Ford Mondeo vs Volkswagen Polo

What's the difference?

The Mondeo creeps to the forefront as one of the best Fords with the smallest marketing budget.

Well equipped, reasonably fun to drive and semi-luxurious to be in for long periods, it's hard to remember why it's so forgettable.

Its certainly worth your consideration over its rivals, but then perhaps you don't want to fall in love with another Ford potentially headed for the chopping block in the near future.

The Polo has always been a desirable, high-quality, small car option. Effectively moving it to a more premium positioning by aligning its specification with what the market has been buying is a bold move. But this mid-life upgrade has given the Polo the extra safety tech and digital sophistication it needs to substantiate the shift.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.

There's no doubt that the Mondeo is a chunky monkey. Just get a look at those proportions, it looks like a dense rectangle's worth of car, and that's before you line it up next to something else for perspective.

In this case I sat it next to my Falcon. Once the largest sedan on offer by Ford in Australia, in some ways it looks dwarfed. The Mondeo is taller and just as wide, but not quite as long. A quick comparison of spec sheets proves it's not much lighter either, despite the Falcon sporting a cast-iron engine that's literally twice the size.

The front three-quarter especially makes the Mondeo look tough. The big catfish-esque grille combined with the slimline headlight clusters and bonnet ripples make it look aggressive - like a rolling advertisement for the Mustang.

Head round to the rear three-quarter, however and things get a little… off. The raised dimensions and high rear light features make it look too tall. The 'liftback' roofline does no wonders for the car's proportions either.

It's a shame that after so many decades of Mondeo there is still apparently no way to make that rear-end appealing.

Inside there are also plenty of quirks. While there are some parts that really work, there are also some that don't.

The plush leather seats unique to the Titanium grade are lovely, but they're positioned so high up you'd be forgiven for thinking you were at the helm of an SUV. The sunroof is also so far back it's basically useless for front passengers, yet it eats their headroom (also, it's just a glass roof that doesn't open).

Then there's the switchgear, of which there is an overwhelming amount. You're presented with a sensory assault of buttons and displays, half of which could seemingly be easily offloaded onto the multimedia system. It's an approach that dates an otherwise modern-looking cabin.

Eerily similar to the Falcon, the fan speed and temperature controls aren't dials (a user experience nightmare) but the volume control is… go figure.

Those gripes aside there's plenty to like about the Mondoe cabin. There are soft-touch surfaces everywhere, helping the car live up to its luxury spec and price point, while all the switchgear and interactive parts are solid and tough, just like the Mondeo's big brother, the Ranger.

While the digital dash is way too busy, it presents the relevant information well, and is a good interactive design once you get used to it.

The back seat is a very nice place to be, making full use of that big glass roof, and the rear seats are just as plush as the front ones. If you spend lots of time ferrying friends or family around, it's a strong point for the Mondeo.

It’ll take a sharp eye to spot the external differences between this upgraded Polo and its predecessor. 

The car’s compact, tightly wrapped body and finely chiselled lines are unchanged, the only differences being reshaped (body-coloured) bumpers front and rear, a new headlight signature, with LED units now standard across the range, and remodelled LED tail-lights.

And after dark car-spotters should look out for the Style’s standard ‘IQ.LIGHT’ LED matrix headlights adding a continuous LED strip across the nose.

Inside things have shifted further, most notably in the entry-level Life, which now boasts the sleek digital instrument display, previously reserved for higher grades, as well as a neatly integrated 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen above the centre stack.

The rest of the interior is relatively understated in typical VW style (no pun intended), the neatly sculpted seats trimmed with a mix of textured and smooth cloth on both models.

Do you like stowage spaces? Good, because the Mondeo has heaps of 'em. No longer content with just making one huge plastic fascia across the dash, there's a surprisingly large extra stowage space sitting below the air-conditioning controls. That joins a massive centre console box, with two USB ports and an extra tray layer for tidbits, as well as one of my favourite features, two truly massive cupholders. These show Ford's American influence as much as the aforementioned chunky switchgear.

The cupholders spent our weekend easily swallowing two phones, two wallets and two sets of keys with no problem at all. They'll fit your XL Coke no problems.

As I mentioned before, front passenger headroom is impacted by the glass roof, and there's a slightly claustrophobic feeling brought about by the huge swooping A-pillars, which also create a bit of a vision impairment for the driver. The SUV-like seating position can potentially be awkward, room-wise, for people with chunkier knees, or those that prefer sitting in a low, sporty position.

