Test drive Ford mondeo sedan 2000 - 2003 sedan

How to serve hot

Automobile manufacturers need to heat the public interest in their mass products from time to time. The easiest and most reliable way to charge this or that car. The factory tuning is designed to highlight the most favorable qualities of the car, embedded structurally, but hidden from the eyes of an inexperienced consumer. And, I must say, the close relatives of the economy class are increasingly found on the roads. Ford company does not stand here. In 2002, she released two hot news Focus ST170 and Mondeo ST220 at once. We hope that with the 173-horsepower Focus we will be able to get to know the summer closer, but for now we bring to your attention a story about the fast Mondeo.


First of all, the charged Mondeo differs from the standard aerodynamic package. Changed front and rear bumpers, thresholds and a microscopic spoiler on the trunk lid, coupled with 18-inch very beautiful wheels, make a proper effect at first glance that we are not in front of us with a artisanal tuning, but a high-quality factory face lifting.


The appearance of the car has become swift and easy. At the same time, the design was not shocking, but simply a high -quality and pleasant eye. ST220 will not be confused on the road with any other machine, while external racing attributes do not irritate neighbors in the flow of their defiant steepness. The notorious Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII, for example, would hardly have looked appropriate, say, some kind of church on the outskirts. Mondeo has a completely individual, but at the same time a rather restrained appearance. As for the exterior, the only complaint caused external mirrors made them in a honeyed small one. The appearance of the car certainly won from this, but the sightseeing deteriorated.


In the car of the car, I was disappointed in the form of red leather seats from Recaro. By themselves, they are not bad and front and rear, ergonomics is magnificent. In such chairs, you can easily overcome not only long distances, but also traffic jams of a large city. But color! After all, this is a fairly large family sedan, and not an expensive sports compartment and not a small tinager three -door hatchback. Why is this daring scarlet shade? I think that small red inserts in black seats would be more to the place, they would sufficiently emphasize the sports orientation of the car.


The ergonomics of the driver's workplace is thought out to the smallest detail. Everything here is at hand. Driving windows on the armrest of the driver's door, a cruise control keys on the steering wheel, a stereomagnetic jack of control just below the left steering wheel switch, a climate installation remote control for the heater console. In addition to controlling the airfield, the central console contains the heating keys of the front seats, the rear and wind (!) Glass, the disconnection button of the anti -circus system. This button variety is crowned by a small watch dial. Separately, I want to thank the manufacturer for installing such an important thing for Russia as heating the windshield. I appreciated his convenience when I warmed the car that turned over night into a small snowdrift. The thinnest metal threads passing through the triplex do not interfere with the review at all, brilliantly doing their function.


All adjustments to the driver's seat, except for the lumbar lumbar roller, are electric. The seat can be quickly configured for yourself, no matter what complexion you possess.


The highlight of the ST220 is a three-liter V-shaped six-cylinder engine. Developed power 226 hp at 6150 vol./min., Maximum moment 280 Nm at 4900 rpm. The car accelerates to hundreds in 7.1 seconds, the maximum speed is 243 km/h. Decent indicators for a family sedan. Of course, these are only stingy numbers, but also a purely subjective motor is not bad. Not bad at all. True, it has some tightness. The car accelerates up to 3,000 revolutions quite sluggishly, then, up to seven, very vividly, but really cheerful accelerating dynamics ST220 can only be considered comparing it with the usual mondeo. To me, who traveled on a large number of truly fast cars, this motor was not enough.


A fairly long checkpoint is not the best acceleration assistant. If the programs were not five, but six, and the gear rates would be closer to each other, this would certainly have a positive effect on the dynamic characteristics. But the gear lever really liked the move. In sporting short, with confident selectivity. The only negative, perhaps it is located too close to the stereomagnetic control panel. Several times, sticking the first gear, I accidentally turned off the receiver.


For handling, the ST220 is ready to put a solid five. It is perfectly balanced, moderately acutely reacts to the steering wheel and does not force the driver excessively strain at high speeds. In my opinion, a reasonable balance between comfort and sharpness will be achieved.


Ford Mondeo ST220 is primarily a car for your money. A rather big, tightly knocked car for almost all occasions. It seems that $ 35,000, given the extensive list of outstanding consumer qualities (and predatory Russian customs requisitions), an honest price for hot Mondeo. He will surely become a reliable assistant for your family and a faithful friend for you personally. And red seats circumstance, which can be reconciled with. Perhaps they will remind some era of raspberry jackets. Her individuals, who have gained over the past 10 years of excess weight in respectable abdomen and replaced sports uniforms with no less respectable Italian costumes, may only be adapted to this defiant tint, and he will slightly brighten them up the routine of business movements around the city.
 
Boris Schulmeister
 

A source: Motor magazine [January-February 2003]