- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.0T, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
149kW, 300Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 8L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto (DCT)
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
2012 Ford Mondeo Zetec review
I have just traded this car after more than four years of enjoyable and reliable motoring. Not a thing has gone wrong with the car and all I have replaced are the consumables like tyres, filters and battery.
- Performance and economy mix
- ride, steering, brakes and handling
- space and comfort
- sound system
- styling
- Brake dust
- blinkers on LHS of column
- excess brake dust
- Goodyear tyres
- brake dust
The best and most addictive thing is the torque surge. When you accelerate the torque curve starts to climb at around 1500rpm and the car just picks up and flies. Overtaking and hills are no problem. I’ve had many passengers comment on the performance.
The Ford 2.0L EcoBoost is a great engine and in the MC Mondeo it is rated at 149kW and 300Nm, so the later versions with more power and torque should be even better. As much as I take advantage of the performance, I am very happy with the economy. I run it on 95RON and on busy urban use I average around 10.5L/100km. Highway cruising I can dip into the 7s, but usually in the low 8s. I could do better but I enjoy the performance too much. I tried using E10 and while the car ran okay, the fuel consumption was more than 10 per cent higher, so I decided that it just wasn’t worthwhile.
The hydraulic power steering is the best I have ever used in any car, with perfect weighting and great feel. After I replaced the OE Goodyear tyres, which were prone to tramlining and not too good in the wet, the steering has even better feel. I changed to Bridgestone and they were a great improvement.
The ride is firm, yet compliant and the handling for a large FWD car is great. Say what you like about Ford’s marketing, but their engineers sure know how to tune a chassis.
DCT gearboxes get a bad review at times, but I’m pretty happy with it. It is a little jerky when cold, but quickly warms up and shifts smoothly. You do need to adapt a slightly different style when driving it, compared to a torque converter or CVT box. You can’t be indecisive and must use definite and separate operations on the brake and throttle. If you hesitate, the gearbox will do the same and wait for your command.
The service costs are high and Ford stipulates a major service on the PowerShift at 60,000km at a cost of $835. Fortunately for me, as this service requirement came out after I purchased the car it was done under a recall program and I only had to pay for the regular service items. If you are buying one, I would strongly advise you to confirm the 60,000km service has been done properly and fully. The same applies to the diesel models.
The comments about the space and comfort of the Mondeo are well documented and I can only add that the seats are great for a long drive and there is plenty of room for four boofy adults. The boot is huge and folding down the seats will fit anything from the weekly Bunnings trip.
My big complaint about the car is that while the brakes are very powerful, the soft pads and discs produce an extraordinary amount of dust, particularly on the front wheels. It is a weekly job to clean them or the dust builds up and it just becomes a more difficult, dirty and fiddly job.
My other beef is that I naively thought that the indicator lever on the left would be no problem and that I would adapt. Well, just to prove that old habits die hard, I never got used to it. Jumping in one car or another at home or in and out of rentals, I invariably at some time signaled my turns with the wipers or turned the blinkers on when it rained. Just as I get used to it, I change cars and start over again. On more than one occasion, when someone has cut me off, I flashed my rear wiper at them, which really showed them!
So, I would recommend the MC Mondeo EcoBoost as a comfortable, well-equipped and reliable car, with great performance and reasonable economy. Just make sure that it has the full service history.