Up the back there's plenty of legroom and space for heads and arms and legs. I fit easily behind my own driving position, and there's the luxury of a fully leather-bound fold-down armrest with two big cupholders for rear passengers.

The keyless entry is also truly keyless, in that all four doors can lock or unlock the whole car at a touch. Another nice feature for when you're ferrying people around.

Boot space is also colossal, thanks to the liftback design. Ford states the size as 557 litres but as this seems to be a non-VDA-standard measurement it's hard to compare to competitors with numbers. Rest assured it will swallow a set of suitcases with ease, and the space is a practical rectangle with little intrusion from wheel arches.

Volkswagen has developed the Polo over six generations (the first appearing in 1975) and its packaging and space-efficiency game has been honed to a fine point.

This car measures just under 4.1 metres end-to-end, yet the wheelbase is close to 2.6m, which isn’t a million miles away from the Golf. Well, actually, it’s 72mm shorter, but still pretty impressive.

And it shows in terms of interior space. The driver and front passenger have plenty of breathing room, and the rear is remarkable.

At 183cm, sitting behind the driver’s seat set to my position, I enjoyed ample legroom, and more than enough headroom. 

Width is another story, because while two grown-ups will be fine in the back, there isn’t enough space for three to sit in comfort for any length of time. You need to be realistic about what to expect from a city-sized car.

Storage options in the front include a small lidded box between the seats (which doubles as an adjustable armrest), two cupholders and various oddments spaces in the centre console, as well as the wireless charging bay in front of the gearshift. 

There are also pockets in the doors with room for (medium) bottles, a decent glove box, a shallow drawer under the passenger seat, and an overhead drop-down tray for glasses.

Map pockets on the front seat backrests, and small bins in the doors add extra practicality, but there’s no fold-down centre armrest or individual ventilation control for rear seaters. 

For connectivity and power, there are two USB-C ports in the front, plus another two in the rear, as well as a 12-volt socket in the front centre console.

Boot space is 351 litres (VDA) with the 60/40 split-folding rear seats upright, which is impressive for a car of this size, that number growing to 1125L with them folded down. You can also change the floor level when you’re making a call between maximum volume and ease of loading.

Tie down anchors are handy for strapping loose loads, while shopping bag hooks help keep smaller bundles under control. And all this efficiency is even more impressive given the spare is a 15-inch steel rim.

Let’s rip the Band-Aid off and get to the bottom of a more than 30 per cent base price increase before we go any further.

Yep, you read that correctly. Previously, a Trendline 70TSI manual gained you Polo club membership for $19,290, before on-road costs. Now, the entry-grade Polo Life, with exactly the same powertrain underneath it, will set you back $25,250.

So, what gives? Instead of getting down and dirty with the likes of the Kia Rio, Mazda2, and Suzuki Baleno, maybe even the poshest MG3, the Polo’s aiming up at its Audi A1 cousin and the Toyota Yaris, the latter undergoing a similar upscaling evolution in 2021.

The answer is standard equipment, and more of it. Volkswagen believes the days of a ‘price leader’ Polo are behind it. That is, pique a buyer’s interest with a keenly priced but relatively sparse base model, and they inevitably move up to a higher grade once engaged in the process.

No, the new Polo cuts right to the chase, specified more in line with the cars ultimately ending up in consumers driveways.

As mentioned, the Polo range now kicks off with the 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbo-petrol Life in manual for $25,250, and auto at $28,250, before on-road costs.

The gap between five-speed manual and seven-speed auto versions is slightly larger this time around ($3000 vs $2500) because the auto now boasts a more powerful (85kW/200Nm) version of the turbo triple than the manual (70kW/175Nm).

On top of the active and passive safety tech detailed in the Safety section (and it’s a pretty big story), the Life picks up new standard features including, LED headlights and tail-lights, 15-inch alloy wheels, the ‘Digital Cockpit’ configurable digital instrument display, front and rear parking sensors, ‘Manoeuvre Braking’ (low-speed rear AEB), wireless phone charging, electrically-folding exterior mirrors, auto headlights, rain-sensing wipers, and an auto-dimming rearview mirror. That’s the $5960 difference between prior and current Polo entry models in a nutshell.  

As well, the Life boasts leather trim on the steering wheel, gearshift and handbrake lever, an 8.0-inch media touchscreen, six-speaker audio, rain-sensing wipers, LED tail-lights and DRLs, and more.

