Friday 24th May

Ford Mondeo 2.5 T Titanium X | Shed of the Week

Mondeo man won't be a big factor in the 2024 general election. Shame

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Sometimes, admittedly not so often these days but sometimes, manufacturers do something a bit mad. In 2007 Ford did that when they released the Mondeo 2.5 T Titanium X. 

Shed has to hold his hands up here. He didn’t exactly spot this one. Well, he did, but he thought it was just a run-of-the-mill gen-three (or Mk4 as they are often referred to in the UK) 2.5 V6. It took the gimlet eye of Matt B to reveal a more exciting truth, which was that its engine was one cylinder short. Yep, that’s right, it has the Volvo-sourced B5254T3 Duratec turbo straight five as used in the Focus ST 225 and the Mk 2 Focus RS. 

Not literally ‘as used’ here, mind. In the Mondeo T, the motor had a different block and fuelling system and was detuned slightly to 217hp at 5,000rpm and 236lb ft from 1,500rpm to 4,800rpm. Running through a Getrag M66 six-speed manual box, those numbers gave it a 0-62mph time of 7.5 second and a top speed of 152mph. It was tuneable too. A £300 chip and remap would give you 265hp and 295lb ft but you would immediately need to upgrade the clutch as it was marginal to start with. A Mk2 RS clutch was much stronger and went straight in.

The 2.5 T wasn’t overly heavy at just under 1,500kg but it did slurp fuel if you weren’t careful. The official combined figure was 30.4mpg but you could easily knock 10mpg off that in normal use, especially if you were using it for towing as at least one previous owner of this car seemed to be doing. Anecdotally the real-world figures ranged from 16mpg to 38mpg.  

Road testers liked the Mondeo 2.5 T a lot. The chassis was terrific, with excellent hydraulic steering and suspension that managed to be fluid, compliant and sporty at the same time. It was possible to add electronic dampers through the IVDC (Interactive Vehicle Dynamics Control) option but that really was gilding the lily. Two years before the T was discontinued in 2010, a Titanium X Sport car came out with red-stitched seats, a bodykit, sports suspension and 18-inch wheels which wouldn’t have helped the ride quality. 

The Mondeo didn’t have a briilliant turning circle and nor was it a narrow car but owners soon got used to all that and learned to appreciate the cabin space that the width gave them. Not to mention the practicality and long-distance comfort of the Mondeo, complemented in the Tit T by range-topping kit that included heated part-leather sports seats (electrically adjustable for the driver). Parking sensors weren’t standard, which was a pity as visibility wasn’t great out of the back of these gen-threes. Shed thought that adaptive front lights were part of the T spec but no matter how hard he banged his Amstrad he couldn’t get it to confirm that.

The MOT on this car is short but the only advisory on the last test was for a deteriorated suspension ball joint cover. This engine has been known to suffer from split cylinder liners so anyone interested in this very cheap (£1,989) example would be well advised to check for misfires and/or white exhaust smoke. Poor running could be down to MAF sensor or boost control solenoids. Intercooler hoses leaked air and thermostat housings leaked coolant, but neither of those were expensive to fix. Power steering pumps and racks failed, as did ARB links, front suspension top mounts and rear suspension bushes. Door locks conked out too. You might want to look at a different exhaust to unleash more of the sound that had been deliberately subdued for Tit X purposes. Extra five-pot burble was a nice backup when the boot-mounted Alpine CD changer packed up, which it often did.

The tax on one of these will be £415 a year but you’ll need to set some money aside for a regular supply of decent tyres. And before you ask, yes, there was an estate version. That would have been a useful bit of kit for Daniel Craig to have had in Casino Royale instead of the Tonic Blue 2.5 T hatch they gave him. Very hard to find a T estate outside of Sri Lanka though. 

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[StescoG66]

I like cars like this. Look nothing, but a bit of an iron fist in a woollen mitt.

Edited by StescoG66 on Friday 24th May 16:12

[humphra]

Ah, the heydays when manufacturers used a range of engines to add character to their cars! I've never hankered for a Mondeo, as I like smaller cars. But if it's not a dog, then this could be a nice option. I even think it looks good in that colour and wheel combination!

[sinisterpenguin]

Excellent! Utter madness, less than 20 mpg achievable, doesn’t look particularly special, big road tax all for less than 2K. I’m in!

