2008 Ford Mondeo TDCi review
March 4, 2008 by Matt Brogan
2008 Ford Mondeo TDCi Review
“TDCi looks the goods, is cheap to run and offers plenty”
Model tested:
- 2008 Ford Mondeo TDCi Automatic Sedan – $37,990
- Metallic $350, Sunroof $1900, Leather $2000, Bluetooth $450
Drives well, Looks fantastic, Rides quietly, Safe & well appointed
Auto easily confused, Small boot opening, Climate Control weak
CarAdvice rating: 
- by Matt Brogan
Last month I was lucky enough to review the brilliant Mondeo XR5 Turbo which you might recall I was quite fond of. But in fairness, most Mum and Dad buyers are looking for something a little more affordable when it comes to a family car.
Not that the XR5 isn’t exceptional value for money, far from it, but with petrol prices what they are these days, and the family budget stretched tighter than a drum, we all like to squeeze a little more mileage from our measly pay cheques. The answer: Mondeo TDCi.
Looks wise, it’s a pretty classy sedan and rather sleek for a family diesel. I mean look at it, you could easily mistaken it for a car twice the price, I can even see a hint of Aston Martin in those headlights. But really when all is said and done, it’s neat, well built and hardly boring, just the opposite of what an average family car usually is.
Step inside and it’s hardly Mum, Dad, and two point five kids either. In fact it’s more like a luxury European, but far easier to live with. For these reasons alone the Mondeo TDCi should almost be adopted in to the fold without a second thought, but it’s hardly worth owning if it’s going to eat up your budget now is it?
This is where things get better again. See, TDCi stands for Turbo Diesel Common-Rail Injection and although that sounds like fancy gibberish, what it translates to is a gutsy little four cylinder that won’t eat you out of house and home – that’s what teenage kids are for.
It works by using what Ford refer to as Duratorq Technology which basically consists of a variable geometry turbo charger, precision multi-point fuel injection, and double overhead cams to keep everything spinning along nicely. The idea is that with the exception of initial turbo lag (which, mind you, is very brief), the power is always waiting in the wings. Think of it as a friendly butler, just waiting to step out and serve.
Good news for the more frugal among us is that it also translates to better fuel economy. The ADR tests claim a combined average fuel economy of 7.3 litres / 100km which is (for once) easily achievable.
As for that first post I have no idea what your getting at, Andrew.M claims to be some maths whiz, he couldnt even use basic algebra.
Surely u are not at the Abbacas constantly TP.
u are good value TP!!!
u SHOULD HAVE BEEN A TRADIE AND U COULD ENJOY THE GOOD LIFE TOO. HA HA HA
Its abacus. But I guess that’s why your a tradie. Joking :)
If you run your own business and have either:
streamlined its operations in terms of infrastructure [admin] etc as well as a suitable computer system
hired qualified experienced knowledgeable people;
and its well established – that is has a good reputation with a steady clientele..
then it should be able to operate well enough on its own and allow you [the owner]to have more spare time.
Afterall one of the reasons people decide to set up their own business is so they can pick and choose the hours they work
Jbot, quotes like this from TP lead me to believe that he doesnt have a tertiary education
“digging a deeper “whole” for yourself”
also did you read the last post? every sentence had some sort of spelling error ha ha ha ha
TP,
its ok mate. its normal to become defensive when you are shown up in your profession.
just take a scroll back up to where you said the falcon would need 20% more than the aurion…..yep 40kw more
Too funny to truly reply as like that movie with Jim Carrey……….ummmm what was it called. Yeah thats right ‘Dumb and Dumber’!
Haha Andrew.M still go nothing? You havent answered my question, did you got to highschool? You cant even do simply algebra, I have my doubts you have high school education let alone anything beyond that. Its been a good day I must say, showing you up, one of the highlights of my time here (along with that time I produced a quote you claimed not to have made).
Lets recap, according to AndrewM, due to a 20% loss of power requires through drivetrain, for a Falcon to equal a Aurion which has 200kw, it would need to have 240kw… despite 20% from 240 being 192? Id like to see your explanation for this. Simply, like a primary school student, you added 20% to 200kw… a schoolboy error. Now fess up, be a man for once, and admit you make a blunder.
TP we have asked far more questions which you have left unanswered…So why do you expect us to answer yours.. then get annoyed when we do the same? – Quid Pro Quo
just keep skirting around TP as you know too well that the maths equation was 20%of 200.
you clearly said that the falcon would need 40kw more than the aurion. THAT IS 20% MORE THAN 200 ISNT IT?????
once again you show simple little schoolboy errors in each and every sentence you post. i cant believe that someone so hung up on further education cant even put forward a post that is easily read without trying to interperit the constant spelling mishaps you display
and where is this quote i claim not to have made?
No I didnt clearly say that Andrew.M…. youve been caught out accept it! You first one to bring this up was you, quote:
“by your theory of 20% the XR6T would need 289.2kw to at least match the TRD but it has 4kw more and beats it
and a stock falcon would need 220kw and 404nm to at least match an aurion yet it matches it in current form”
This is why I was orignal confused, these figures made no sense at all. Then you say 240kw. The point is, you tried to show me up and showed how you lack even basic maths skills.
QUOTE TP……….
“Fact is just using power as an example, to cut down a 0.5seconds gap it would need 40kw more.”
now did you or did you not say the falcon would need 40kw/20% more than the aurion? pfffft
we were talking in terms of how much more power the falcon would NEED and you said 20% get over it!!!!
a falcon needs 240kw to match an aurion?? yeah what ever
i said the original “220kw” was a typo on my behalf.
get over it mate
Ha Ha Ha…..yep he knows his theory four a Nurse and alegbra and also did speling at skool didnt he. Beggs the queston cans heap spel?
Obviously ANDREW M is ok with his error as this aint life or death TP and me thinks you need to seriously break out and get in the mosh pit and rap dance…..not much life for a TOYOTA BUBBLEBOY! It would be less hassle if you didnt explode at people as ANDREW M or myself never bothered to quantify why you cant spell! In other words who cares about your spelling or mistake or typo…NOBODY!
AndrewM your taking that quote of context, I said as an ESTIMATE it would need 40kw more to equal the Aurions accleration, because it has more torque afterall. You however have gone on about the 20% rule, your calc related to the 20% loss. You can try to twist and turn this… YOU STUFFED UP. Admit it, move on.
Nm no, he attacked me Re this calc, this is a big issue, he has pie all over this face.
Yes TP we know. Its all good! My point mate is we all stuff up at times….dont fret the small stuff hey!
mate you made an error too
only i admitted my 220kw typo
Too right! Do we have a second – first time he tried to joke and laugh I was floored (would like to see more of that TP as your funny what you wrote)….now are we getting TP to say “I made an error”????
The “New Hoff” might be “The Six Million Dollar teenager” instead….faster then a CPA doing a tax return, doesnt look when using a calculator, speedy on the abacus, more up to date then the taxation laws, able to grasp alegbra, able to say I made an error in a single bound…..but spelling still to be convinced? LOL
NM,
totally agree that the “New Hoff” needs to lighten up
“jump in my car, ill teach ya how to spell”
“ah come on, im a trust worthy guy”
AS a Mondeo TDCi owner I logged on here tonight and saw ‘320 comments’ and thought “great – they’ll be all about the Mondeo diesel SINCE THIS IS WHAT THE ARTICLE IS ABOUT!!” And I read through the first few posts and they were on topic and interesting but then less than 24 hours after the article was posted some knobend writes:
Unrelated to Mondeo but related to Ford… anyone got latest Wheel mag? Aurion ATX faster then Falcon 80-120kmh…
And its all down hill from there.
Mate, who the @#$@#$ cares if your car is half a second fasterer to 100km/hr – when you tear off at the lights and you beat the guy beside you what makes you think he was trying to beat you – what makes you think he even NOTICED your shitbox Toyota huh!?!? How many times today did you use you 200killer wasps huh?
Mate fuel prices are not going to get any lower – economy – and economy with performance – is what is going to sell cars from now on. What is Toyotas answer? the pissweak Prious which is less economical than a 5 series BMW diesel for #$@ sake. Where is the diesel Camry – the diesel Yarris the diesel Corolla? Toyota are just like Mcdonalds – they offer you a salad range which no one buys (the Prious) so you can feel good buying your shit big Mac (Aurions etc..)
Hi Diesel Duo – yep you’re right there with the comments, things often get outa hand when TP comes up with off-topic subjects about bloody Aurion’s of all things. In his communist state we would all be driving the fuel inefficient Prius (note spelling) whilst President TP would be in his state aurion.
Sadly for Australia Toyota have yet to get to grips with the market unlike most other manufactures and do not have a diesel car in their range. Come to Europe however and they have a range of fuel efficient diesels. Take the Auris (Corolla?) theres a nice 180hp (135Kw)diesel 0-100 in 8.9. really rather nice stuff. Toyota did even supplythe diesel engines in the Mini but performance was duff to say the least until BMW sourced the really very good PSA group 1.6. My school report about Toyota would say “Below Average, could try harder 3/10″
Hey TP. Yep TP TP TP!
You are the d1ck who said torque and power were the same thing. You are just too thick to get the sarcasm. Mate I know the relationship of power and torque and how engineering principles work – obviously you don’t. Do you understand gear ratios and torque multiplying?
10 or 11 years old – mate I’ve been WORKING in ENGINEERING DESIGN for more years than youve been born. And lets stuff up all of your steriotyping theories: I’m a tradie (mechanical engineering field), with post trade engineering qualifications, and get this I have ACCOUNTING qualifications as well! (But by choice work in mech eng instead of accounting).
Diesel Dude you believe the propaganda against Toyota, ADR figures have the Prius 3L per 100km more fuel efficient then a BMW… the Beemer does very poorly in the urban jungle, 10L per 100km.
Hahahahaha yes Bret, every1 who comes here is apparently an engineer. Im actually a rocket scientist! I said what I meant by the power torque thing, I provided the formula, which clearly shows the relationship between them. As for accounting a qualification, geez whiz your great, qualification and experience are two different things. Jack of all trades, master of none?
Nope quals AND exp in both, but choose to be a master of the engineering bit – oh and yes I DO work with rocket scientists (true fact).
Providing (regurgitating) a formula that someone else posted or you got from somewhere on the net does not mean you understand it – and YOU DON’T. In fact you don’t understand almost every engineering principle ever discussed on these posts, yet you try to argue your way through all of them: what a joke
Sorry – it was to Geneva.
Ah so Bret is Ross aye…. no I understand it very well. As for jobs, again everyone seems to be an engineer here and conveniently you have exp in both… I think most people here have a split personality and aernt what they say to be.
2008 Ford Mondeo TDCi :-)
Very good looking vehicle, excellent job Ford I will buy one soon, much better than Aurion and that thingy called daewoo crapica.
Much better then Aurion lol. In a different class… the one below the Aurion!
^^^^
oh my god its awake
Have researched the TDCi and took one for a test drive. This car beats alot of the mid sized cars available… great drive, fuel economy and packed with features that you’d pay a packet for in most new cars !!! the new mazda diesel turbo is closest to this car but the mondeo wins !!!
well worth its price. Holden could’nt find a single thing to pick on about this car so they picked on the price !!! you get what you pay for !!! and you get more in the mondeo
Mine arrived 3 months ago and i’ve racked up about 3000km in it. ABSOLUTELY LOving it!! While the diesel rattle irks me at stops, the turbo rush and that sony sound system is glorious! Had a test drive in the new Mazda6 Classic hatch, not that impressed and they are alot pricier when u figure in all the options. But what I say maybe biased, so go look at both for urself.
People don’t buy diesels just for fuel economy. It drives very differently to a petrol car. Its acceleration with ease. You don’t need to stonk the car and force it to redline to move fast. In general diesels aren’t as fast as their petrol counterparts, but they are quickly closing the distance with new technology. In fact with several BMW models the diesels are quicker. The difference is how relaxed the driving is. All I can suggest is that people go and test drive one if they don’t know the difference and then you will get it.
On the mondeo front. Its a little disappointing that Ford’s diesel offerings are behind other German oiler plants particularly when you consider it is a German-designed car. Will be interesting to see how the proposed 2.2L wagon will perform and I hope they can sort the box.
After reading through earlier posts, its amazing to see such polarity between car fans in different camps.
TP is right in that 1. Aurion if faster than BF & earlier falcons and VZ & earlier commodores when you are comparing 6 cylinder naturally aspirated engines. I have driven all 3 and was amazed at the acceleration the Aurion has.
2. The Aurion has more power than equivalent falcons and commodores (and 380s for that matter).
The Aurion still has more power than the new falcon but it remains to be seen if it is quicker. The Aurion uses less fuel (which is very important these days)
The problem is the falcon and commodore 6 cylinder N.A. engines are in their bottom of range cars i.e. they are sold with 8’s and turbos. Hence Ford and Commodore don’t want to make them too much better/faster of they will poach sales from the upper range.
Having driven all 3 cars I really can appreciate the speed of Aurion, particularly when overtaking at free way speeds. Its gotta be experienced to believe it. Many Aurion detractors would simply not have driven one.
Having said that……..
I would still prefer the falcon. It feels more solid on the road. Its torque does make it feel like its easier to move with traffic. If I want to accelerate quickly I am not concerned with torque-steer. Its a tow-all-day-everyday car that is stable at speed. It gives the impression of feeling more solidly built. The Aurion, when stonked at the lights has a tendancy for the front suspension to shudder hard as it comes to terms with getting grip and dragging its weight behind.
Now……..(breath)
The Mondeo TDI has no counterpart in Toyota or Holden. The nearest being the diesel Astra which is a small pokey car. The closes Toyota offering is in fact the Camry (why did they make it so ugly!?!?)which has no diesel powerplant. Not the corolla as some have suggested.
If you can’t agree – agree to disagree. You are allowed to have your preference! That’s the beautiful thing about so many manufacturers :)Also remember the difference between fact and opinion ;)
LOL @ speak of transmission power losses. Aren’t all the power figures quoted here @ the flywheel?
TP I would love to see the value of your Aurion in say 26 years time.
My 1972 VH Charger would blow the doors off any Aurion and is probably worth twice as much.
This new Mondeo looks really good ive seen a few on the roads. I think it looks much better than either Falcon or Commodore, i even thought about buying one till… i found out they are all front wheel drive and no V6 option ! For the first time in a long time ford comes out with a car that looks fantastic, a car you’d be proud to park in your drive way, a car that makes you drool. Then they go and ruin it by dumping a four pot in it and making it front wheel drive GRRR ! When will Auto makers realize we dont want spiggin front wheel drive and four pots. Ford call me when you drop a V6 in it and make it rear wheel drive.
How can a Mondeo reveiw turn into a full fledge wank fest on the FG falcon and Aurion. Obvious you all have limited knowledge in regards to diesel engines, you should go play in the other sand pit and spruke your opinions elsewhere. Most of you have made yourselves look like absolute fools.
I have a 2009 Mondeo Turbo Diesel hatch and I think I can put a lot of the economy questions to rest. I average around town 6.7 litres per hundred and can get comfotably under 6 litres per hundred in country and freeway cruising….Astonishing for a car the size of a falcon.
As for the fit, finish, build and overall feel….this is a brilliant car and I should know as my last cars have been new VW’s, Mercedes and the best of the Japanese including Subaru and Honda. It is super comfortable has had ZERO defects and has some amazing technology like the seemless voice actived controls (CD On, Phone name, Airconditioning on…Radio…station…volume and much more). You don’t even take your eyes off the road and simply ask your car to control everything from the mobile phone to the stereo!!!!!!!!!!!! The lights come on automatically, the wipers sense when its raining and how fast they need to go, the climate control allows passengers and drivers to set the own temperature they want. It also has a HUGE boot and with the seats folded you could literally sleep in it!
I love it and honestly believe it sets a new bench mark for quality and driving comfort. The UK Top gear guys were right to vote it the car of the year…first time all three agreed!
One last thing…a friend of mine who is an expert in european cars says that in fact it is as good or better than the so called top European brands as it was designed and built in Germany/Europe, shares many components with Volvo,Jaguar and even BMW including floor pan,(volvo/jag) gear box,(volvo/jag) engine ( used by BMW, Landrover, volvo, jag, and many others) and suspension(volvo/jag) and has not been compromised in any way including safety…If my Mondeo was pranged or stolen I would go straight out and buy the same colour, model and spec!
Glad to hear you are happy with it Iain. I am in the process of picking a company car at the moment and I wanted the Titatium Diesel. A mate has told me that the petrol version is a much nicer drive (and cheaper)……which has given me some doubts. I will have to get some kilometres in both to make a final call….but if it’s petrol I may end up with an Accord Euro…
I know I constantly bag Fords on here for lack of quality and such, but my experience in UK with Mondeo Diesels is quite extensive and I have to say they are Impressive cars. I agree with most things Iain said and would recommend a Mondeo Diesel over any other Ford, well ove r most other cars. The previous model Mondeo was an engineering marvel and took it to the top of it’s class in Europe. Within a few years the Mondeo’s competitors had clawed back most of what they had lost to it in quality and comfort. This Current model has lifted the bar once again.
Buy the Diesel, once you get use to the engine noise you will absolutely love this car.
Not bying a car with space saver tyre! End of story.
Agree with Iain, MB Modeo is a top car (Zetec Diesel). I have only done 300km and avg 7.6 so glad to hear that once she runs in under 7 is achievable. Impressed with quality of the car in very aspect. Only things I am bummed about is there are no rear a/c vents however the front ones are strong. The sound system is awesome and it works seemlessly with iPhone 3g and will even play your songs via Bluetooth….you can’t use the USB and Bluetooth on your iPhone at the same time. The sound through Bluetooths not as good as the USB+3.5mm audio connections.
The diesel also takes some getting used to in that it feels slower to take off, however you just have to give the pedal firmer push than you would with a V6. The power and response is fantastic. The ride and handling are great as well, hardy any body roll when you take a long bend.
Not impressed with Ford Dealer though. Ordered wrong colour but luckily I actually preferred the one ordered (Sea Grey), the boot had 5mm of water under the spare tyre and they scratched the inside of the passenger door. You’d also think when you spend $40k that they could fill the tank!!