Opt for the auto-only Style ($31,250) and you’ll pick up front fog lights (with static cornering function), ‘Matrix’ LED headlights, ‘Premium’ LED tail-lights (with dynamic indicators), ‘Dynamic Light Assist’ (auto low to main beam switch with light profile adjusted to avoid dazzling cars ahead or oncoming), 16-inch alloys, dual-zone climate-control air con, front and rear carpet mats, ‘Digital Cockpit Pro’ (incorporating nav and phone functions), ambient interior lighting, and sports front seats.  

A sharp package in the Polo’s brave new world of $25-$35K small car competition.

Two option packs are available, starting with the ‘Vision & Tech Package’ for the Life (auto only - $1700), incorporating ‘Discover’ nav in the 8.0-inch media set-up, Digital Cockpit Pro, voice control, wireless app connect, ‘Travel Assist’ (Level 2 semi-autonomous driving) and adaptive cruise control.

A ‘Sound & Tech Package’ is available for the Style ($1900) delivering ‘Discover’ nav in the 8.0-inch media set-up, voice control, wireless app connect, keyless entry and start, and a Beats branded premium audio system (digital eight-channel amp, 300 watts).

A Panoramic glass sunroof ($1500) is available for the Style, and metallic paint adds $600 for both models.

Ford offers two 2.0-litre turbocharged engines with the Mondeo, either a petrol EcoBoost engine or its diesel Duratorq equivalent.

The EcoBoost in our car is a bit of a gem. It produces an average sounding 177kW/345Nm when compared to the 220-plus-kW V6 engines in the equivalent Camry SL and Commodore RS-V, and it's even somehow out-played in the torque division by the Mazda6 GT, with its 170kW/420Nm.

As I'll explain in the driving section, however, it doesn't make the Mondeo feel any less powerful.

EcoBoost Mondeos can only be had with a six-speed traditional torque-converter automatic. Thankfully it doesn't carry 'PowerShift' branding either…

The Polo is powered by Volkswagen’s 1.0-litre (EA211) three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, driving the front wheels through either a five-speed manual gearbox (yep, five-speed) or seven-speed dual-clutch auto in the Life, or auto only in the Style.

Important to note the all-alloy triple is tuned to produce 70kW/175Nm in the Life manual, those numbers jumping to 85kW/200Nm in the Life auto and Style.

No matter the output, maximum torque is available from 2000-3500rpm, with peak power arriving from 5000-5500rpm.

Due to the entertainment factor given by the EcoBoost engine I wasn't particularly light on the throttle.

Ford claims you'll use 8.5L/100km on the combined cycle, which is 1.9L/100km more than the Mazda6 but on par with the V6 Camry and Commodore. In reality I experienced about 12L/100km, which is a fair bit more than the claimed figure, but not unusual for a keen-to-go engine. More on that in the driving segment.

For a bit of perspective, I can extract similar, if not better, fuel figures from my 4.0-litre FG Falcon.

If VW’s aim in turning the wick down on the manual Polo is improved fuel-efficiency it’s a dubious move with both versions of the 1.0L three-cylinder engine returning an official fuel economy figure of 5.4L/100km on the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle.

And the environment is ultimately the (not so big) loser, the 70kW manual producing 124g/km of CO2, while the 85kW auto trims that to 123g/km.

Minimum fuel recommendation is 95 RON premium unleaded, although you’ll need just 40 litres of it to brim the tank. Using the official consumption figure that translates to a range of 740km. 

The Mondeo is thankfully quite a bit more fun than it looks. As I've been leading up to, the EcoBoost engine absolutely hammers with little encouragement. It's a hoot. The downside to this is that the fuel figure suffers.

Channelling 345Nm from as little as 2300rpm through just the front wheels also has the side-effect of tearing the steering wheel out of your hands under heavier bouts of acceleration. It does wonders to suspend the initial impression from the SUV-like seating position that this Mondoe must be a heavy car.

It definitely isn't a sports car, though, more of a semi-luxe sedan, which is a good thing, because when you're not driving as hard it's a pleasure to be at the helm of.

The steering is direct and light, making it easy to point at any speed, and in terms of noise the Mondeo is impressively quiet. There's barely a peep out of the engine. Road noise is great around town but increases a lot at freeway speeds and on rough surfaces, likely due to the larger alloys and lower-profile rubber.

The suspension makes for a mostly luxurious ride as well, but frequent undulations cause it to become unsettled side-to-side. Heavier bumps and potholes also resonate through the cabin.

It's almost annoying how close to excellent the refinement is.

