I had a Puma 1.7 courtesy car for a couple of weeks 2 or 3 years ago.

All i can say is that i loved it!

At the time i had a Fiesta 1.25 that had to go back to the garage with a faulty steering thingymajig .

The first thing i liked about the Puma was when i first got in it. With the seats rapped around me, the position of the gear stick, easy controls to hand and lower to the ground made me think i was in a proper sports car .

The performance was outstanding...very quick, and holds the road very well. Being a courtesy car i obviously gave it some stick .
But as allready said, the rear view when reversing is cr*p.

To sum up the difference is really hard.

From my experience of putting them both through their paces, i think the has the edge....but that's only just !
My reason for choosing the is that it's an all rounder, looks,feel,handling,speed- 40-90.

Whereas the Puma..No real looks,has the feel and definitely handling, but does'nt have the mid range and top end.

But that's only my opinion. .