Soldato
Some of you may have noticed I've not been as active as I used to be on here as of late. Well I thought I'd re-introduce myself with a boring thread about my Mondeo, now that I've owned it for three days shy of a year.
When I was researching my next car, my main priorities were reasonable running costs and good reliability, obviously in proportion to the type of car I would be owning. I was of course expecting increased consumable costs, as you would when you go from a regular saloon (my old Accord) to a performance car.
I was considering a number of cars, namely things like the Focus ST, Mazda 6 MPS, Golf GTI, Leon Cupra R, etc.. Things of a similar ilk basically, in addition to the Mondeo, but it's always been the one I've *really* wanted. The rest are great, but things such as turbos, fuel consumption and reliability were all important factors to consider. I had also considered E46/E39 BMWs as well, but to be absolutely frank, they don't do much for me, and as is well-documented on these forums, the running costs are high, so I can't really warrant the increased costs to myself.
Anyway, to cut a long explanation relatively short, I decided the Mondeo ST220 was the best combination of performance, handling, comfort/equipment, running costs and reliability. The engines and MMT6 transmission are proven to be solid, and the mk3 Mondeo is an excellent and reliable car. I like the idea of a simple configuration, i.e. a high capacity naturally aspirated engine with no unnecessary complications built on a proven platform.
So off I went to look at one, for sale at a Ford dealer in Farnborough. Now I'll admit I'm a little impatient, but after a test drive, this one ticked the boxes - was in excellent condition and at the time, the price was good, especially from a main dealer. I was also smitten by how it drove. I'm sure I could have found one for a few hundred cheaper if I had waited months and travelled half the country, but like I said...
So a year and almost 15,000 miles on, what's it like? Well, it's been excellent. It's been faultless, aside from the issue with the clutch that materialised when I bought it, which was replaced under warranty, so no big deal there. Since then, I've had nothing but pleasure when driving it. Last month I had it serviced by Ford, a painless experience, and it passed its MOT without any advisories, and I've not yet had to replace anything but the front tyres; last year a set of Continental SportContact 3s went on, and there's still plenty of tread left. I'm looking forward to trying a set of SportContact 5s when they're available and I need them.
I still find the performance excellent. You do have to wind the RPM up a bit to get the most out of the engine, but low-down torque is still plentiful and it will pull happily from idle speed in all gears, meaning trudging around town is about as un-stressful as it gets. Give it some beans through the gears up toward the redline though and the engine makes a wonderful howl and it has plenty of shove. The shift action, while being nowhere near the rifle-bolt action of the MX5's gearbox (and neither is any other car I've ever driven) is smooth yet positive, and has just the right amount of weight and feel to it. It produced 226bhp on the EuroSpec rolling road where most other runners were disappointed, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the Powerstation rollers have to say.
In terms of fuel economy, my long-term average is 26.9MPG. On a run it'll achieve 34-35, and on my commute which is a mixture of town driving with a bit of motorway in between, it'll average 26-27.
The handling, for what it is, is also excellent. The feedback, grip levels and sharpness of turn-in are brilliant for a heavy front-wheel drive car. Power it through some twisty lanes and the front really digs in, understeer being minimal, and the chassis is very adjustable in this respect. Simply let off the throttle a bit if understeer occurs and it'll tighten up nicely and with no fuss. Wet grip levels are also excellent, mostly in thanks to the tyres, although obviously understeer is a lot more apparent when pressing on.
Comfort is also excellent, I really cannot ask for more. On the motorway wind noise is minimal, with only a little bit of intrusion from road noise but this is surface-dependant and it's a lot quieter than my old Accord. I can happily sit back in the lovely Recaro seats with music playing and the journey will be comfortable and stress-free. Oh yes, the stereo. People seem to moan about the standard-fit speakers and whatnot, but if you fit a quality head unit with decent amplification, the speakers can be made to sing quite nicely. It has more than enough equipment for me. I love the climate control, and I love the fully electric heated leather Recaros. I think the only thing I'd have liked that it doesn't have is Xenon headlamps, but that's a minor issue really. I've got no gripes with the interior build quality; most of it feels nicely finished, certainly to me. Some elements can't be compared to that of 'higher quality' marques (rear bumper, standard finish of the alloy wheels, jacking point covers and whatnot) but compromises have to be made, right?
I still think it is a really handsome looking car, and I still look back at it occasionally when I've parked it. Everything just sits right.
In summary, it has absolutely lived up to my expectations of what I was hoping it would be like, and I'm pleased that I did the research and made an informed choice.
Future plans? I can't see me replacing it any time soon. I am simply going to ensure it's kept in as good a condition as possible, and if circumstances allow in the future for me to upgrade to something better, so be it! I doubt I'll be modifying it any time soon, although it has a new knob thanks to SoliD
and if a fruiter exhaust system should one day accidentally become attached to where the standard system used to be, then well that would be a shame wouldn't it..
I think that's it. Thank you very much for listening, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have, refreshments are served over at the back there, and please take a leaflet on the way out.
When I was researching my next car, my main priorities were reasonable running costs and good reliability, obviously in proportion to the type of car I would be owning. I was of course expecting increased consumable costs, as you would when you go from a regular saloon (my old Accord) to a performance car.
I was considering a number of cars, namely things like the Focus ST, Mazda 6 MPS, Golf GTI, Leon Cupra R, etc.. Things of a similar ilk basically, in addition to the Mondeo, but it's always been the one I've *really* wanted. The rest are great, but things such as turbos, fuel consumption and reliability were all important factors to consider. I had also considered E46/E39 BMWs as well, but to be absolutely frank, they don't do much for me, and as is well-documented on these forums, the running costs are high, so I can't really warrant the increased costs to myself.
Anyway, to cut a long explanation relatively short, I decided the Mondeo ST220 was the best combination of performance, handling, comfort/equipment, running costs and reliability. The engines and MMT6 transmission are proven to be solid, and the mk3 Mondeo is an excellent and reliable car. I like the idea of a simple configuration, i.e. a high capacity naturally aspirated engine with no unnecessary complications built on a proven platform.
So off I went to look at one, for sale at a Ford dealer in Farnborough. Now I'll admit I'm a little impatient, but after a test drive, this one ticked the boxes - was in excellent condition and at the time, the price was good, especially from a main dealer. I was also smitten by how it drove. I'm sure I could have found one for a few hundred cheaper if I had waited months and travelled half the country, but like I said...
So a year and almost 15,000 miles on, what's it like? Well, it's been excellent. It's been faultless, aside from the issue with the clutch that materialised when I bought it, which was replaced under warranty, so no big deal there. Since then, I've had nothing but pleasure when driving it. Last month I had it serviced by Ford, a painless experience, and it passed its MOT without any advisories, and I've not yet had to replace anything but the front tyres; last year a set of Continental SportContact 3s went on, and there's still plenty of tread left. I'm looking forward to trying a set of SportContact 5s when they're available and I need them.
I still find the performance excellent. You do have to wind the RPM up a bit to get the most out of the engine, but low-down torque is still plentiful and it will pull happily from idle speed in all gears, meaning trudging around town is about as un-stressful as it gets. Give it some beans through the gears up toward the redline though and the engine makes a wonderful howl and it has plenty of shove. The shift action, while being nowhere near the rifle-bolt action of the MX5's gearbox (and neither is any other car I've ever driven) is smooth yet positive, and has just the right amount of weight and feel to it. It produced 226bhp on the EuroSpec rolling road where most other runners were disappointed, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the Powerstation rollers have to say.
In terms of fuel economy, my long-term average is 26.9MPG. On a run it'll achieve 34-35, and on my commute which is a mixture of town driving with a bit of motorway in between, it'll average 26-27.
The handling, for what it is, is also excellent. The feedback, grip levels and sharpness of turn-in are brilliant for a heavy front-wheel drive car. Power it through some twisty lanes and the front really digs in, understeer being minimal, and the chassis is very adjustable in this respect. Simply let off the throttle a bit if understeer occurs and it'll tighten up nicely and with no fuss. Wet grip levels are also excellent, mostly in thanks to the tyres, although obviously understeer is a lot more apparent when pressing on.
Comfort is also excellent, I really cannot ask for more. On the motorway wind noise is minimal, with only a little bit of intrusion from road noise but this is surface-dependant and it's a lot quieter than my old Accord. I can happily sit back in the lovely Recaro seats with music playing and the journey will be comfortable and stress-free. Oh yes, the stereo. People seem to moan about the standard-fit speakers and whatnot, but if you fit a quality head unit with decent amplification, the speakers can be made to sing quite nicely. It has more than enough equipment for me. I love the climate control, and I love the fully electric heated leather Recaros. I think the only thing I'd have liked that it doesn't have is Xenon headlamps, but that's a minor issue really. I've got no gripes with the interior build quality; most of it feels nicely finished, certainly to me. Some elements can't be compared to that of 'higher quality' marques (rear bumper, standard finish of the alloy wheels, jacking point covers and whatnot) but compromises have to be made, right?
I still think it is a really handsome looking car, and I still look back at it occasionally when I've parked it. Everything just sits right.
In summary, it has absolutely lived up to my expectations of what I was hoping it would be like, and I'm pleased that I did the research and made an informed choice.
Future plans? I can't see me replacing it any time soon. I am simply going to ensure it's kept in as good a condition as possible, and if circumstances allow in the future for me to upgrade to something better, so be it! I doubt I'll be modifying it any time soon, although it has a new knob thanks to SoliD
and if a fruiter exhaust system should one day accidentally become attached to where the standard system used to be, then well that would be a shame wouldn't it..I think that's it. Thank you very much for listening, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have, refreshments are served over at the back there, and please take a leaflet on the way out.
Last edited:
