RE: Shed of the Week: Ford Puma

[culpz]

egor110 said:

Interesting you think it's better than a 172 cup.

I got a puma on tuesday and it's a great little go kart but my cup was quicker and the brakes we'e a totally different league compared to the puma .

How come you got rid of the Cup for the Puma?

A Clio 172/182 is my next car. I like how cheap these are but i've always wanted the Clio so now's definitely the time for me to to finally get one.

[s m]

3795mpower said:

Excellent budget fun.
A great "my first sports car" choice.

Can only think of one other car of that era that approaches the way these drive
And that's a Clio 172, but they are on a different price point these days.

Agreed - great for the money....although I'd always choose one of the French sisters ( 106Gti/VTS ) in similar condition over a Puma. They're even rarer now in good nick

[egor110]

culpz said:

egor110 said:

Interesting you think it's better than a 172 cup.

I got a puma on tuesday and it's a great little go kart but my cup was quicker and the brakes we'e a totally different league compared to the puma .

How come you got rid of the Cup for the Puma?

A Clio 172/182 is my next car. I like how cheap these are but i've always wanted the Clio so now's definitely the time for me to to finally get one.

I got rid of the clio 2 years ago because i got a good price for it ( should of kept it ) then i got a saab 9-5 aero for £560 then this year i got a bmw 325ci for £330 and the puma came up for sale local for £500 with 11 months mot so i nabbed it.

The clio was on coilovers and had larger brake disc so maybe not a fair comparison , but they both go around corners like your on rails just need to improve my pumas brakes now.

Very strange not having a trip computer or electric door mirrors in the puma .

[egor110]

I picked this up on Tuesday for £500 with 11 months mot.

[culpz]

egor110 said:

culpz said:

egor110 said:

Interesting you think it's better than a 172 cup.

I got a puma on tuesday and it's a great little go kart but my cup was quicker and the brakes we'e a totally different league compared to the puma .

How come you got rid of the Cup for the Puma?

A Clio 172/182 is my next car. I like how cheap these are but i've always wanted the Clio so now's definitely the time for me to to finally get one.

I got rid of the clio 2 years ago because i got a good price for it ( should of kept it ) then i got a saab 9-5 aero for £560 then this year i got a bmw 325ci for £330 and the puma came up for sale local for £500 with 11 months mot so i nabbed it.

The clio was on coilovers and had larger brake disc so maybe not a fair comparison , but they both go around corners like your on rails just need to improve my pumas brakes now.

Very strange not having a trip computer or electric door mirrors in the puma .

You certainly know how to pick up a bargain!

I wouldn't mind a Cup but the prices for them are all over the place and would probably prefer the creature comforts of the standard 172/182.

[egor110]

If your going to track it get the cup if not save money and get the ordinary 172/182 .

Thing is I paid 500 for the puma I'd be looking at 1500-2000 to get a decent Clio and I'm not certain it's worth the extra ?

[culpz]

egor110 said:

If your going to track it get the cup if not save money and get the ordinary 172/182 .

Thing is I paid 500 for the puma I'd be looking at 1500-2000 to get a decent Clio and I'm not certain it's worth the extra ?

I will be doing some track days but, for the most part, it will be my daily.

Very true and i do think that myself, after reading a thread like this. However, as i said, i've always wanted a 172/182 and insurance ain't too bad now .So, i'd rather spend a bit more on a car that i've always wanted and intend to run and keep for a number of years, hopefully.

[exgtt]

egor110 said:

Interesting you think it's better than a 172 cup.

I got a puma on tuesday and it's a great little go kart but my cup was quicker and the brakes we'e a totally different league compared to the puma .

Just to be clear I've never tracked a car and I drive well within the limits of any car on the roads these days, within this 7/10ths driving it's the secure handling, steering feel, gearbox and engine response that put it above the Clio for me. I do plan to get some MK3 Mondeo calipers and ST170 disks for instant 310mm (I think) front brakes. I'd anticipate that lot coming in at under £150 and hopefully that will modernise it a bit.

[sawman]

Turbobanana said:

sawman said:

I like these, pity thats the opposite end of the country.
My wife had one exactly the same as this, we imported it from belgium.

I love the irony that you mention in one sentence how the car is some distance from you, then in the next admit you imported one from Belgium...

