Leering at you with slanted feline eyes, crouched low on its tyres, the Ford Cougar has a vaguely threatening look.

Ford’s answer to a market seeking exhilaration with six cylinders instead of eight is based on the Mondeo platform from Europe and built in the USA.

The body carries enough new edge cues to make fellow motorists take a second look, but what did surprise was the strongly positive female reaction, though it was disconcerting to hear the words "cute" and "mean" so often used in the same sentence!

New and old together
The interior is an attractive blend of organic and `new edge’, with warning lights in an overhead binnacle that adds to the general `cockpit feel’. And a comfortingly traditional dashboard, with big analogue dials.

The steering wheel is a beautifully simple circle, thick enough to offer a good hold of its leather-wrapped rim. Unfortunately it looks unappealing with its big airbag, but feels great – apart from the tilt adjustment’s lowest position being a bit high, as several drivers commented.

It seemed odd to find the hatch release on the right and operated by the foot, while the hood release is on the left of the cabin. We were also surprised to find no drink holders, apart from a couple of shallow indentations in the glovebox lid and one in the centre of the rear seat.

But no complaints about the design of the generously proportioned hatch, with its low-cut lip for ease of loading. Which was, incidentally, another cause of all that positive female opinion .

Very new safety
On an even more sensible note, Cougar is the first vehicle in Australia with Ford's "next generation" head-and-chest combination side airbags, designed to help prevent neck rotation as well as acting as a barrier between the occupant and the side of the vehicle.

The unusually shaped exterior mirrors bring to mind the ‘pixie ears’ of the Holden Vectra, but work surprisingly well and offer a very good field of view.

But our big disappointment was the seats, which look great but could not feel less `sporty’ if they tried.

Instead of firm support and bolsters to hold you in place when cornering, these are shallow, soft and squishy. Having just left the Tickford TS50 only made it more obvious.

The rear seats are sculpted into individual buckets that, like those in the front, look a little better than they feel, and legroom in the back is sufficiently restricted to ensure that Cougar is a definite 2+2. But the second `2' are unlikely to be adults, we'll give you the tip - not if they're going to be there for more than five minutes!

Unsheathing the claws
Ford’s Duratec V6 is an outstanding example of its type. A quad-cam with 24 valves, it’s the first production volume powerplant to use the Cosworth casting process and has hollow, lightweight camshafts.

The all-alloy powerplant produces 125kW @ 6250 rpm and 220Nm of torque at 4250 rpm. With 90% of that torque arriving at just 2000rpm, it pulls cleanly from low revs and makes gearchanging a less frequent chore.

But shift the cogs a bit more often, and at about 4500rpm an ear-pleasing tune begins under the hood as the V6 opens its lungs wide. Exhausts may be quieter nowadays, but an engine can still sing. Once you’ve settled down, 110kmh in fifth gear sees the engine spinning at 3,000 rpm.

Speaking of sound, the NVH levels are reasonable if you begin with the thought that a sportscar is meant to be noisy. There’s a bit of road-rumble and some noticeable wind rustle around the trailing edges of the windows, but the 100 watt stereo can over-ride all that!

On the pounce
Handling is on the upper side of good, with an agreeably neutral attitude at the entry to corners.

A hint of understeer appears early and is easily dialled out with a bit of throttle and steering correction. Dubbed the Quadralink, the suspension uses passive rear-wheel steer to improve control in corners or under brakes.

An assuringly flat stance in corners encourages a playful attitude, yet the pedal layout is not conducive to such antics for big-footers like me. There’s insufficient room around the accelerator and brake to allow the heel and toe tango with any accuracy.

When the brakes are applied though, stopping happens quickly. All four large discs are ventilated with ABS, and pull up the coupe with ease.