RE: SOTW Special: Ford Puma

[Laird]

dbdb said:

It would be a good car for a young lad, I suppose.

Or for someone who doesn't wk themselves into a frenzy about it not being RWD.

I have one. It's great. Do I care that it's not RWD? No.

[Laird]

olly22n said:

But you don't like it enought to put it in your Online Garage.

For shame, for shame.

Good Point. I'll rectify that for you.

[y2blade]

hora said:

I've never owned a car as old or as cheap before (a 306 was bought for the missus to learn in but it ended up sitting on the drive for two years) so this was a new adventure to me.

I set myself ground rules - do not spend any money on it if it didn't need it/essential

So...... after driving it for a few weeks I thought 'its worth keeping this in top shape so I had a cambelt and aux belt change. The last service was in Feb (Ford main dealer) and even now the oil is clear/clean. I've checked the oil level weekly and its still at the full marker (1,500miles on).

Yesterday it had a brake fluid bleed and change (£29 total inc VAT) as the brake fluid really looked like it needed a change.

I'm now looking at getting the two bubbles of rust on the rear arches sanded and flashed in (WHY BOTHER?!! its a shed ffs!). LOL its drawn me in.

I've had mrs hora, hora junior, hora juniors pram and sis in law in the car as well on a trip

I also use the Puma for taking my mountain bike for weekend rides (up and down Snake Pass) from Manchester and it (if I'm honest) is an absolute hoot for smooth progress.

hora have a look at my reply above

[Chapppers]

Utterly brilliant little cars. I guess anyone who hasn't been in one or driven one won't see the point. They do look outwardly girly and are based on the Fiesta.

However... I've had a fiesta of the same sort and it's got nothing on the Puma. The Puma with the 1.7 engine and suspension setup is such an eager, brilliant little bundle of joy. It's so chuckable, the engine revs like anything, sounds great. Mine kept up (near enough) with a couple of well driven MX-5s on a recent trackday, and completely stomped all over a poorly driven Fiesta ST with 250bhp and a million modifications. By the end of the day I was sliding round most of the bends on 3 wheels

Such a bargain at the moment I'd recommend them to anyone.

[IanMorewood]

That looks sweet, well for a silver one anyway, good shedding.

[salmon]

Recently bought a 1.7 as a run around. Great little car for chucking round, handles great and proper slick gear change. Tbh in some cases more of a laugh than the Tuscan!

Problems so far are that I missed timing belt hadn't been changed, had to change the HCV and the clutch is starting to slip, but all with all work done car probably stands me at ~1500 so not too bad.

[y2blade]

hora said:

y2blade,

From memory 195/50/15's- they do look alot wider than they are tall.

Mines on two budgets and two hankooks. I've read that the Puma doesn't handle well at all on mixed and ideally needs Pirelli's.

On mixed tyres mine feels brilliant (and I do have at least a basic grasp of what is good or not!). There is no squirm, snap, unpredictable mid-corner or lift off etc. Its just progressive. So if its even better on all 4 matching then I will be honestly gobsmacked.

I'm loving the sound of these more and more
you mentioned that it was Temporary, let me know how "temporary" it is please

PM if you'd rather

[alwayzsidewayz]

I took my boss out who has an E92 M3 and he loved it, could not believe the speed you can carry though the corners.

Sadly I am getting rid of my track Celica so the Puma will be my only car, its replaced a ratty old astra for day to day running and the Celica for track day work.

I can genuinely say its some of the most fun I have had behind the wheel of a car, it reminds me of my old classic minis and Mk2 escorts for sheer fun.

In the 1k price bracket its a great car for those who do not need a lot of space or do many motorway miles.

[Rollcage]

Pumas are great little cars - if it had another 50bhp it would be an absolute riot, and more than a match for the aforementioned Clio Cups, etc - which incidentally, don't seem to be available for Puma money, or is that not the point?

For the money, there's not much to beat them.

[patmahe]

One of these for sale near me, a 1.7, if my MX-5 shopping doesn't go well this weekend I might just pick it up. Anyone had both and care to offer an opinion?

[Gunton]

I have one just check out my profile pic. It's a 2001 51 plate and it's only just done 42k it is MINT! I have a lot of country lanes near where I live and I can tell you I have left far quicker cars down them lanes! And it's not a million miles behind my brothers saxo VTS, and that's lighter and has more power!

Edited by Gunton on Friday 15th July 13:00

Edited by Gunton on Friday 15th July 13:23

Edited by Gunton on Friday 15th July 13:24

[Itsallicanafford]

...there was a dark green Puma lapping Brans Hatch last night, the boys looked like they were having a great time...i think it was a little slower than my Mk1 MX-5 1800, but not by much...

Don't think this can be described as a shed though, its just a really good little car for people who know a bit about motors and are on a limited budget...it just happens to be cheap due to age.

[B'stard Child]

Itsallicanafford said:

Don't think this can be described as a shed though, its just a really good little car for people who know a bit about motors and are on a limited budget...it just happens to be cheap due to age.

Err you are new here aren't you........

[J4CKO]

Good shedding but funnily I didnt see these as shed territory, time waits for no shed !

[Itsallicanafford]

B'stard Child said:

Err you are new here aren't you........

Yeap...why, what have i done? If i had a grand, said i was going off to buy a shed, i wouldn't come back with a Puma in good nick...i would buy a brown 728i with all the toys and cruise about for a couple of months...seams about right to me...

[kaiowas]

Looks like a nice buy.

Missus bought one of these late last year and yours looks much nicer, but then she insisted on a Millenium and wasn't prepared to wait for a good one so just bought the first one she saw that was in budget.

One of the few cars I've ever been tempted to buy new as well. Test drove one back in the day and even then with my relative inexperience of cars I always remembered that the gearshift felt lovely.

[thetapeworm]

hora said:

OP and Salmon, on this you can get away with 'cycling' the heating - i.e. set to max on heat, run then switch suddenly to max on cold and vice versa for a while. This clears it out.

One of the HCV faults is that the plastic connectors that the pipes push onto just snap off - they go brittle with age and then suddenly let go in a way that makes it hard to perform a roadside fix.

One of those easy to replace parts that's worth doing just for the sake of it - OEM parts only though.

[B'stard Child]

Itsallicanafford said:

B'stard Child said:

Err you are new here aren't you........

Yeap...why, what have i done? If i had a grand, said i was going off to buy a shed, i wouldn't come back with a Puma in good nick...i would buy a brown 728i with all the toys and cruise about for a couple of months...seams about right to me...

Don't take the "shed" term so literally - it's been done to death over the years - think of it as what can be bought with a bag a sand or less (up to £1,000).......

[Goodfella 555]

Itsallicanafford said:

Yeap...why, what have i done? If i had a grand, said i was going off to buy a shed, i wouldn't come back with a Puma in good nick...i would buy a brown 728i with all the toys and cruise about for a couple of months...seams about right to me...

Its funny you say that cos i had a 728i which i traded in for a Puma! I missed the quietness and the luxury but that was about it. I got the Puma because i wanted something cheap to chuck around and it really didn't disappoint. As with all Pher's, I think I just like good cars (or cars that were good once) and it depends on what mood i'm in as to whether i buy a barge, hot hatch, saloon, two seater (anything really!)

[toon10]

Goodfella 555 said:

Itsallicanafford said:

Yeap...why, what have i done? If i had a grand, said i was going off to buy a shed, i wouldn't come back with a Puma in good nick...i would buy a brown 728i with all the toys and cruise about for a couple of months...seams about right to me...

Its funny you say that cos i had a 728i which i traded in for a Puma! I missed the quietness and the luxury but that was about it. I got the Puma because i wanted something cheap to chuck around and it really didn't disappoint. As with all Pher's, I think I just like good cars (or cars that were good once) and it depends on what mood i'm in as to whether i buy a barge, hot hatch, saloon, two seater (anything really!)

Pumas are so cheap now there's scope for having a luxo barge for those moments when you need to waft in opulence and a Puma to stick in the garage for fun jaunts/cheap commuting, etc.