Ford Mondeo 1.8 Edge Hatch

[ajmat]

Fab car to drive!

A real drivers car!!

Almost as good as a BMW!!!

Ford are really going places!!!!




This is the press going gung ho about the Ford Mondeo

Having had a lot of fun with Ford Focus’s (Focii?), I decided that I would go for a Mondeo this time around. Have always lusted at the Mondy over here, the low profile tyres and minimal looks have some appeal.

Test route – Around Manchester and the Yorkshire Dales, then down to London and Kent via the Midlands. Almost the same route covered last time in the X5. Total miles covered – 600miles

Picked her up from the airport. Somehow it looked dull. The tyres are a higher profile and the chrome bits made it look chintzy. Opened door and sat inside and got familiar. Driving position was spot on. The so called “Passat” beating interior was bleak – black everywhere, a whiff of eau de plastic coupled with the odour of citron de la rentacar (lemon deodorizer) permeated all over. Got familiar with the controls. The tactility was not there and I somehow did not think that the interior would last in India or any rough terrain.

Snicked it into gear, no problem and took off back home. Car was easy to drive – it’s a ford!!!!! I was not pushing it until I was totally familiar. Also the “calling’ was not there !!! “Calling”? – yep, the minute you drive the Focus, it begged to be pushed, yanked and spanked. The Mondy – was a docile big brother - it begged for nothing.

Picked up the women and drove to see a friend in the Yorkshire Dales – wonderful roads where I used to push my Peugeot and the occasional borrowed MR2. The X5 attacked with a lot of vertical mounted gusto. The Mondeo merely followed the line. My daughter remarked that I was not driving my normal style, and asked whether something was wrong?

On the motorway, it cruised well. Overall returned 32 mpg. It was comfortable but a little soft for my liking. Steering is predictable but feedback was a bit off. Great boot – it took swallowed our luggage with ease.

Performance was leisurely, the 1.8 Zetec was adequate, sound was not that inspiring. Handling wise, it held on but it had to work hard following a dotty old lady in a 10 year old Focus estate driving on narrow Kent roads. It barely kept up. Brakes were sufficient.

There you have it, an well honed package for someone with average demands. It is not special as they say it is. Now I understand Steeroid’s perspective on his Mondeo. It can’t cut the mustard in a challenging situation or condition

If so, the UK Police would be using Mondy ST24’s, instead, they used BMW 530’s (in London) and some Mercs!!!

[vcash]

Shame on you Ajmat for getting me all excited. I read Mondeo and New Indian Car Test Drives and was ready to call the Ford Dealer in India a place an order for a fully loaded baby blue exterior and tan interior.

In all seriousness, try and see if you can check out the NEW Mondeo MKIV in the UK. Those interioirs / exterior / prfromance and appeal will blow every Passat / Camry / Honda / Citroen and what have you out of the water.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by vcash

In all seriousness, try and see if you can check out the NEW Mondeo MKIV in the UK. Those interioirs / exterior / prfromance and appeal will blow every Passat / Camry / Honda / Citroen and what have you out of the water.

Been there, done that. No great shakes - trust me.

The Mondeo is a very ordinary car that was glorified by the Indian Automotive presswallahs. They made it sound like it was some kind of ultimate supercar. They raved about the diesel as though it were manna from heaven, and then people that bought the diesel found themselves saddled with troublesome motors that they couldnt find spares for, and if they did it cost half the car. The petrol motor however was reliable (fuel pump aside), but noisy. The FI pump would develop a whine every now and then, too. So the Autojournos called it 'nice and rorty'. They didnt have to spend hours listening to the 'rortiness', I'm sure.

I had a Mondeo in Dubai when I blew up my money on a &(@*#)@!*& Alfa Romeo and couldnt afford another new car within 10 months. It did its job without complaining. The seats were fantastic as was the driving position. That was about it, but that was all I expected from it in a time when I spent hardly 8 days a month in DXB.

After those two experiences, my Chevy and my Tata have only exceeded expectations.

It is, and will always remain - a repmobile. Long live Chevrolet!

PS: Ajmat - you should've taken the 2.0 at the least. It was the best motor in the range, even though there was a more powerful 2.4 and even a 3.0.

[vcash]

I am surprised that you did'nt think much of the new Mondeo - Considering it's based on Ford's Euro platform and has come up with some pretty innovative features and great interior / exterior styling with help from Volvo / Mazda - I would think the Mondeo would be the new benchmark for the Camry, Accord, Passat, Altima etc.

