Ford Mondeo 2014 Review

Today, we come to bury the Ford Mondeo, not to praise it.

But how could we not? Excusing our paraphrasing of Shakespeare, it is difficult not to praise a car that has been around in its present MC guise for seven years, yet still rates near the top of the list in any head-to-head battle with its competitors. Even as its late-running replacement approaches the last corner before its arrival in Australia, the current Mondeo's credibility is doing just fine, thank you.

In possibly our final encounter with the MC Mondeo, we acquired a top-shelf EcoBoost petrol version of the Titanium hatch that hits the showrooms at a relatively weighty $44,990 before on-road costs, but brings most of the gear – while leaving out some – that you'd expect.

In Titanium spec, the Mondeo takes on a slightly more sporty role with a lower-set version of the already impressive MacPherson strut/Control Blade multi-link suspension system that rides on hefty 18-inch alloy wheels wearing 235/45 tyres, as well as a tasteful body kit with unique front and rear bumpers, side skirts and a specifically-Titanium grille presentation.

The remarkably versatile 2.0-litre EcoBoost turbo engine (also used in the current Falcon and ST Focus) in Mondeo guise puts out a solid 149kW/300Nm and drives through Ford's efficient six-speed dual-clutch PowerShift automated manual transmission to produce a decent turn of acceleration that complements the racy suspension/tyre combination. It's smooth, quick and quiet, and the dual-clutch transmission is essentially only marred by the silly, non-ergo manual control located on the side of the stick shift.

Despite the 18-inch alloys with their low-profile tyres that add to the on-road dynamic abilities, the top-spec Mondeo actually rides well. The Titanium’s more-shapely front seats provide decent support on long trips and hold front passengers in place on tight, winding roads while the quick steering (it goes from lock to lock in 2.6 turns) is well-weighted, nicely responsive and telegraphs accurate information to the driver.

The Mondeo is quiet at cruising speeds, in terms of mechanical and road noise, but we did notice some internal buffeting at 100km/h-plus – a not uncommon experience in hatchback-configured cars (or wagons).

We were also uncomfortable with the auto-dipping headlights that had a habit of constantly switching between high and low beams regardless of whether or not there was any oncoming traffic.

Our average 8.6L/100km fuel consumption was relatively close to the claimed 8.0L/100km and it is gratifying to note the EcoBoost engine is happy to drink regular unleaded fuel, as well as an E10 methanol mix.

While the Mondeo might out-pace the bulk of its competition in on-road abilities, it also adds up in a practical sense, with a genuinely spacious cabin and heaps of hatchback space to make it a perfectly useful family car. The long, deep boot is truly capacious with a quoted all-seats-in-place capacity of 816 litres, opening up to a wagon-challenging 1919 litres with the rear seats laid flat.

The only true question mark over the Mondeo Titanium is the strangely-contrived equipment choice.

For your 45 grand, you do get a lot of the stuff you'd hope for – leather/Alcantara seat trim, heated front (sports) seats, keyless start, dual-zone climate control, auto lights and wipers, hands-free Bluetooth, power sunroof, electrochromatic rear-view mirror, decent nine-speaker sound system and a comprehensive five-star safety pack including seven airbags, adaptive radar cruise control, blind-spot alert and lane-departure warning – but where are the power (apart from the lumbar-adjust) front seats, the SatNav and the reversing camera? In much of the Ford’s competition, features like these make the list ahead of some of the other standard gear that is in the Titanium.

The feeling is Ford Australia probably had little say in how local Titanium Mondeos are specified – but we'd rather live without some of the standard items than without SatNav or a reversing camera. And we could particularly do without the auto-dip headlight system.

All that, however, detracts very little from a car that remains an admirable contestant seven years after its introduction to the Australian market.