Ford Mondeo 2.0 Ghia Review

Overall Rating

Fast, Handles Well, Well Equipped

Slightly Hard Ride, A Few Rattles

I decided that my first car should be reliable, cheap to fix, cheap to buy and fast. After looking at a number of cars (Astras, Alpha 156s, Vectras etc) I decided that I couldn't possibly get a car that satisfied all 4 of my criteria. Then I started looking at Mondeo s. Mondeo's are regarded as boring by some, indeed by myself before I bought one, but having driven one for over a thousand miles I have reformed my opinions. My car is a 1997 R reg 2.0 litre model in GhiaX trim. That means that I get 136 horsepower, leather seats, a 6-CD changer, all electric windows and sunroof, trip computer and electric seat adjustment. All of this cost me just £900. The car drives like new; the engine has a nice deep rumble, it gets to 60 in 9 and a bit seconds and there's plenty of torque. It doesn't have the traction control option, so I found myself spinning away all of the power when setting off on a few occasions before I got used to the car. It's great for long distance trips along winding B roads, and is equally at home in the outside lane of the motorway. At 80mph its quieter than my mum's 2001 Laguna II 1.8 litre. Traffic jams can be annoying as the car tends to kangaroo slightly if you let it plod along in 1st with no accelerator. You need not sit in a queue though, as overtaking is childs-play. The suspension seems a little stiff for my liking; you can definitely feel every bump and pothole. There is also an annoying rattle coming from the boot, but I'm sure it's just a loose plastic panel, and I could fix it easily if I ever got round to it. As it is I hardly notice it because I'm almost always listening to one of the CDs in the 6-CD changer under the passenger seat. I can compare the Mondeo to the other cars that I've driven on a regular basis: a 2.0 litre V6 rover 75 estate, a 1.8 litre Renault Laguna II and a 1.0 litre Citroen AX. The Citroen is really no comparison, but the Mondeo beats the pants off the rover and Renault in terms of handling and acceleration. The rover just edges it out when it comes to ride comfort and going from 70-90mph on the motorway. All in all I would definitely recommend the Mondeo. It's cheap, fast and reliable (*touches wood*). There's a reason why it was the best selling car in the UK when it was still being made.