New Zealand was almost one of the last countries in the world to get the latest Ford Mondeo, but we think it was worth the wait.
John Oxley reports on the top-end Titanium petrol version.
Want to get the last gram of value out of your dollar? After spending a week with the Ford Mondeo Titanium, I can’t think of a car on the market that gives you more for your money, rewards you at the pump, and offers as much driving pleasure as this does, all rolled into one, and at a price point below $54K!
A bold statement, you might say, but one I’m more than happy to back up. I’ve always been a rear-wheel drive man, but with Ford’s torque vectoring control there’s no evidence of any front-wheel drive foibles, and the ability to change drive modes – from Eco to Comfort and then Dynamic – means you can get the best out of the car’s adaptive suspension.
In terms of size, the Mondeo is a big car, and it feels it on tight winding roads, though there’s no loss of confidence thanks to its excellent handling and keen road holding.
The 2-litre EcoBoost engines is one of the best production petrol motors in its class, and it’s a willing performer, with a built-in a special sound effects package to make the engine sound better.
In fact the Mondeo comes into its own in long distance cruising, and I did plenty of that. It’s spacious, it’s got a huge boot that’s easy to load thanks to the powered hatchback, and rear seats that fold for even greater versatility if you need it.
It’s got leather upholstery and just about everything you could possibly want, including Bluetooth, a logical touchscreen, reversing camera, and satnav, plus Sync2 voice recognition and satellite controls on the leather rimmed steering wheel.
It has a really great radar-controlled cruise control system, as well as a speed limiter, and so easy is it to use that at times we found it easier to use this than mess around with braking and accelerating, especially in fast-moving traffic.
Driving at night is never easy, but the Mondeo Titanium comes up trumps with LED headlamps that follow the roads, so you don’t have any black spots. If there’s a criticism, though, it’s that the electrochromatic mirror was a bit dark during the daytime.
Driving on freeways was helped no end by the blind spot information system, and 10-way electrically adjusted driver’s and front passenger’s seats (with lumbar control), made getting comfortable easy, as did the tilt and reach adjustable steering wheel.
There are heated front seats, a really good Sony sound system with nine speakers, and a nice fixed panoramic sunroof.
Extras we liked are the 220V socket in the centre console, plus three 12V sockets, while one feature we didn’t get to test completely was the rear seat airbags, which inflate in a crash to give the back seat passengers more protection. Only available on the Mondeo at present…
On the road it’s hard to believe that there’s only a two-litre engine under the bonnet. The EcoBoost motor is as flexible as the big six found in the Falcon, and it’s not a lot less powerful. In fact comparing with the Falcon throws up another couple of interesting stats – the Mondeo has more room in front than the Falcon, and almost as much in the back, and has a bigger boot.
The big difference, though, is in fuel economy. Ford claims an 8.5L/100km overall average, but in fact we saw less than that a few times, so owners should be very happy.
Safety? Well we’ve mentioned the BLIS, and the rear seatbelt airbags, but the Mondeo also has a lane keeping assistance system, forward collision warning with pedestrian detection, driver drowsiness detection, Active City Stop to mitigate low-speed crashes in traffic, and if you have trouble parking, a semi-automatic parking system which finds you a spot, and steers you into it. You have to operate the brake and accelerator yourself, though.
As I said at the beginning, lots for your buck!
Specifications:
Body type: Five-door hatch
Drive: Front wheels
Engine type: Inline 4-cyl. petrol turbo
Engine capacity: 1,999cc
Max power: 177kW/5,300rpm
Max torque: 345Nm/2,300-4,900rpm
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
C02 emissions: 197g/km
0-100km/h: N/A
Front suspension: Macpherson strut
Rear suspension: Independent integral link
Roof rack: No
ABS brakes: Yes
Air bags: Seven
Stability programme: Yes
Air conditioning: Dual climate
Lap/diagonal belts: Five
Satellite navigation: Yes
Electric seats: Yes
Burglar alarm: Yes
Panic button: No
Boot release: Electric operation
Cargo cover: Yes
Boot capacity: 557/1,356 litres
Wheel type: 18 inch alloy
Spare tyre: Full size 16 inch steel
ANCAP rating :Five stars
Price: $53,690
