2016 Ford Mondeo estate
If you need to carry everything including the kitchen sink then what you need is an estate car. The Ford Mondeo has always been at the cutting edge of the space race.
Obviously being an estate it’s obviously more practical than the hatchback. However, you’re not going to notice this from the driving seat because it has the same simplified dashboard design as the hatch with lots of soft touch materials in your immediate eye-line. This car comes with Ford’s latest infotainment system which has a fantastically large touch-screen. Although, if we’re totally honest, it’s not the best system on the market.
If you like, you can get this car pretty much fully loaded. The range topping Titanium model fitted with the X Pack will give you dynamic LED headlamps, full leather upholstery with 10-way adjustable seats and a plethora of spacious cubby spaces.
You can get the Mondeo estate with the same raft of safety features that you get on the hatchback version. So, you get things like autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring and active cruise control which incidentally is only available on the range topping Titanium trim.
The range of engines are the same as the hatch which includes a 1.0 litre unit. Admittedly, the 1.0 litre engine has a turbo charger but you may still find this a little bit underpowered if you intend to use your Mondeo for towing or for lugging loads and loads of stuff around. Most consumers are going to opt for the 2.0 litre diesel which is a very good choice as it’ll give you around 41 mpg. Models fitted with the automatic gearbox err on the side of comfort rather than urgency though they’re certainly good enough and you can shift gears relatively smoothly.
With regards to handling the estate drives pretty much exactly the same as the hatchback version. Even though this car carries an extra 20kgs more you don’t really notice it. Ford have set up this car to be more of a relaxing cruiser so you can expect it to be comfortable enough, good around town and good on long journeys. However, it just seems to lack that bit of sparkle that the old one had. It’s just not fun to drive where the benchmark for fun-to-drive estate cars is set by the Mazda 6 Tourer.
Ok, a car that’s not really fun to drive may not bother estate drivers at all but there is something that will. Obviously, the estate version of the Mondeo is more practical than the hatchback but it’s not as practical as its main rivals. For example, the boot space is not as large as you get on the Volkswagen Passat. Although there are some features we do like there’s nothing particularly inspiring about it. One of the things we do like such is the ease of which to remove the parcel shelf and somewhere where you can actually store it afterwards - clever. This is one thing we do like about the Mondeo’s boot but other than that it’s pretty slim picking in terms of cool features. There’s no rails or tether points and although you have no load lip the huge expanded bumper is only going to get in the way and get damaged. If you lower the seats, which you are going to want to do, yes you do get more space but it’s still not as big as its main rivals. We also don’t think it’s as spacious in the back seats as the Passat. Things start off good with a wide opening and the doors open almost to 90 degrees – so getting in is really easy. Once you take you seat you’ll find plenty of leg room but the problem lies with the head room. It’s slightly better than the hatchback but there’s very little leeway between your head and the roof.
While the Ford Mondeo might not be the most practical estate car on the market it’s still a decent option. However, if you’re seriously considering buying one then you should really take a look at its main rivals.
