004/05.

I have always been a massive advocate of the Puma, the handling is sublime, even more so in FRP guise.
The 1700 is the one to go for if your budget can't stretch to an FRP (but then FRP's are an aquired taste anyway, not everyone can get along with those seats)
Also, be careful if you test drive an FRP as the driveshafts are made of turned cheese or something, far too thin for purpose resulting in me snapping at least 4 whilst 'testing' rebuilt FRPs on the road (and maybe trying to race a TVR Griffith500 once from a set of lights).
The wheels are very delicate and a pig to clean and the brakes (although very nice 'Alcon' units) need constant fettling to keep them from squeeling as they don't have dustcovers around the stainless steel caliper pistons so they get pitted and need rebuilding (something that can be done at home with some care)

As said, not quick per-say, but a huge ammount of fun, very controlable and forgiving. Even when on the utter brink of being spat into the scenary it felt safe and predictable.

The factory exhausts sound lovely too.

Ive driven some interesting ones in my time, RSturbo powered ones actually feel like Fiesta RSt coupes, which is about right I suppose.
Ive also driven the silver 4x4Cosworth one with Marcos wheels. An absolute pig to drive but what a experience, anyway, I digress....

Go for it, get a good one and you won't regret it.

[Killbill]

Been looking at these myself to replace the wifes KA3 .Lack of room in the rear is the only downside as far as i can see.
Really nice to drive,go for it.

[HARDCORE]

I owned one last week (for a whole 25minutes). Felt alright for the 10mins I drove it - 'nippy' and could be thrown into corners ok, all very much like a Fiesta

[frag]

A quick Google search reveals my old FRP now resides in France,Le mans

[trigger]

My wife had a 1.4 a few years ago, It quite quite nippy and handled well but i could never get on with, I'm only 5ft 11 but the low A post meant i couldn't see clearly coming up to roundabouts and i kept banging my head on the door frame when getting in and out.

When you opened the boot in the wet all the rain water would run straight into the boot soaking all your shopping and the rear wheel arches rust out for fun.

[mk14dr]

Sept 20, 2012 20:29:58 GMT frag said:

A quick Google search reveals my old FRP now resides in France,Le mans

That car actually looks quite familiar. What number is it? I saw a few with Focus RS wheels, but is that an F2 spoiler I spy?