Damien O’Carroll was in Aussie for at the long-delayed launch of the new Ford Mondeo. He’s happy Ford waited.
We have been waiting for some time to get the new Ford Mondeo in this part of the world – in fact it was originally launched as far back as 2012 as the Ford Fusion over in the USA.
The reason for the long delay in RHD local production supply was basically down to the change in manufacturing facilities. Where our last-generation Mondeos were built in the Genk facility in Belgium, the new cars roll out of Ford’s plant in Valencia, Spain.
So now that the plant is pumping out Mondeos at full steam, we now get our share here. And, as it turns out, they really were worth the wait.
The Mondeo comes with three engine choices – two versions of the 2-litre four-cylinder petrol EcoBoost engine and a single 2-litre four-cylinder diesel unit – across two different body styles (hatch and wagon) and three trim levels.
The 2-litre four-cylinder petrol EcoBoost engine with 149kW/345Nm is available in the entry level Ambiente sedan and wagon, while a 177kW/345Nm version is available in the mid-spec Trend and top-spec Titanium models. The 2-litre four-cylinder diesel is available in a single 132kW/400Nm guise across the Ambiente and Trend models.
The new Mondeo comes standard with an impressive amount of technology and safety equipment across the range, not the least of which is Ford’s new inflatable rear seatbelt that, in the event of a collision, will deploy a “mini airbag” over an occupant’s torso and shoulder in 40 milliseconds. Ford says this spreads the impact forces over five times more area of the body to help reduce pressure on the chest and control head and neck motion for rear seat passengers.
All models also get Ford’s new Sync2 infotainment system that includes an eight-inch touchscreen, voice control, two USB ports, an SD card port, iPod and audio/video RCA inputs, Bluetooth connectivity and a satellite navigation system.
The Trend models also score an impressive range of safety technology as standard, including adaptive cruise control that maintains a pre-determined distance from the car in front, regardless of speed and Active City Stop that can help avoid or mitigate rear end collisions at speeds up to 40km/h.
The Titanium adds a lane keeping assist function that vibrates the steering wheel to warn the driver when they are drifting across a lane and a forward collision warning function that sounds an audible alert when it senses a reduction in traffic speed ahead and, if the possibility of a collision is detected, audible and visual warnings are activated to alert the driver.
The Titanium also gets a new version of Ford’s Active Park Assist system that will not only finding a spot that’s just the right size, but will also steer the car into a parallel – and now perpendicular – parking spaces itself.
While the new Mondeo is actually all-new, it actually does a very good job of looking quite a lot like the car it replaces. New corporate face aside, the body is, at first glance at least, remarkably similar to the last car. But look for longer and it becomes apparent that the new car is curvier and subtly sleeker than the old one.
Now that the Falcon has also received the family nose, it has actually become surprisingly difficult to tell them apart, particularly from the front. From the side and rear it is far easier, but also rather telling – the “mid-size” Mondeo actually dwarfs the large Falcon.
Where it is distinctively different – from both the old Mondeo and the Falcon – is inside. Here, even the entry level Ambiente gets a modern, stylish and fantastically well built interior. Ford’s new Sync2 system is brilliantly easy to use and also seems to have a voice recognition system that actually works with Kiwi accents!
But the smooth, powerful engines are the clear stars of the Mondeo package, with even the base 149kW petrol being remarkably strong and refined, a massive change from entry-level Ford engines of not all that long ago.
The new Mondeo is notably softer than the last car, but this is only to its advantage, as it now boasts a brilliantly compliant ride to complement its sharp handling. While the steering is a little distant and over-assisted, it is still fantastically sharp and accurate, while the lane-keeping function (that subtly steers you back to your side of the road if you wander) is one of the best we have experienced.
The technology and safety that Ford has packed into the Mondeo, while not blowing the prices out of all proportion, is deeply impressive, while the new engines are even more so.
Where in the past an entry-level Mondeo might well have been a rep-spec special –stripped of equipment and with an awful engine – the new Mondeo has well and truly left those days behind, with an impressively-loaded entry model that boasts an excellent engine. And things only get better from there.
Prices:
- Ambiente petrol hatch $43,990
- Ambiente petrol wagon $45,490
- Ambiente diesel wagon $46,990
- Trend petrol hatch $48,990
- Trend diesel hatch $50,490
- Titanium petrol hatch $53,390
- Titanium petrol wagon $54,890
