TRDs economy hairdresser kart - Ford Puma Thunder
Discussion
So, just picked this little beast up to free up some money to pay off debts, and give me a car that uses precisely half the petrol, and every running cost you care to mention is also about half the price, or less!
I am hugely impressed with this little car. Its not a fast car by any stretch of the imagination, but it makes up for it with how willing and eager it is, and the handling, well I've had some nice handling cars in my time, but this is up there with the very best I've had (including the DC2). It does look a bit like its on stilts, but that just gives an unbeatable ride / handling balance, so I wont be changing it.
The only thing I may wish to change is the brakes, and get some decent (matching) tyres on there. The brakes don't feel particularly confident IMO.
And I'm getting almost 40 MPG even with some hooning thrown in for good measure! £250 to insure. Girlfriend loves it (will have to hide the keys).
I am hugely impressed with this little car. Its not a fast car by any stretch of the imagination, but it makes up for it with how willing and eager it is, and the handling, well I've had some nice handling cars in my time, but this is up there with the very best I've had (including the DC2). It does look a bit like its on stilts, but that just gives an unbeatable ride / handling balance, so I wont be changing it.
The only thing I may wish to change is the brakes, and get some decent (matching) tyres on there. The brakes don't feel particularly confident IMO.
And I'm getting almost 40 MPG even with some hooning thrown in for good measure! £250 to insure. Girlfriend loves it (will have to hide the keys).
Lovely car, hope there isn't too much rot!
RE: the brakes, before you go for larger discs / calipers, I understand the best thing to do is change the servo and master cylinder for those from an early 240mm front brake car (or 240mm Fiesta w/ABS). I tried both Mk3 Mondeo and ST170 front calipers w/300mm discs on mine with the standard servo and was never particularly happy with it. I am told that changing the MC & servo would be the best move.
RE: the brakes, before you go for larger discs / calipers, I understand the best thing to do is change the servo and master cylinder for those from an early 240mm front brake car (or 240mm Fiesta w/ABS). I tried both Mk3 Mondeo and ST170 front calipers w/300mm discs on mine with the standard servo and was never particularly happy with it. I am told that changing the MC & servo would be the best move.
FlashBastd said:
Lovely car, hope there isn't too much rot!
RE: the brakes, before you go for larger discs / calipers, I understand the best thing to do is change the servo and master cylinder for those from an early 240mm front brake car (or 240mm Fiesta w/ABS). I tried both Mk3 Mondeo and ST170 front calipers w/300mm discs on mine with the standard servo and was never particularly happy with it. I am told that changing the MC & servo would be the best move.
I have read this as well. Bit of a pain, but the whole process isn't particularly expensive, Mondeo MK3s not being exactly rare!RE: the brakes, before you go for larger discs / calipers, I understand the best thing to do is change the servo and master cylinder for those from an early 240mm front brake car (or 240mm Fiesta w/ABS). I tried both Mk3 Mondeo and ST170 front calipers w/300mm discs on mine with the standard servo and was never particularly happy with it. I am told that changing the MC & servo would be the best move.
I had a good drive around today and they were either getting a bit better the more I used them, or I was just getting used to them, I don't know but they don't feel as strong as a lot of cars I've had. They seem to need one hell of a firm press to get them to lock up.
What a fun car it is though, I was not expecting it to be as good as it is.
What a fun car it is though, I was not expecting it to be as good as it is.
The only fords I've driven that didn't have weak brakes have been the ST and RS models, crap brakes compared to most other cars seem to be common.
I didn't expect it to be as good either and I suspect for £1500 or less you'll not find anything as good at being as easy to use daily as a Fiesta and as cheap to own that would cut it as a car people who love driving would choose to drive down a favourite road.
I didn't expect it to be as good either and I suspect for £1500 or less you'll not find anything as good at being as easy to use daily as a Fiesta and as cheap to own that would cut it as a car people who love driving would choose to drive down a favourite road.
Its my OH, I won't tell her you said that though 
IME, the brakes are actually pretty good - the difference is that they aren't very assisted compared to modern cars. It was the same on the Mk4 Fiesta they're based on (I've driven both), which needed a good shove before they would do anything. Once you have pushed the pedal enough, there is plenty of retardation available; on my poverty spec Fiesta I only got a soggy pedal once, and that was after a good 3/4 hour of thrashing down country lanes. It was fine for track days, and I drove it like I stole it. 
davepoth said:
IME, the brakes are actually pretty good - the difference is that they aren't very assisted compared to modern cars. It was the same on the Mk4 Fiesta they're based on (I've driven both), which needed a good shove before they would do anything. Once you have pushed the pedal enough, there is plenty of retardation available; on my poverty spec Fiesta I only got a soggy pedal once, and that was after a good 3/4 hour of thrashing down country lanes. It was fine for track days, and I drove it like I stole it.
This, the brakes are actually pretty good and you soon grow to love the amount of feel and adjustability there is compared to the over-servoed brakes of modern cars. They are still perfectly capable of locking up, even after severe, severe beating. I've only ever had brake fade once and that was after getting from London to Brighton bloody quickly solely via B-roads. Decent pads should suffice in terms of upgrades for now.
If you're looking for new tyres then Toyo T1Rs are a good choice for the Puma. They're highly recommended on Puma forums and very reasonably priced too. I put 4 on mine for £220. My brakes are rubbish too but you do get used to them. If you've not been out in it in the dark yet then don't be surprised if your headlamps are not the brightest you've ever seen. £20 odd invested in new bulbs will be money well spent!
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