Hi all, I'm looking to buy 1 litre 125bhp auto box Puma, I seem to have a choice of Titanium, st line and st line x, I've read the 18" wheels are a bit harsh so I'm thinking Titanium although it doesn't have auto fold mirrors, I know, not the end of the world! What do you reckon?

Also what's the standard stereo like, it seems the B and O isn't as bassy as it used to be, thankyou Dave

I would gladly do without the power folding mirrors, which I love not to have bigger wheels than 16" The B and O is really nothing of the sort, it is actually Samsung and just a name used to impress those who remember when it was good stuff. The older systems used to put a sub bass speaker in the spare wheel well but now they don't and the percieved bass suffers quite insignificantly. Cars are made of the wrong stuff for good sound and you hear when you are driving, you don't listen(I spent much of my working life with Dolby, Moog, Soundcraft, Kef and Sennheiser so I claim some knowledge. I also collect vintage Bang and Olufsen and have on occasion helped them out with vintage circuit diagrams.)

Are you buying a car or a stereo? The Puma is a decent car and about the nicest thing to drive in its class. The standard infotainment sounds just fine and you won't be paying a premium for very little real world improvement.

Besides, all the sub bass in the world won't be much consolation on a wet Sunday night miles from anywhere with a big hole in a tyre so spend the saving on a spare!

Thankyou, my fiesta system is fine so if the standard Puma is similar that's fine, and yes, I am getting a spare wheel, thanks again.

42 minutes ago, Wesdave said:

I've read the 18" wheels are a bit harsh.

What version of the Fiesta do you have for comparison? The issue is not necessarily so much the size of the wheel as the profile of the tyres fitted and resultant sidewall depth.

18s on a Fiesta come with 205/40 tyres whereas the Puma has 215/50 so much greater sidewall depth (107.5mm for the Puma vs 82mm for the Fiesta). I've had 2 test drives in a Puma ST-L X (one 24 hours) and found it ok.

But we all perceive things differently so always best if you can get a test drive in both specs if you can, though.

PS you can always get a set of these to stick on your standard speakers!😀

My mum recently bought a full options ST-Line-X 155 HP MHEV Powershift.

At first, I was surprised that it came with 17 Inch wheels instead of the standard 18 Inch wheels. This however was because the all-weather tyre option was selected. When selecting the all-weather tyre option you get smaller wheels for €300,- extra.

In my opinion this is the best of both worlds. The ST-Line-X trim level without the 18 Inch wheels. We have also driven other examples of the exact same car with the standard 18 Inch wheels. I was actually surprised how harsh the ride was on 18 Inch wheels.

13 minutes ago, JW1982 said:

In my opinion this is the best of both worlds. The ST-Line-X trim level without the 18 Inch wheels.

No option in the UK - ST-L X is now 18s only. You can have 17** on ST-L and Titanium, albeit with reduced spec as David mention, although the ST-L has powerfold mirrors.

(They did the same with the Fiesta here before it was dropped)

** 215/55 tyre sidewall depth: 118.25mm

Looking at the UK price list, you don't seem to get that much more with the X for a price difference of around £1650.