Ford Mondeo ST220: PH Carpool
Not many people track their V6 Mondeos but Neil Edward wasn't to be deterred!
Car: Mondeo ST220
Owned since: October 2006
Previously owned: Mk3 Mondeo 2.5 V6, V8 Vantage, Lotus Evora, Range Rover V8, C63 Coupe, Aston DBS
Ghia went in to be fixed and this came back!
For being a car nut it's probably pretty unusual that I didn't get my licence until I was 25. I wanted a driver's car, had a leather interior and enough space to ferry mountain bikes. The Mondeo always got good reviews and I thought the ST220 looked amazing in Performance Blue, plus I like being different and the ST220 is quite a rare car.
I was very nervous as a new driver and wanted to just go and buy a car knowing it was good... don't ask! Disappointingly I couldn't afford the insurance so I settled for a 2.5 V6 Ghia, not quite the look I was going for as a 25 year-old! After a year the sunroof started playing up and it was really annoying me so I went to the local Ford dealer to get it sorted and someone had just p/x'd in their ST220, it didn't even have a price tag on it. They did me an amazing deal on the insurance and I left with the ST220!
The ST220 fulfilling its original purpose
I kind of already knew this would be the case before starting to turn the car into a track toy and ultimately into a race car for the MSV Trackday Trophy series but it has been exceptionally expensive to modify a road car that no one tracks or plays with. Amazing value can be found on eBay and the like with track/race cars selling for a fraction of the money that has been invested in them but as mentioned above I wanted to be different. I wanted to know the history of the car and I wanted to do as many of the modifications as possible as that's part of the fun.
There are very few off the shelf parts available but the internet is a wonderful thing so there are a few bits and pieces that fit. I have found through trial and error that it's usually best to stick with what you know. A point in case was thinking I was being clever in reducing the wheel size to 17-inch to be able to use cheaper slicks for track days, doing all the maths to make sure I bought a set to clear the bigger brakes only to find out I'd forgotten to take the profile of the alloy spokes into account... balls!
Let the track preparation begin!
Things I love:
Ever since October 2006 I've thrashed the living daylights out of her and she's never once let me down. For a year and a half myself and my two friends (named and shamed above!) that were in on the project used to drive from Aberdeen to Knockhill, thrash her for eight 10-minute stints and drive her back without issue. The car was utterly bombproof! The handling is completely predictable and there's nothing like four-wheel sliding a Mondeo round a corner with complete confidence!
It hasn't always gone to plan on circuit!
Things I hate:
The only time the car has let us down is things we've done to her, which invariably could've been avoided and definitely cost a lot to fix! The feeling of helplessness when something goes wrong and I can't fix it is awful! Now that I've started to race I'm sure these moments will be more frequent as weak parts fail and are replaced with a better engineered solution. I missed the Oulton Park round last month as two days before the race I was happily tinkering about and sheared a wheel stud off. There was only about an eighth of the cross sectional area left so probably a good thing it happened when stationary!
The lack of aftermarket parts is annoying but then it is more satisfying having to think about improvements rather than just looking in a catalogue. Oh, and my seat is ever so slightly too small for me and I don't like the cheap solution of laying off the pies for a while!
Neil bagged a podium at Snetterton
Big enough to be in complete denial! Its not so much parts costs, although I have generally spec'd much better bits than really required (an ATL fuel cell as I definitely don't want to catch fire!), but it's the vast amount of man hours required to work on bespoke solutions along with a decent amount of trial and error. I'm lucky enough to have found a great mechanic who I can completely trust to sort things out! I'm hoping that costs will reduce as most of the major bits have been done and barring stuffing it into a wall next year's racing should be mainly maintenance and race fees.
As for all the clothing I managed to get helmet, overalls, Nomex underwear, gloves, shoes and HANS Device for £1K; I did a lot of internet based research! Wallace Performance in Aberdeen, GT4 Motorsport and Torque Developments International down South have all been instrumental in getting the car into the racing beast she is today!
Lots of trial and error to get here!
Track wise we've done Knockhill both forwards and reverse course more times than I can recount. I've spun at Clarke and Duffus Dip, not amusing without a roll cage! With the Trackday Trophy I've been to Snetterton where I finished 7th and 3rd in Class for my first ever trophy! Other races that I'll make this year are Cadwell Park, Brands Hatch National and GP and back to Snetterton.
What next?
I don't intend to ever sell! The clutch went recently (commendable that it lasted 77,000 road miles, a year's worth of track days and a 45-minute race!) so while a new one is going in I'm having a lightened flywheel and Quaife diff fitted. My plan is to slowly develop the car and enter the Trackday Cup next year which has 60-minute races and higher HP/weight ratio categories. Ultimately maybe a Britcar 24hr entry?
[Track pics: Laura Manning]
Want to share your car with PHers on Carpool? Email us at carpool@pistonheads.com!
Good carpool, great to see someone having fun with the car. Can't help but think it's not the standard option for a reason though!
looking at your owned list i need to ask What is your daily now then?
Not had time to track it yet but hoping to do so later in year :-)
You really do need a good set of tyres on these to get the best out of them. If I were more serious about using it for track I would look at coilovers and ADO8R's for example, but then I would start to compromise the balance of a great road car that covers ground very quickly as it is, so these days it just stays pretty.
Great to see one of these cars track prepared. With such an easy and predictable chassis I suspect it would be a less strange choice for a track day toy that it first appears.
Still miss mine (and the ST200 before it)
Not even an ST in the current line up.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff