Ford has unveiled the 2021 Puma ST, the spiciest iteration of the Puma crossover; we doubt there will ever be an RS badge slapped to the Fiesta-based small SUV that Ford assembles in Craiova, Romania. That said, here’s all you need to know about the new Ford Puma ST, which inherits the same 1.5-liter, three-cylinder powerplant Ford debuted in the Fiesta ST.

2021 Ford Puma ST

Specifications

• Make: Array
• Model: 2021 Ford Puma ST
• Horsepower: 197
• Torque: 236
• [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

Interior

There’s a lot of Fiesta ST inside the Puma ST, at least visually, which is only logical since the Puma is based on the Fiesta and the Puma ST in particular is just a fatter Fiesta sitting higher off the ground.

Concretely, your back will sit nicely tucked in courtesy of Recaro front seats and your hands will enjoy the touch of a flat-bottom steering wheel. There’s grey stitching all around the cabin and if you’re planning to turn your Puma ST into a weekend hauler for that short staycation, then the 456-liter boot will likely serve you and your family/friends well enough.

The Puma ST isn’t lagging behind on tech either, although the Ford SYNC 3 multimedia setup isn’t the crisper of the lot. You do get, however Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

Exterior

Not exactly a plethora of changes on the outside for the Puma ST compared to the regular Puma. Ford did, however, made sure the ST is recognizable and easy to set apart from a run-of-the-mill Puma.

On that note, exterior changes are pretty much down to a new Ford Performance splitter mounted on the front bumper, a new roof spoiler, and a rear diffuser. Ford says the splitter boosts downforce on the front axle by “almost 80 percent,” while the other parts are there for better aerodynamics.

There are also six new body colors available for the Puma ST, all combined with a gloss black roof, grille surrounds, roof spoiler and door mirror caps:

-* Agate Black

-* Desert Island Blue

-* Fantastic Red

-* Frozen White

-* Magnetic

-* Mean Green (which is an ST exclusive paint job)

Powertrain and Performance

Right, the juicy stuff. If you can call a 1.5-liter, three-cylinder mill juicy in terms of performance. The one in the Puma ST makes the same amount of power as inside the Fiesta ST, so you get 197 horsepower to play with via your right foot.

Torque is rated at 320 Newton-meters (that’s about 236 pound-feet, an increase from the Fiesta ST’s 290 Newton-meters/214 pound-feet rating) and for those moments of driving peacefulness, the engine can shut down one of the cylinders to save fuel - the Puma ST will be basically running on just two cylinders until further notice via your right foot.

Just like in the Fiesta ST, you’ll have to row your own gears - the Puma ST only comes with a six-speed manual transmission sending power to the front axle.

In this context, 0-100 kph (62 mph) takes 6.7 seconds (0.2 seconds slower than the Fiesta ST, but that’s most likely due to the difference in mass). Top speed is capped at 220 kph (137 mph). When you’re not gunning for high speed thrills, the Puma ST can help you find your sweet spot quicker with four pre-set driving modes: Normal, Eco, Sport, and Track.

Ford Puma ST Specifications

Final words

It’s interesting to see who exactly is Ford targeting with the Puma ST and most importantly, how can a car that sits higher off the ground than the car it’s based on can be deemed as sporty, especially when your range also comprises the nippy and fun Fiesta ST?

Sure, we can’t judge its dynamical prowess (or lack of) while sitting in front of a screen and keyboard, so the first test drives with the Puma ST should tell us more about how well it live up to the ST badge it carries.