Countdown to blastoff for new Mondeo

By ALASTAIR SLOANE motoring editor

The only link between the new Ford Mondeo and the old Ford Mondeo is the name Mondeo. The difference between the two is worthy of the exclamation "My God!" For linguists say that is what Mondeo means in Catalan, the language of 11 million people in Spain.

Carmakers do these sorts of things, searching for oddball handles. Sometimes they have a nice ring about them. Sometimes they don't.

Take two Toyotas, the Camry and MR2. Camry sounds just like a Welsh speaker would pronounce Cymru, or Wales.

On the other hand, MR2 in French means ... well, ask a French speaker.

Ford is playing with the English language, too. It has a new corporate slogan, "We have ignition."

It borrowed it from Nasa, which said the same thing counting down Gemini and Apollo rocket launches in the 1960s and 1970s.

Now Ford New Zealand wants to add "We have liftoff" - also from Nasa - when the new Mondeo goes on sale throughout the country this morning.

The car in any language is first-rate - light years ahead of the old Mondeo, considered a pretty tidy front-drive package when it was launched eight years ago.

In a nutshell, it does everything well. It handles, rides and steers better than many cars twice its price. It has a bright and breezy cabin, with good seats, good room, good driving position, good view.

Some of the components are a bit tacky and reveal the car's humble place in the world. The fan in the heating system, for example, kicked up a hell of a racket. But overall the car has much going for it at a starting price of $35,900.

The Mondeo range is vital for Ford New Zealand as it attempts to end Toyota's long-time reign as the No 1 marque in New Zealand. (See Good Oil item).

The company's managing director Nigel Harris said as much. "It represents our challenge for leadership in one of the most important volume segments in this market and is an important addition to the stable.

"We believe the new Mondeo range will bring us substantially closer to our key objectives - sustained profitability, strengthening market share and steadily improving brand image and customer satisfaction."

The eight-model Mondeo range comprises two sedans, four hatchbacks and two station wagons and is priced between $35,900 for the entry-level 2.0-litre sedan and $45,900 for the 2.5-litre V6 hatch. Prices are the same as the outgoing model.

Built at Ford's plant in Genk, Belgium, the Mondeo comes with the choice of two engines - a 2.0-litre 16-valve four-cylinder and a 2.5-litre V6, mated to either a five-speed manual transmission with revised gear ratios, or a four-speed automatic with an electronic adaptive shift mode.

Ford says both have been built for longer life. The service life of the transmission is about 250,000km.

The 2.0-litre engine delivers 105kW at 6000 rpm and 185 Nm of torque at 4500 rpm, of which about 90 per cent is available between 2000 and 6000 rpm. The V6 produces 125kW at 6250 rpm and 220 Nm at 4250 rpm. Most of the torque is available between 2000 and 5800 rpm.

The new car has a longer wheelbase and wider track than its predecessor. The wheelbase has been extended by 50mm on sedan and hatch, 33mm wider on wagon. Front track is 19mm wider, and the rear 50mm wider.

Virtually every component of the suspension system has been heavily revised. The MacPherson front setup and the multi-link rear system use new subframes to improve ride comfort.

These changes have helped to give the car its high-quality ride and handling. So has the improved torsional rigidity of the body shell - 60 per cent stronger than the old Mondeo.

The Mondeo is the first Ford vehicle to be created digitally. Every component was engineered on computers, a process which shaved 13 months off development time.

"The significance of the new Mondeo to the future of Ford cannot be overstated," said Ford of Europe chairman Nick Scheele.

"Our flagship has been the groundbreaker of new technology that will help Ford develop products not only quicker but also better.

"It is the first of an aggressive new product launch that will see Ford treble its product introduction pace over each of the next five years."

The Mondeo's safety package includes: ABS anti-lock brakes; electronic stability programme; front and side airbags and inflatable curtains; seatbelt pretensioners and load-limiting retractors on front-seat safety belts; side impact beams; collapsible pedal structure.

All Mondeo models come with five-year anti-rust warranty. Service intervals for the petrol engines have been extended to 20,000km.