Choose your fighter: VW T-Roc R or Ford Puma ST Gold Edition?
is here in Gold Edition format, a 999-car production run with spec chosen by Ford enthusiasts via an online competition. So, yes, that is a black Puma with gold stripes, gold wheels and red calipers - rather fetching it looks in the metal, too. Ultimately, though, these are mechanically identical to launch a few years back.
As is so often the way with these things, there’s nothing like a fast VW as a baseline when it comes to class-based comparisons. So assured is the T-Roc’s performance across the board that it doesn’t really put a foot wrong in the real world. The latest model even has an interior that won’t drive you to distraction, the logical old design merely updated with haptic buttons rather than ditched wholesale.
Willingness is all relative, however. Switching VW for Ford is like switching tag rugby for Aussie Rules; on paper they’re actually quite close, but the experiences are a world apart in terms of adrenaline. The Puma steers like a remote controlled car, darting this way and that as if you were flicking controller stalks. Yet such is the alertness of the chassis that its hyperactivity feels natural after a couple of frenzied minutes, front-end fight and all.
Not that the Ford is bad over long distances, and - from where we’re sitting - its slightly less mature motorway manners do seem a fair trade off for the entertainment on offer. In fact, the more time you spend with the Puma, the more you’re inclined to think that keeping this close to Fiesta levels of fun might be a superior engineering achievement to making the hatch so good in the first place. In start contrast to the VW, the powertrain remains a treat, too. Sure, the 1.