I have not driven the old Mondeo or the new one since FoMoCo beleives in dishing out hella crappy cars in the US. Seriously - The Fusion is garbage and thats hard to beleive since it's a repackaged Mazda 6, a great car in its own right. So I can't agree / disagree with your experience. But as I have stated in another thread, it looks fantastic on paper and if priced right (including spares) it could be the segment leader in India.

P.S. Don't get me started about Chevys. Just drove a Trailblazer for 1400 miles to Kentucky a few weeks ago and man was that thing a POS. TrailBlazer + Fog + West Virgina Hills + Confederate Pickups = Premature Cardiac Arrest for a very young vcash.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by vcash

I have not driven the old Mondeo or the new one since FoMoCo beleives in dishing out hella crappy cars in the US. Seriously - The Fusion is garbage and thats hard to beleive since it's a repackaged Mazda 6, a great car in its own right.

The previous gen Mondeo with it's 2-litre engine was quite a driver's car!! It was indeed a pleasue to driver around in.

Originally Posted by vcash

P.S. Don't get me started about Chevys. Just drove a Trailblazer for 1400 miles to Kentucky a few weeks ago and man was that thing a POS. TrailBlazer + Fog + West Virgina Hills + Confederate Pickups = Premature Cardiac Arrest for a very young vcash.

Hahahahahhahahahahahahahhaha Thanks Vcash!!!!!!!!

[GTO]

And I thought for a minute : Ajmat already drove the NEW Mondeo?

One of my ex's used to drive a Mondeo so I often had a chance to high-revv the Ford. It was a whole lot of fun back then but I do remember hating the brakes. I think the game has moved on. Especially since the launch of a certain 150bhp car from Skoda.

[Mpower]

Its depeds on who made those comments. The British press mags are shamelessly biased and will pump up anything Ford of UK makes.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by GTO

And I thought for a minute : Ajmat already drove the NEW Mondeo?

One of my ex's used to drive a Mondeo so I often had a chance to high-revv the Ford. It was a whole lot of fun back then but I do remember hating the brakes. I think the game has moved on. Especially since the launch of a certain 150bhp car from Skoda.

I think the duratec engine ain't as fun as the Zetec one, I found the focus a really hard car to beat, build quality aside.

Funny enough, that 150 bhp car came out much before the previous generation Mondy did !!!

[samirsarkar]

Am a little taken aback and surprised by the comments about the Mondeo. I used to own one when I was in the UK....a Petrol 2.0 Ghia X fully loaded with all the works. I have never driven a car better to drive than that and this comment comes after driving the Mazda 6, Toyota Avensis, Volkswagen Passat, Renault Laguna and the Citroen Picasso in the same country. Excellent seats, great driving position, lovely Sony 6-CD music system, good brakes, fantastic ride and handling, an elegant looking dashboard etc.

The pick-up was too good and I could negotiate corners at 70 mph without breaking into a sweat. The steering was precise and nimble. The gear shift was so good, my cousin who is 8 yrs old could slot it into position without any fuss. The insurance was reasonable as well.

After migrating back to India, I was amazed to see that the car hardly sold much in this country and I still wonder why when people go after Lauras, Camrys and Accords which trust me, are not a patch on the Mondeo in terms of sheer driving pleasure and the rock solid stability the car offers. The only reason I did not buy it myself was that the car was too overpriced for me to buy in this country. However, I might just be tempted to go beyond my budget and buy one next year if they release the new 2007 Mondeo in India.

Maybe the Mondeo with all its bulk is just not made for a 1.8 engine. It needs a 2.0 at the very minimum. The ST24 is highly powered but its not really necessary to spend extra cash on that one.

And btw, the UK police do use a lot of Ford Mondeos in its fleet along with the BMWs and believe me, the Mondeos do not lag behind in any way.

I actually wondered why doesn't Ford sell the Mondeos in the US instead of the Tauruses....this model alone has the potential to turn the beleagured company's fortunes around I guess.

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Any clod can have an opinion...a logical one is a rarity.

[suren181]

But why is this incorporated in the New Indian Car Test-Drives? Pardon me for my ignorance, but is this slated for India? I don't recall a mention of a Mondeo Hatch being slated for release in India. Please do correct me if I am wrong.

[RacingForIndia]

Originally Posted by samirsarkar

I actually wondered why doesn't Ford sell the Mondeos in the US instead of the Tauruses....this model alone has the potential to turn the beleagured company's fortunes around I guess.

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Any clod can have an opinion...a logical one is a rarity.

My thoughts exactly. Ford US has tried to push the same dated products over and over again and have completely failed to read the US market. The Japs are doing a much better job.

Even the sales guys at the Ford service stations swear by the Mondeo. I love its looks.

[cheap_deal]

the only mondeo worth buying is the ST24, i want powerrrrr.
i found the 2lt engine quite slow