The six-speed auto transmission is fantastic for a daily driver because you'll never know its there. I failed to catch it off guard once during my week with it.

There's a Sport mode and paddle-shifters you can use to make it stay in gear a little longer, but with the amount of power seemingly available at a moment's notice I never felt like I needed it.

The Polo’s launch drive program covered around 150km of city, suburban and freeway running from inner Sydney, through twisting B-roads to the city’s south, and sprawling semi-rural areas further west.

We sampled the Life and Style, both in 85kW seven-speed auto form, and first impressions are dominated by how refined this little car feels in terms of ride quality and noise suppression. 

Typically throaty three-cylinder engine and exhaust noise is there under load, but it’s relatively low-key. And even on coarse secondary roads the Polo remains quiet and composed.

Zero to 100km/h comes up in around 10.5 seconds, which isn’t going to rewrite the class record books, but with seven ratios to play with the engine stays in its 2000-3500rpm sweet spot most of the time.

There’s more than enough pulling power for safe highway overtaking, and cruising at 100-110km/h is easy. You don’t have to mash the accelerator to maintain a comfortable pace.

Suspension is strut front, torsion beam rear, and if you’re inclined towards a cheeky fang through your favourite set of corners, the Polo is heaps of fun. At a fraction over 1.1 tonnes it’s light but feels planted and stable on twisty sections.

The steering’s nicely weighted and road feel is good, plus the front seats are supportive and comfortable over long stints behind the wheel.

Not surprisingly, parking is stress-free thanks to the Polo’s compact dimensions and good visibility.

Braking is progressive and reassuringly firm, but, although we didn’t drive the Life manual at launch, be aware its back brakes are drums, a ‘technology’ largely unknown beyond base utes in 2022.

Nothing wrong with an efficient drum set-up on a light-weight car, but let’s just say it’ll be interesting to drive that variant and see how it pulls up under pressure.   

Under the heading of random thoughts, the combination of on-screen touch controls, and physical dials for the multi-media system is welcome. And the connection for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is wired or wireless which is handy for those who prefer the surety of a wired connection or the flexibility of one less cable in their life.

With a maximum five-star ANCAP score already in the bag for the Polo from a 2018 assessment, the path of least resistance for VW would have been to rest on its laurels. But to its credit the German giant resubmitted this updated version for testing against stricter 2022 criteria.

That’s largely because it’s squeezed in several key active safety features under the umbrella of ‘IQ.Drive’, with all Polos now featuring, AEB (with cyclist and pedestrian detection), lane-keeping assist (with lane departure warning), ‘Multi-Collision Brake’ (automatically slows the car after a collision, reducing the chance of a secondary impact), driver fatigue detection, front and rear parking distance sensors, rear AEB (low-speed), a reversing camera (with static and dynamic guidelines), cruise control (with speed limiter and distance warning display), tyre pressure monitoring, and more.

‘Park Assist’ (perpendicular and parallel) and active cruise and are standard on the Style, with the latter optionally available on the Life auto as part of the Vision & Tech package. 

If, despite all that, a crash is unavoidable there are seven airbags on-board - driver and front passenger (front and side), front centre (to minimise head clash injuries) and full-length side curtain.

There are three top tether points across the rear seat for child seats and/or baby capsules, with ISOFIX anchors on the two outer positions.

Ford has recently updated its warranty to five years/unlimited kilometres, which is a nice standard, although it is now matched by Holden and Mazda. Toyota lags behind with a three-year offering. The Kia Stinger starts to look very impressive here with its seven-year warranty.

At the time of writing, Ford's own service calculator tells us the Mondeo will cost a minimum of $370 per year or 15,000km (whichever comes first) service interval. Every fourth year that jumps to $615.

Volkswagen Australia covers the Polo with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is now the volume market standard.

The paint is warranted for three years/unlimited kilometres, “Through Corrosion” is covered for 12 years/unlimited kilometres, and 12 months roadside assistance is included.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km, with prices over the first five years for the Life manual (70kW) ranging from a low of $413 to a high of $929, the average per service coming out at $560, bumping up to $580 for the Life auto and Style (85kW).

Capped price servicing is available, however, over five- and three-year plans. Paying up-front for five years results in a $664 saving over pay-as-you-go for the Life manual, and $716 for the Life auto and Style.

A compelling side benefit is the ability to fold servicing costs into the vehicle’s financing at the time of purchase, and the plan is transferable if you decide to sell the car before the five or three years is up.