Ford Mondeo / Fusion Estate Review | America Is Missing Out
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- / robabooth
Ford Mondeo Estate 2.0 TDCI TITANIUM X
Hello, my name is Rob Booth and today, we're here with this: The 2007 Ford Mondeo Estate. The Mondeo was originally launched in 1993 in saloon, estate and hatchback form, replacing the Sierra. Since then, Ford has released 4 generations, this being the 4th. The Mondeo or Fusion in North America has won many awards, immediately winning European Car of The Year in 1993 and then 13 independent Whatcar? Awards; this generation won Top Gear's Car of The Year. Today, we're going to be putting this car through it's paces.
The first time most people saw this generation Mondeo was in the 2006 film Casino Royale, many people compared the styling with Aston Martins. It's true, it is a good looking car with plain and honest body panels and the roofline accentuates the long silhouette. The alloys on this car may be a little boring, but the smaller size should benefit ride comfort and road noise. The new generation which is coming to Europe late 2014 is drastically restyled and looks a lot fresher.
As soon as you sit in the driver's seat, you are instantly reminded of the size of this car, the seating position is slightly high for a sporty feeling, but the half-leather seats are comfortable and supportive. The dash has a fair few buttons but are logically laid-out, the buttons and controls however are not of high quality: For example, a common problem is the print coming off, like here on only a 30k mile example. There are lot's of hard plastics and VW Group cars give much better interior quality. But I do like this starter button. This Titanium X top of the range model comes with a lot of kit: Satnav, electric and heated seats, cruise control, MP3, iPod and Bluetooth connectivity, front and rear parking sensors, voice commands and climate control. The Mondeo comes in several trim levels, ranging from the base Edge, rising to the Zetec and Titanium up to this, and finally the most expensive Titanium X Sport. The satnav and gauge screens are of low quality and the white on blue design looks very dated. It is functional however and the touch screen is surprisingly responsive.
The Mondeo has a few storage compartments, but not as many as most of it's rivals. Cabin space is plentiful, both here in the front, and also here in the back where leg and headroom are very good. The boot is also commodious, at 537L with the seats up and with the 60:40 rear seats folded completely flat, this volume increases to 1728L, comparing to the Skoda Superb's 1865L and Mercedes E-Class's massive 1950L. The car's visibility is good, this combined with front and rear parking sensors means that parking is relatively simple, despite the 4.8M length. If parking is an issue, you can spec a reversing camera.
This car is the 2.0 TDCI, which develops 138 BHP and 320 NM of torque; propelling this near 1.6T car to 60 in around 10.4 seconds for the auto, and the manual a 7th of a second quicker. The 6 speed Powershift dual clutch gearbox is smooth and quick shifting, there's no torque converter and one clutch for odd gears, and one clutch for even gears, meaning that the box can always anticipate driver inputs, reducing the gearbox's reaction times. Ford's are known for their handling, and this Mondeo is no exception: body-roll is minimal without compromising ride quality, which also happens to be good thanks to a compliant suspension and this car's smallish alloys. Top speed is only 124 MPH but this is only a problem for German autobahn users. Fuel economy is typically good on all engines in the range, this 2.0 TDCI manages 50.4 MPG on the combined cycle, the C02 emissions are slightly above average for this class meaning slightly higher road tax.
The Mondeo Estate starts off at just over £17 grand, and tops out at just under £30k. This Titanium X version would set you back around £28 grand new, which we think is quite a lot and would rather pick up a new Skoda Superb, or used E-Class Estate. Depreciation on these cars though is not good, meaning that they represent good used car value. Company fleet managers should look elsewhere as rivals are cheaper. It's interesting to note that Ford are known for giving massive discounts on their cars, especially the Mondeo as it's at the end of it's production. This car being aimed at the family car market, Ford made safety a priority: all cars come with seven airbags, ESP stability control and score the maximum 5 star Euro NCAP rating.
The Mondeo Estate represents excellent 2nd hand value thanks to great practicality, dynamics and refinement. However, severe depreciation and an imminently new model arriving in Europe mean that we wouldn't buy one new. The rise of the Korean manufacturers such as Kia and Hyundai further endangers this generation Mondeo's place in the market in 2014.
Nice video - loving the cinematographic design choices - very professional :)
Thanks very much!
2.18 that seat buton looks exactly like my ex -escort 1996 buton for electric sunroof.......door panels textile area looks again as one in escort........wtf , they had a few pieces left from 90's and put them in 2007 ?
What’s the difference between Mondeo and Fusion? Aren’t they the same?
the Mondeo reviewed in this video pre-dated the Fusion/Mondeo "merger"... before that the US Fusion looked nothing like european Mondeo
Hey dude, I just saw this video up on TFL Car!
I'm going to share my 1 Series convertible review with them.
(First Time Driver)
Great video though, and as always, awesome film work.
A Tuaima Cheers for that. I watched that review last week, nice work. Massive progress since the Corolla one. :)
I'm going to try to publish 10 videos over the summer, that's the aim.
Yeah haha ikr.
I work at a BMW dealership now so we get part ex's and cars coming in, so I'm going to try and do more.
Good luck!
A Tuaima Ah nice, that must give some awesome opportunities - cheeky i8 sometime maybe?!
Oh God I wish. I managed to get a little i3 time but that's about it so far... Keep your eyes peeled though ;)
If you wanted to review any of our BMW's (besides i and M), let me know.
A Tuaima That's a very kind offer. You are located in Surrey if my memory serves me right..?
Great review. Well done!
Thank you for watching.
Great review, Rob! Estate cars do not sell well in the USA. Most people want CUV's, SUV's or pick-up trucks. There's no Carbon tax and fuel is very cheap.
I agree, and it's a shame. In my eyes, nothing beats a powerful estate car. Check out Petrolicious' video on the AMG Hammer - that is my dream car!
Rob Booth Automotive I'll do that, Rob
Rob Booth Automotive I have a 2015 Volvo v60 which shares its platform with the Mondeo estate. So in a sense it is in the US as a Volvo.
Awesome video!
Remember me? I commented on your ST170 video a while back and since then I've made 2 car review videos. Do you mind taking a look and letting me know what you think? The film quality isn't the best and neither is the sound but that will be fixed for my next video in September.
Toyota Corolla 1.4 VVT-i Review (2002-2006): czcams.com/video/dgK80jxtrMM/video.html
That's actually not bad. Film making is something that you can work on, just look at my first videos! I thought the presenting was very good, you seemed natural; which is either something you have or you don't - you're lucky.
If you want to improve film quality, invest in a Canon DSLR (doesn't have to be the newest model, anything from the 550d onward will suffice) and some sort of microphone.
Thanks for the comment.
RB
Awesome video!
Remember me? I commented on your ST170 video a while back and since then I've made 2 car review videos. Do you mind taking a look and letting me know what you think? The film quality isn't the best and neither is the sound but that will be fixed for my next video in September.
Toyota Corolla 1.4 VVT-i Review (2002-2006): czcams.com/video/dgK80jxtrMM/video.html