Ford Mondeo - Long Term Test : ONE FOR THE LONG HAUL

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It's farewell to our long term Ford Mondeo 2.5T so we sent it off with a big assignment. Andy Enright reports.

Have you ever had your heart set on something for ages, bought it and then with a nagging sense of regret realised you'd just bought the wrong thing? That thought dawned on me at the wheel of the long term Ford Mondeo Titanium X 2.5T. It's a good car, make no mistake, but there are better cars. Better Mondeos in fact. Powered by diesel engines. Still, if regret is insight a day too late, consider me enlightened.

There's a lot to like about the 2.5T engine. It's got big lungs, producing 217bhp which can punch the hefty Mondeo through the 0-60mph sprint in 7.3 seconds. That's sufficiently rapid to retain the interest of all but the most power-crazed photocopier salesman. Top speed is 152mph and with 320Nm of torque on tap it never feels particularly turbocharged. It feels like a 3.5-litre normally aspirated engine which is quite some compliment. Unfortunately, it also drinks like one, the test team rarely achieving an average of much over 20mpg for the duration of the car's 10,000 mile tenure. Strap a set of roof bars and a ski box to the Mondeo and that figure takes another dip but that's exactly what we did when loading the car up with four people and a whole bunch of ski gear and aimed it at Andermatt in Switzerland, a 1,500 mile round trip away. Straight away we were impressed with the carrying capacity of the Mondeo. Stow the rear parcel shelf and it's possible to get four monster-sized holdalls in the back with space for smaller bags in and around them. Room inside the car is also good, with plenty of leg room in the back although there could have been more stowage space for odds and ends.

"Nothing tells you more about a car than plenty of miles and that's exactly what we treated the Mondeo 2.5 T to"

For a range topping model this Titanium X version was equipped rather curiously. It gets half leather seats, leather trim for the steering wheel and gear lever, cruise control and wheel-mounted stereo controls but there's no sign of satellite navigation or parking sensors which would have been handy given the high rear end of this hatchback model. Unlike its predecessor, there were also no heated seats in the back, rear seat occupants grumbling after a day on the slopes as those in the front got their backsides toasted. One persistent grumble from all that drove this Mondeo was the car's determination to tramline; that is to follow small lateral lines in the road. We attributed this to the car's bigger tyres and frequently checked the pressures, finding that reducing the tyre pressures by around 5psi per corner alleviated the tramlining to a certain degree but further reduced fuel economy. The cure would be to add positive camber and reduce the toe-out angles on the suspension but this was well beyond our limited abilities and ski toolbox that consisted of a file, a screwdriver and a waxing iron! Keep the Mondeo out of the camion-rutted inner lanes of the French autoroutes and the tramlining issue wasn't such a problem. As a car for high speed cruising, the Mondeo 2.5T is tough to beat. The cruise control works very well, although the `Resume' function accelerates a little violently for my taste (and wallet) but otherwise it's a decent system. Wind noise, even with the bars and box, wasn't bad at all and with a TomTom One mounted on the windscreen, getting to Andermatt proved simplicity itself. Apart, that is, from the rather hectoring Northern Irish male voice my brother had decided to download for the TomTom which was rather reminiscent of Dr. Ian Paisley at his most strident. Unfortunately, I can't really talk at great length about the car's handling, which impressed me no end at its original product launch in Sardinia, as with four people, a hundredweight of luggage and six sets of skis on the roof on board, it was advisable to keep things a little more sedate. Nevertheless, the roads up to Andermatt quickly become a tortured squiggle of spaghetti on the TomTom's screen and with no new snow in the past week they were clear, dry and fun. Visibility even through the tightest hairpins was very good, only the rear three-quarter view being a bit impeded. The steering offers plenty of feedback and the gearshift is positive. Keen drivers will miss the ability to perform heel and toe downshifts though, the car's electronics cutting throttle action when the brake pedal is pressed. Other aspects of living with the car on a day to day basis impressed. The wheels were easy to keep clean and the excellent QuickClear windscreen made short work of the sort of hoar frost that forms in the Swiss Alps when the thermometer is reading -15 degrees Celsius. The hatchback could be opened via the key fob and closed without needing to put your hands on dirty bodywork. The heating and stereo were easy to operate and worked flawlessly and the seats were superb. There were a couple of niggles we felt could be improved upon. The rear number plate wasn't very well affixed and kept threatening to part company with the vehicle. The engine start button always felt a little superfluous and everybody who got into the front seat of the car pressed the blanking plate on the opposite side of the dashboard expecting it to house a cup holder. There's nothing that's likely to upset anyone about the Mondeo's basic shape and that's crucial for a car that has to sell in the kind of volumes that this one does. It's chunky and solid looking with the thick door panels that step out from their windows but sporty with the wide, low stance and the tapering roofline that's drawn out at the rear. The detailing also emphasises the car's dynamism with the huge frowning intake in the bumper, the bonnet indents and chrome cutaways in front of the side repeaters. Finish this off with a set of smart 18-inch wheels and a rear spoiler and you have a very handsome shape and one which drew plenty of admiring glances. The rear three quarter definitely shares a look with the latest Jaguar XF which is no bad thing and the front end is possibly even better looking. With a punchy diesel engine on board this Mondeo could have been one of our favourite long termers but all too often the recipients of the keys would groan as they faced another big fuel bill for their weekend's jollies. If you're in the financial position to easily foot those bills, chances are you'll be looking at something with a more prestigious badge on the bonnet than this Ford. Despite its many talents, it's not a car I'd go out of my way to recommend, unlike some other members of the Mondeo family. Give me this same car but fitted with the TDCi 140 diesel engine and optioned up with satellite navigation and I'd be hard pushed to find fault. Â

Facts At A Glance
CAR: Ford Mondeo 2.5T Titanium X
PRICE: £25,045 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 14
CO2 EMISSIONS: 222g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 7.3s / Max Speed 152mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 20.8mpg / (extra urban) 41.5mpg / (combined) 30.4mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front and side airbags, twin airbag curtains, ABS
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4778/2078/1500mm WHO TO SEE: