• Decent all round space for five
• Reasonably compact footprint
• Rivals offer more bootspace

There’s enough room for five in the Kuga, with generous head and legroom both in the front and in the rear. Rear-seat passengers are able to recline their backrests, while an almost-flat floor means a middle-seat passenger won’t feel short-changed with their knees up around their ears.

Will it fit in my garage?

The Ford Kuga feels quite large thanks to its lofty driving position but in reality this md-sized SUV should give you no drama when it comes to parking in either a bay or your garage.

Will my luggage fit in it?

Boot space has increased by 82 litres when compared with the first-generation Kuga. With the seats in place the Kuga has a loadspace of 456 litres (with a space-saver wheel, 406 litres). Fold the rear bench (completely) flat and this expands to 1,653 litres (with a space-saver, 1,603 litres) rivals such as the SEAT Ateca and Kia Sportage – have much more space.

However, the Kuga’s is accessed via a large tailgate that has a low loading lip, which is great for putting larger, heavier items in. The glovebox is of a decent size while the door pockets will easily swallow a 500ml bottle.

Ford Kuga safety

• Plenty of standard kit
• More available as optional extras
• Sync system includes emergency calling feature

If you’re looking for a family car and safety is a concern, the Ford Kuga should be close to the top of your shortlist. It received a full five star rating from Euro NCAP, and features a wealth of standard kit with yet more available as optional extras.

Base-spec cars get loads of airbags and a pre-crash preparation system that tensions the seatbelts and primes the brakes for maximum effectiveness. The pedals are collapsible, stability and traction control are standard and all models have Sync, which features an emergency assistance feature that alerts the relevant authorities in the event of an accident.

Depending on the trim level or optional extras on your Kuga, a number of other safety features are available including self-parking, adaptive cruise control, automatic braking, lane-keeping aid, traffic sign recognition and a fatigue detection system.

Post-facelift Kugas

Cars facelifted in 2016 benefit from a more advanced automatic braking system that works up to 31mph, while the automatic parking system features a cross-traffic alert set-up, perpendicular as well as parallel parking, along with Park-out Assist that gets you out of the space when you want to leave.

You can have the latest generation of Ford’s MyKey system too, which allows the owner of a vehicle to set their own parameters for top speed attainable, highest volume of stereo achievable, the safety and driver assistance features that can be disabled and even whether the car can receive incoming calls.