MONDEO SHOWS IT’S FAR ABOVE AVERAGE Thanks to Tony Blair and his “Mondeo man” as the average person driving the average car, the Ford Mondeo quickly became seen as just ordinary fleet fodder despite the great progress it represented. When Ford launched the Mondeo in 1993, it was the company’s first large front wheel drive car. It was inspirational not only in view of making such great strides over the Sierra it replaced but also because it was so much better than anything else any other maker was offering in its sector. But can the Mondeo ever become an aspirational car? Maybe not if you only see aspiration as aiming towards something exotic or from one of the German big three brands that dominate the quality sector. But many private buyers take a refreshing attitude and, as a result, non-fleet sales of the Mondeo are rising fast. I’ve just been driving a Mondeo that cost the best part of £30,000 and it’s the type of car I would love to have. Why buy something German but relatively austere for the money when you can have a car that’s equally well engineered and boasts everything you could ever want for the same money? I bet that if you selected the equivalent model from Audi, BMW, or Mercedes you could only just about get the basic car for your £30,000. But this Mondeo I’ve just been driving had the lot, even down to radar operated cruise control. It was the top of the range Titanium X estate automatic which would normally retail at £24,195 with the 2.0 TDCi diesel the test car had. But the big ticket items had been added such as the £1,000 adaptive cruise control and £1,200 DVD sat-nav system with six disc autochanger as well as smaller items down to £40 sun blinds. But it was the cruise control that really won me over. I drove for nearly 200 miles using just a few buttons on the steering wheel to control the car. They allowed the cruise to be switched on and off, set the radar system in operation, and could adjust the cruise speed up and down in 5 mph increments. Even in heavy traffic, the car could be left more or less to its own devices, although I was always ready to hit the brakes should they be needed. It was uncanny to feel the car braking and accelerating on its own, with a symbol showing up on the display to indicate when the car in front was too close. I’m a great fan of cruise - my wife finds the way it cuts in and out with a jerk on normal cars makes travelling unpleasant. But she failed to detect the adaptive system was even operating until I told her what was going on. Better still, it lifted the fuel consumption from a previously respectable 38 mpg to 45 mpg – this car, remember, is the size of the old Scorpio. As I’m just getting over an operation that has seen my right ankle ripped apart and left me with great walking difficulties, the chance to relax my right foot on a long trip was welcome. It opens up great possibilities for people like me and it could be the best £1,000 accessory for a good number of drivers who might seriously be considering giving up driving. In my case, that’s not a move to take lightly after a 37 year career as a motoring writer. Even better than the hope it brings, the Mondeo looks great, too. The styling hides the sheer size of the car so well that people find it hard to believe it’s a Scorpio replacement in all but name. For those who need to work the car hard, the size give sit 1,733 litres of stowage space as a two seater, more than 10 per cent above the space a Volvo V70 can muster and almost 100 litres more than a VW Passat. Maurice Hardy How can anyone who wants a practical estate car that’s big on everything it does fail to like the Ford Mondeo? The car is not only good in terms of load volume but also provides excellent passenger space, with room for up to five adults to travel with great ease. And, of course, you can have it for far less than the price of our test car. The 1.6 litre engine combined with starter Edge trim brings the car to your driveway for £16,445, which is pretty good for this much car. If you really want a diesel, £17,495 will secure the 1.8 TDCi that has a 1.6 tonne trailer allowance rather than the 900 kg of the 1.6 petrol, an essential consideration for some buyers. Edge trim would probably mean you’d never dream of having the touch screen control system for the heating and sound system which I find a nightmare. Touch screen operation makes it easy to use but it fades to blank far too quickly when you are working out what you want to do next. The auto box/diesel engine combination of the test car showed these units are perfectly matched. Gear changes were smooth and the low revs nature of the diesel meant that driving was always relaxed. Equally relaxing was the ease with which I could cope with the car’s dimensions. It may be big, but this Mondeo is not unmanageable. Annette Hardy Car: Ford Mondeo Titanium X 2.0 TDCi Durashift automatic estate Does it fit your ego?... 0-62 mph: 10.8 secs Top speed: 121 mph Bhp: 128 @ 4000 rpm Torque: 251 lb ft @ 1750 - 2240 rpm ...and your wallet?... Price: £24,195 Urban: 28.8 mpg Extra urban: 50.4 mpg Combined: 39.8 mpg CO2 emissions: 189 g/km Insurance Group: 9,p> Best bits: big; easy to drive; great value.