I worked for a well-known on-line car importer back in the day and we certainly brought a lot of these in from Belgium (also The Netherlands, Spain and France).

see what you are saying ;-)) i lived in the south east at the time, hopping on the ferry to belgium was pretty easy, we bought directly from a garage in brugge - made a nice weekend break too.

getting from northumberland to sussex would be a significantly bigger undertaking

[paulg390]

FELIX_5 said:

Gary29 said:

Get a readers rides thread going

Will do! Train ticket all booked for Tuesday to go and collect it.

Will report back with my findings.....

Great buy ! Looking forward to the update

[Olivera]

Great fun cars for pocket money, apart from the OEM rear arch gap which looks a travesty.

[IforB]

FELIX_5 said:

Will do! Train ticket all booked for Tuesday to go and collect it.

Will report back with my findings.....

Good work. That looks to be a superb car to buy. Immaculate and with good history for a bargain price. Excellent car buying there.

The Puma is a great little thing, an ex of mine had one I used to nick it constantly as it was such fun to drive.

A good rust free one would be an ideal car to chuck into a shipping container and store for a few years. I reckon they'll be popular in years to come as rust claims most of them.

[Dal3D]

Funny how time changes things - when I started www.projectpuma.com over 10 years ago as an owners club, they were routinely ridiculed as a girls car / just a fiesta etc by all those that'd never driven one.

Now lots of people have actually found out that they're a hoot to drive (even at legal speeds - roundabouts can be fun!) and as long as you get a decent one can cost bobbins to run.

Great shed.

[avenger286]

Loved all my Puma's and agree to most of the comments above apart from it taking a day to replace the rear beam bushes you can do it in a few hours if done correctly.
Lots of bits can be uprated using the ford parts bin.
Will probably never drive another one but have fond memories of my last wee black beast.

[egor110]

exgtt said:

egor110 said:

Interesting you think it's better than a 172 cup.

I got a puma on tuesday and it's a great little go kart but my cup was quicker and the brakes we'e a totally different league compared to the puma .

Just to be clear I've never tracked a car and I drive well within the limits of any car on the roads these days, within this 7/10ths driving it's the secure handling, steering feel, gearbox and engine response that put it above the Clio for me. I do plan to get some MK3 Mondeo calipers and ST170 disks for instant 310mm (I think) front brakes. I'd anticipate that lot coming in at under £150 and hopefully that will modernise it a bit.

Handling and steering feel i'd say they were very similar in that they just gripped , the cups engine i'd say was faster but the gearbox on the puma is far better.

I'm looking at doing the same brake upgrade other than that not sure there's anything else to do as mine is a L so has no air con so that's more weight saved .

How was your civic compared to the puma/clio ?

[exgtt]

Olivera said:

Great fun cars for pocket money, apart from the OEM rear arch gap which looks a travesty.

It's that suspension travel that makes them, loading up the rear on corners. I'll never lower mine.

[exgtt]

egor110 said:

Handling and steering feel i'd say they were very similar in that they just gripped , the cups engine i'd say was faster but the gearbox on the puma is far better.

I'm looking at doing the same brake upgrade other than that not sure there's anything else to do as mine is a L so has no air con so that's more weight saved .

How was your civic compared to the puma/clio ?

The Civic was a great car, I just got used to it very quickly. If I could fault it, the suspension was too stiff for the roads near me and the steering was meh. I'd have another though if I was restricted to one car, great all rounder, just missing that X Factor the Puma/Cup has. Hard to explain. Think I just prefer the drama of rattleboxes.

Edited by exgtt on Friday 10th November 17:16

[TameRacingDriver]

egor110 said:

If your going to track it get the cup if not save money and get the ordinary 172/182 .

Thing is I paid 500 for the puma I'd be looking at 1500-2000 to get a decent Clio and I'm not certain it's worth the extra ?

I've had a couple of Clios and the Puma. I actually think the Puma handled a bit better. Certainly less nose heavy. The Clio was a lot faster though. Depends what you want really.

I liked my Puma, but being critical it could have done with just a little bit more punch, and I do think the engine was overrated somewhat; I've always said it but I preferred the engine in the 1.8 Corsa SRI, even if the rest of that car was a bit of a travesty in comparison. The Corsa engine just sounded better and felt more eager. The Puma engine was fine, just a little bit dull, but I'm probably on my own with that opinion.

[markcoznottz]

Road testers couldn't get enough of parry jones cars back in the day, mk1 focus, Ka equally loved. That's from journo's used to exotica.

[carinaman]

FELIX_5 said:

Gary29 said:

Get a readers rides thread going

Will do! Train ticket all booked for Tuesday to go and collect it.

Will report back with my findings.....

I look forward to reading it.