Ford Mondeo revisited
Imagine if you would, a hump of sorts about six inches high, six feet long and spans half the lane that you’re traveling on. Now imagine, but don’t try, driving over that hump at 180kph. Many a car would have returned you a hefty suspension repair bill for your efforts, but with the Ford Mondeo, that hump was dismissed with complete nonchalance as if as it was not there.
I had reviewed the Mondeo early last year, and I was thoroughly impressed by its well-sorted road dynamics. Other parts of its package have discernible weaknesses, but as far as the driving experience goes, the big Ford is unsurpassed in the D-segment. Indeed, I have yet to find another vehicle in its price range that I enjoy driving more.
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| Bulky rear leads to slightly awkward profile in this sedan bodystyle. |
Recently, I had the opportunity to revisit the Mondeo and the car was as good as I remembered it, perhaps even better. To my understanding, the earlier test car which I reviewed with 5,700km on its odo has been withdrawn from press duty and replaced with the silver-coloured unit you see in the pictures. This test car has racked about 30,000km of mileage.
The additional miles accrued by this test car means its engine is better run in than the previous unit, and that was immediately clear when we put the Mondeo through its paces. With 159hp and 208Nm on tap, the Mondeo’s 2,261cc Duratec four-banger will not cause any sleepless nights for the Honda Accord’s 2.4-litre K24A or the Nissan Teana’s 2.5-litre VQ25DE six-pot, but it certainly felt livelier when the throttle was jabbed and revved a lot smoother than the previous test car.
For our market, Ford shods the Mondeo with a set of 235/45 R17 Goodyear Excellence tyres. These tyres feature asymmetrical tread, and on the front left wheel of our test car, the tyre was wrongly fitted inside out. Despite this fitment error however, the handling prowess of our Mondeo test car appeared to be unaffected within the modest boundaries that I dared push it.
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| Our test car had one of its asymmetric tyres wrongly fitted inside-out. |
Along straight lines, the Mondeo had just about enough to sustain a 200kph cruise over extended distance. At that speed, the chassis remained immensely composed, but noise insulation could be improved. However, it is at the curves where the Mondeo truly shines above its competition – it takes tight cloverleaf turns at speeds of 130-140kph without even breaking sweat. Some cars struggle to keep a hold of themselves at those speeds even on a straight line.
The Mondeo’s chassis is so well engineered that driving it gives you the distinct impression that it can handle a lot more power, and that is what it’s going to get when the EcoBoost version arrives with a new 2.0-litre turbocharged direct injection engine good for 200hp and 300Nm paired with Ford’s 6-speed Powershift dual clutch transmission.
The EcoBoost engine’s added grunt will be a welcomed improvement to the Mondeo’s package, along what certainly has to be a lengthier list of equipment. The first addition to that list should be rear air-con blowers. A D-segment sedan in our climate cannot do without rear air-con blowers, and Ford’s decision to remove the B-pillar-mounted blowers for the Malaysian-market Mondeo 2.3 meant sweaty rides for those at the back on hot days.
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| No rear air-con blowers is a serious oversight in our climate. |
Auto headlights and auto wipers, although not essential items, would be wonderful to have, and the Sony-supplied stereo system could use some improvement too. Addressing a criticism leveled at the Mondeo 2.3 however, the Mondeo EcoBoost, we understand, will definitely come with stability and traction control.
Since its introduction in our market, the Mondeo has not been seeing too many takers, with majority of buyers continuing to opt for the safe path and plonk their cash on the Japanese big three instead. Arrival of the EcoBoost variant will give this underrated entry a much-needed (pardon the pun) boost of its credentials, for we will get the Mondeo with an engine that its brilliant chassis truly deserves.
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| 2.3 due to be replaced by Ecoboost version soon. |
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