Despite Australia’s mid-size wagon market segment being stacked with some very accomplished vehicles, all things considered the Ford Mondeo Wagon is a star.
Featuring very sharp pricing, good looks, practicality and made-in-Germany quality, the Ford Mondeo Wagon is an ideal vehicle for both families and fleet customers.
Ford Mondeo Overview
Car Showroom has just run a Ford Mondeo Zetec Wagon through our one-week test procedure. The Zetec is Mondeo’s mid-range model, boasting exterior and interior enhancements which combine with its $36,990 price tag to make a compelling value-for-money case against both European and Japanese rivals.
With an overall length of 4830mm and a remarkable 2163-litres of cargo space, the Ford Mondeo Wagon is one of the larger mid-size wagons and has replaced the Falcon Wagon as Ford’s only passenger car wagon derivative. If that surprises, you should head to your nearest Ford dealer and check-out a Mondeo Wagon – it delivers space, features and practicality to meet the needs of most families and commercial customers.
On the road, the Ford Mondeo is a nice drive with handy dynamics and high levels of refinement.
Ford Mondeo Engine
The Ford Mondeo Zetec is powered by Ford’s 2.3-litre Duratec DOHC four-cylinder 16-valve petrol engine. Maximum power is 118kW at 6500 rpm and peak torque is 208Nm at 4200 rpm.
It’s a modern, all-alloy engine with fuel economy of 9.5l/100kms and C02 emissions of 227g/km.
Drive is to the front wheels via a six-speed electronic automatic with sequential sports shift manual mode.
The rival Mazda6 wagon has a 2.5-litre engine with 125kW/226Nm, while the Subaru Forester drives all four wheels via a 2.5-litre engine delivering 123kW229Nm.
Ford Mondeo Interior
Inside the Ford Mondeo Wagon looks modern, feels airy and spacious and exudes quality.
Immediately obvious is the Zetec model’s Human Machine Interface (HMI) with Ford Convers+ colour instrument cluster in the nicely styled dashboard. Basically this electronic display provides high quality colour graphics for the extensive trip computer information, which is displayed between the two modern main gauges.
Zetec models also gain a premium Sony eight-speaker, six disc in-dash CD sound system mounted high in the contemporary alloy-look centre console. It’s MP3 compatible, there’s an auxiliary input, USB port and hands-free Bluetooth connectivity.
Front seats are good with Zetec versions scoring electronic height adjustment on the drivers’ side. The four-spoke steering wheel adjusts for rake and reach to provide a first-rate driving position.
Ford Mondeo Wagon offers a 2078mm wheelbase and is 1886mm wide, so it should not surprise that rear seat accommodation is outstanding for a mid-sizer. Even with the Car Showroom juniors installed in their child and booster seats, they had ample legroom and there was still space for a third passenger in the 60/40 split bench seat.
With the rear seats folded, Ford Mondeo Wagon delivers a very handy 2163l of cargo space (1733l with the seat in place) and a cargo blind keeps stored items out of sight. The rear bumper is commendably low to ease loading of bulky items.
Ford Mondeo Exterior & Styling
We like the look of the Ford Mondeo in both hatchback and wagon versions. Its distinctly modern with real style around the front end with its modern headlights - the Zetec version gains good-looking under-bumper fog lights.
The wagon rear end is nicely styled with an upward curve for the third side windows and modern, bold taillights. Zetec models are distinguished by extra chrome around the front grille and window surrounds as well as body-colour door handles.
Zetec models run stylish 17-inch ‘Y-spoke’ alloy wheels.
Ford Mondeo On The Road
In the European way, Ford Mondeo features a clever suspension system with front McPherson struts and lower control arms/anti-roll bar on an isolated subframe while the rear is Ford’s independent Control Blade multi-link set-up also on an isolated subframe.
The intention is to provide better refinement and this is certainly the case – Ford Mondeo Wagon delivers ‘firmish’ ride but remains quiet at all speeds.
Even with no load in the cargo area, over our high-speed mountain loop the Ford Mondeo Wagon provided good driving dynamics, feedback and balance. At the upper limit, the usual front-wheel-drive understeer was apparent, but overall grip levels were high.
The 2.3-litre engine was responsive and - using the sequential sports mode of the six-speed auto - delivered reasonable acceleration.
Around town, the Ford Mondeo Wagon was easily maneuverable and the front/rear parking sensors (standard in Zetec models) helped get us safely parked in our tight CBD car park.
Ford Mondeo Challenges
Mondeo’s 2.3-litre Duratec four-cylinder is good, but the Mondeo’s excellent chassis could easily handle more engine – after all the range-topping XR5 turbo hatchback has 162kW/320Nm.
Ford Mondeo Verdict
We’re big fans of the Ford Mondeo Wagon. The combination of German quality, good design, smart packaging, nice driving dynamics and value make this a standout wagon.
Ford Mondeo Competition
On price and specification, the Ford Mondeo Wagon stacks-up very well compared to other European wagons – Volvo V50, Volkswagen Passat, Renault Laguna, Peugeot 407 and Skoda Superb.
From Japan, the Mazda6 and Subaru Outback are contenders.
Starting price for the Holden Commodore Sportwagon is a bit higher than the Mondeo.
Likes:
Lots of space; high quality; looks great
Dislikes:
Engine works hard at the limit
