Ford Mondeo 1995 News

Ford's groundbreaking inflatable rear seatbelt makes its Australian debut in the all-new Mondeo.

Development costs were very high mainly due to the completely new design. But given Ford’s financial instability at the time, the company needed a big change to help turn things around.The new car featured class leading ride and handling, sophisticated suspension design and the latest safety additions including a driver’s side airbag, side-impact bars, seat belt pretentioners and ABS, as standard.Reworked over four generations to date, it wasn’t until it’s MkII phase in 1995, that the Mondeo made its way down to Australia. But it wasn’t a sales success. Australians preferred the bigger Falcon and unlike today, saw no need for a medium sized car in the range. The Mondeo struggled against established Japanese models like the Subaru Liberty, the Honda Accord and another Euro import, the Holden Vectra.In 2001 Ford Australia withdrew from the medium car segment claiming that it was in a decline, and the Mondeo was dropped from the range until it resurfaced in 2007 with the MkIV.Consequently, Australia completely skipped Mondeo MkIII; arguably an era when the car made its most significant improvements. It got larger, which addressed the lack of rear leg room - a major gripe over its lifetime - and the interior became more European. MkIII also introduced a new Duratorq diesel engine that was much more capable and competitive than the engine it replaced.Ford Australia reintroduced the Mondeo in 2007 due in large part to the popularity of smaller, more fuel efficient and environmentally friendlier cars, and with it the growing global dislike of larger ones. It has been marketed here as a stylish car with more than just good looks and is sold in a sedan, hatch and now, a wagon version.This time round sales have been good, even despite problems with parts supply from Europe, and the Mondeo has won numerous awards in Australia.The latest model comes with both diesel and petrol engines, and a choice of four trim levels, and Ford are currently considering an ECOnetic example for the Australian market.For more information on late model Ford Mondeos, see our list of related articles above. 

 Take any model range, pick out the four-cylinder diesel variant for contrast and comparison with its naturally aspirated petrol four sibling. And what happens? The oiler will almost always make the gas sucker look ordinary. Actually, axioms are usually a bit shorter and pithier than that. Yes, of course it should go without saying that a blown engine will be the more potent, but it's taken a while for punters to realise that diesel doesn't mean clouds of black smoke or huge, uncivilised SUVs (“city” and “civilisation” derive from the same root, so keep big SUVs in the bush). Apart from superior fuel economy, a big torqueing turbo diesel is often the more enjoyable drive than the atmo petrol wearing the same badge and toting near-equivalent capacity. A few weeks ago we said it on this very site, endorsing Hyundai's i30 CRDi over the petrol variants. Ditto Holden's Astra. And it holds equally true for the other end of the market in the form of BMW's Series. The 320d (for diesel) just flat out destroys the 320i. If this is not always the case — we'd still have a Mazda3 SP23 over the 3 oiler — it's becoming the case more often than not. Another affirmation has been Ford's Mondeo TDCi hatch which, at $37,990 in this or its sedan form, is worth every cent of the three grand premium over the dozy Zetec petrol version. The latter is utterly knackered by its combination of globulous weight and underwhelming 118kW four pot (potterer?) engine — the superseded Mazda6 has more go, let alone the new one. Yet the TDCi does more with more. Weighing in at just over 1600kg, it's not so very far away in displacement from the BF Falcon. If the 2.0-litre 96kW/320Nm Ford/PSA joint venture turbo diesel driven through a sharp six-speed automatic doesn't quite make light of it, the TDCi seldom feels unwieldy. The official claim for the Zetec's combined conditions fuel use is 10.5 litres per 100km, but we found ourselves nearing that while observing the speed limit in freeway conditions. By contrast, the diesel was doing 10.7 in the peak hour grind and you'd be confident of matching the 7.3L/100km combined claim. Its 0-100km/h figure is north of 10 seconds, but rolling acceleration is what this Mondeo is all about, an area in which the big hatch delivers as emphatically as we've come to expect from quality European diesels. Unlike some of these, though, the Mondeo excels dynamically. Steering, handling and ride are to the fore of the front-wheel-drive middle class. Of course, the Mondeo is so large and practical with that roof-hinged rear door, that it really deserves to be seen as a fully fledged family car. Indeed, it's not so much a case of the Mondeo taking it up to the Europeans as being rather too good for the new Falcon's sake.   Snapshot Ford Mondeo TDCi hatch Price: $37,990 Economy: 7.3L/100km Engine: 2L/4-cylinder turbo diesel; 96kW/320Nm Transmission: 6-speed auto, front-drive