Volkswagen Golf vs Ford Puma

What's the difference?

Eight generations over more than half a century qualifies the Volkswagen Golf as an automotive icon, standing on the shoulders of its original beetle-shaped ancestor.

It remains one of the world’s favourite cars and this 110TSI Life version is the entry-point to the local model line-up, the latest ‘8.5’ version of which arrived here just over 12 months ago.

It sits in a hotly contested small-car category, appealing to those with a preference for a conventional hatch and pure internal-combustion power.

In an automotive world now dominated by increasingly electrified SUVs, we spent a week behind the wheel to see how it shapes up as an urban specialist with occasional open road ability.   

S FAR as makeovers go, Hollywood has nothing on the transformation of Ford's small SUV.

Based on the Fiesta supermini only sold here in sizzling ST form, but using a stretched and widened version of its platform with heavily reworked underpinnings, the strikingly styled Puma is as charming – beguiling even – as its EcoSport predecessor was awkward. And we're talking about capabilities that are more than merely skin deep here.

We're not alone in our admiration – one respected UK publication awarded the Ford a 'car of the year' gong – and after nearly a month with our range-topping ST-Line V (for Vignale), we can understand why.

But the German-engineered, Romanian-made Puma is also a complicated proposition in Australia that requires some context, because it is certainly not for everyone.