Edited by sinisterpenguin on Friday 24th May 06:37

[Baddie]

I had a black one. Chassis was incredible, monstered tricky country roads with no drama and rode very nicely as well, though road noise irked even after dynamatting under the carpet. The engine was a huge disappointment, gutless compared to dad’s old T5, mute, breathless past 5k, and drank fuel. Some owners saw mid to high 30’s on a run, I could never get past 30, and dipped into the teens on a country road; outside town it was hardly better than an old E34 M5 with 50% more power. I didn’t chip it because of split liners/clutch issues, and the economy would have been even worse. The only exhaust I saw was Supersprint at nearly a grand as it was a one-piece system. Loads of space and huge boot, couldn’t get 3 child seats abreast though. It was a good car, but didn’t reassure with quality a diesel would have made more sense. It just wasn’t special enough to justify its thirst, quite how they burned so much fuel to so little effect was a mystery.

[yme402]

These were brilliant cars, and with the slightly larger wheels and discrete rear spoiler they really looked the business. Where have they all gone though? Rotted away already?

[leef44]

I like this, the colour, wheels, interior all good.

I do like the Mondeo but just never owned one. I would be happy with this one as a runabout with funds for reliability issues.

[jwwbowe]

The last two weeks of potential SOTY candidates were always going to be a hard follow but this is decent effort, very inconspicuous if a little dour. Imagine these would be worth a whole lot more if they were 4WD.

[Baddie]

yme402 said:

These were brilliant cars, and with the slightly larger wheels and discrete rear spoiler they really looked the business. Where have they all gone though? Rotted away already?

Perhaps they’ve been eaten by niggling but accumulating quality issues against low values that didn’t make it worth keeping them going. Doubt there were ever that many 2.5t’s though, based on how few were scattered amongst the diesels.

[greenarrow]

Reading this week's shed reminds one of how quickly the Mondeo is disappearing from our roads. The mk4 less so perhaps but the mk3 is pretty rare now... This one was an interesting curiosity. Road testers loved them but I preferred the previous gen ST220. That was thirsty too mind you! If you like a niche edition old Mondeo this is definitely the time to buy one. Would I take one over an equally rare these days and pretty cheap too E90 330i though, er, no!

[YellowCar]

I wouldn't call 12 months a short MOT, so assume that was done since the article was written.
Good shed if you don't do a lot of miles. Got a Mondeo shed myself, but went for the more boring but practical 2.0 tdi for a bit of dpf/erg roulette but 55mpg.

[p1stonhead]

I’ve had my estate coming up on 5 years now - bought from a PHer. By far the longest I’ve ever had a car. It’s so great.

Absolutely HUGE inside and so comfortable. And in 5 years it’s literally never had anything go wrong other than a headlight which filled with water and I replaced for about £150.

A mechanic friend of mine gave it a full health check last month and said only an exhaust back box may be in order in the next 12 months. Fantastic thing.

Just crossed 100k miles and I’ll change only when something absolutely terminal occurs. It’s only worth about maybe £2500 and what on earth would that get me as a replacement?!

Tax and fuel (24mpg is normal) are a bit of a bd though but mine doesn’t do many miles.

I like mine which is in non-sport spec with no visible exhausts at the back;

Edited by p1stonhead on Friday 24th May 08:14

[SydneyBridge]

Much better cars than what people bought instead on pcp

[7 5 7]

Still see loads about on my travels, more still knocking about than people think - they just blend into obscurity with the new stuff on the road.

I bet after those reading this shed of the week, you will now not stop seeing them - usually the way it works.

[Every day a journey]

I absolutely loved my cheapo Mondeo, same generation as this, best £800 I've ever spent.

MASSIVE inside. Fold the back seats down and I could chuck the big-ass fat bike in without even having to take the front wheel off.

[Bobupndown]

StescoG66 said:

I like cars like this. Look nothing, but a bit of an iron fist in a wooden mitt.

Or even a woollen one?

[WPA]

For sale in Birmingham, no thanks

[meb90]

I had an estate 2.5T Titanium X a few years back. Loved it! Big & spacious as well as a good drive.

Bought with 146,000 miles on and I ran it to 218,000 miles when it span a big end bearing which consigned it to the scrap heap. I'd still have it now otherwise. I got about 30 mpg but I did a lot of motorway miles.

[Court_S]

I do miss the days of interesting engines in full cars. Yes, I know a modern turbocharged four cylinder is faster and more efficient but they’re never as nice as a large capacity engine.

[mart4856]

How refreshing, a SOTW article written without any purile schoolboy humour nor any pathetic comments about "back doors or passages".

[Baldchap]

Shed Said said:

A £300 chip and remap

Why would you remove the ECU and replace it with a modified one (chipping), then alter the boost and fuelling on it (remapping)?

Shed's been with the postmistress too long to understand modern tuning!

Edited by Baldchap on Friday 24th May 08:52