Ford Mondeo TDCi Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Ford Mondeo TDCi range
Prices: £17,195-£27,045 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 7-9
Emissions: 139-189g/km
Performance: [2.0 TDCI 140] 0-60mph 9.3s / Max Speed 130mph
Fuel Consumption: [2.0 TDCI 140] (urban) 37.2mpg / (extra urban) 57.6mpg / (combined) 47.9mpg
Safety: Twin front, side and driver’s knee airbags, ESP stability control, ABS with electronic brake assist
Dimensions: length/width/height 4778/2078/1500mm

WORLDS APART

Our Rating: 8.0 / 10

Ford has decided that the best way to face down the assault from the premium manufacturers is to endow the Mondeo with equivalent quality. Andy Enright reports on the TDCi diesel models

Bigger, better looking, more refined and hugely improved in terms of perceived quality, this generation Ford Mondeo has stepped upmarket but kept prices low. The diesels are the most attractive engines and even if it is no longer the sharpest drive in the sector, it’s certainly the best all-round offering.

It speaks volumes about the enormous step change that this car represents that Ford was seriously considering calling it something other than Mondeo. Drive one and it’s easy to see why. This generation car has very little in common with its predecessor. Where the old car majored on being sharp to drive and in offering a reasonable quality of finish, this generation Mondeo has become bigger and plusher. This is understandable given that the premium brands have all but decimated the traditional family saloon, hatch and estate markets. Why not beat them at their own game?

Jump in and expect the same dynamics as the old Mondeo and it’s possible you could come away disappointed. The front end of the car never feels quite so ‘pointy’ and you’ll always feel that there’s a lot of car around you. Five diesel engines are offered. There are 1.8-litre 100bhp and 125bhp entry-level units, with the latter engine used in the eco-friendly ECOnetic model which boasts emissions of just 139g/km. Then there’s a pair of 2.0-litre Duratorq powerplants in either 130 or 140bhp guises. At the top of the range, there’s a 2.2-litre 175PS TDCi unit for the flagship Titanium X Sport variant. Most of these units are carried over and mildly modified from either the old Mondeo or Focus line ups but the massive improvements in refinement make these diesel models feel completely different to the old car.

The Mondeo feels a quality product. The slick steering, the weighting of the pedals and gearchange and the excellent damping are reminiscent of Lexus rather than Ford. Minus points would include rather poor visibility due to the chunky pillars and some terrible reflections in the rear window caused by the air conditioning vents in the four-door car. Performance from the 2.0-litre TDCi 140 engine I tried was certainly enough to dispatch dawdling traffic, the hatchback version recording a sprint to 60mph in just 9.3 seconds and a top speed of 130mph. Once you learn to trust the front end, handling is excellent with a very clever ESP stability control system. Given the car’s roadholding levels, the wide front seats lack a little in terms of lateral support.

Take a seat inside the car and you’ll notice high quality surfaces, materials and finishes. As with the outside, dynamic lines and styling curves are again evident, plus the low profile instrument panel provides very generous cabin space for front seat occupants. The dashboard is clear and the major controls for the electronics systems largely intuitive although the wood veneer finishes fitted to the Ghia models will have anybody under the age of 50 recoiling in horror.

The design team has also paid great attention to interior detailing, and examples of this include new generation infotainment systems, plus the next generation of Ford's Human Machine Interface (HMI). This easy to use system features the same steering-wheel toggle switches seen on new Galaxy and S-MAX, but introduces the availability of a large central LCD screen with full colour graphics situated between the main analogue instruments in front of the driver.

Rear seat headroom and legroom have also come in for scrutiny by the Mondeo development team and these have been maximized for occupant comfort and safety. I’m 6’4" and I was easily able to fit comfortably in the back seat behind a front seat virtually all the way back on its runner. The Gala