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Memo to Ford: Keep the Yank Taurus and keep importing this Euro star. Photo Gallery
Paul Pottinger road tests and reviews the Ford Mondeo Zetec.
THE current Ford Falcon is the last one for several reasons, not the least of which is the inconvenient truth that sales are in the toilet and Dearborn, Michigan, couldn't care less about making cars in Australia.
Another reason has been here for some time. It's just that, even now, people tend to look at you blankly when you say "Mondeo". Oh, it sells all right by medium car standards, but fewer than it ought.
And as if to emphasise the Falcon's plight, the excellent 2.0-litre turbo four it's about to receive has been doing sterling service in the Mondeo for most of the past year.
VALUE
With the Focus to be imported from Thailand next year, the Mondeo and (from March) the Kuga SUV will be the only Europe-made cars in Ford's local line-up. The starting price is a sticking point. The $37,740 for the mid-spec Zetec liftback get you no shortage of proven rivals with higher spec, not least the newly leathered-up Mazda6 Touring range.
You've got to go 10 bucks shy of $45K for the full-spec Titanium. It's a fine thing, but at this point you're closing in on Audi A4 territory. Settle for the Zetec EcoBoost. It has enough kit and - more on this in a moment - the best drivetrain in its class.
TECHNOLOGY
This 2.0-litre direct injection turbo petrol four is constrained to 149kW/300Nm - it has greater outputs in Range Rover's Evoque and Volvo's S60 and also will in the Falcon. It's a crisply efficient unit with peak torque on tap between 1750 and 4500rpm, driving through a six-speed twin clutch auto so far removed in operation from Volkswagen's infuriatingly inconsistent DSG as to be almost too much like a torque converter jobbie.
The Mondeo diesel has always been worthy, now there is a worthy petrol engine, one that renders obsolete the try-hard 2.3 normally aspirated item that survives in the entry cars. Economy and emissions - 8.0L/100km and 187g/km CO2 - are only marginally superior to the Mazda6's and rely on 95 RON premium juice.
DESIGN
So capacious and practical is the liftback that the Mondeo wagon is borderline redundant. Classed as a mid-sizer, it's longer than the Falcon and almost as wide. Anyone "downsizing" isn't likely to feel the pinch and the driver will revel in a decent seat position, as opposed to the Falcon's orange-crate pew.
They won't care for the dash layout, though, a convoluted and barely legible mess, in every way poorer than the Falcon's and years behind the new Focus.
SAFETY
The Mondeo's five-star crash credential is but one aspect that endears it to thousands of British company reps. All the passive and active measures are in place, the latter enhanced by an alert and responsive chassis.
DRIVING
In a prolonged acquaintance with an EcoBoost Zetec, it was difficult to find substantial fault. More progressive steering perhaps - you find yourself taking several bites at longer bends. Sharper response to manual inputs, maybe. Neither a big deal, certainly not deal-breakers.
In class where the dynamic benchmark has always been high, the Mondy is at the pointy end, a sure-footed and even rewarding drive that's among the best you can get with the front wheels doing both the driving and the steering. Open-road cruising is its forte, another reason it's beloved by reps, eating the kays at a quietly efficient lope.
VERDICT
Memo to Ford: Keep the Yank Taurus and keep importing this Euro star.
RATING
FORD MONDEO ZETEC
Price: $37,740
Warranty: 3 years/100,000km
Resale: 44 per cent TBC
Service interval: 12 months/15,000km
Safety: 5-star ANCAP
Enigine: 2.0-litre, 4-cyl petrol turbo, 149kW/300Nm
Body: 5-door, 5-seat hatch
Dimensions: 4426mm (L), 1809mm (W), 1703mm (H), 2850mm (WB)
Weight: 1581kg
Transmission: 6-speed auto, front-wheel drive
Thirst: 8.0L/100km, 95 RON, 187g/km CO2
"One of the best cars you've never heard of"
OTHERS TO CONSIDER
Mazda6 Touring Hatch
Star rating: Four out of five stars
Price: $34,450 (auto)
Engine: 2.5-litre 4-cyl petrol, 125kW/226Nm
Transmission: 5-speed auto, front-wheel drive
Thirst: 8.7L/100km
"Brilliant drive. New Touring gets leather and extras"
Skoda Octavia RS DSG
Star rating: Three out of five stars
Price: $39,790
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo petrol, 147kW/280Nm
Transmission: 6-speed twin-clutch auto, front-wheel drive
Thirst: 7.9L/100
"This better-value Czech take on the Golf GTI is a real Q-car"
Subaru Liberty 2.5i Wagon
Star rating: Three out of five stars
Price: $38,490
Engine: 2.5-litre 4-cyl petrol, 123kW/229Nm
Transmission: CVT, AWD
Thirst: 8.4L/100km
"How did the Liberty become this dull? And ugly?"
