RE: Shed Of The Week: Ford Mondeo ST24

[brickiebrownie]

I had an early (R reg) saloon without the RSA pack... Those who claim 'uninspiring' clearly have never driven one...

180bhp lusty V6 with the variable butterfly valves, lowered and very much stiffer and the legendary mondeo ergonomics.

Just a shame that in 1998 we thought that off-purple paisley half leather was a good idea....

[Mercury00]

I don't think it's aged badly at all. BMW didn't discover that cars could have curves until the turn of the millennium, the E36 looked old even in the nineties. I think the Mondeo looks fine.

[Wait Here Until Green Light Shows]

Toyoda said:

Worth scrap value and nothing else!

Great input
How is your 1.0 petrol Yaris these days?

[IanH755]

Had a T-Reg one bought from a family friend as my first "fast car" with a bodykit etc (70hp & 130hp Escorts before). I destroyed it by knowing absolutely nothing about cars and yet still trying to modify it like the early 20yo wassock I was.

1. Twin "Powerflow" cat back oval exhaust (like the st200 but bigger) - Needed a new hole cutting in the bumper for the 2nd oval and it really did sound amazing (my 1st V6) but the "hole" was a bodge job by an apprentice guy and looked horrible.

2. K&N 57i Induction Kit - Again, great sound past 3000rpm but sucked in nothing but hot engine bay air making it slower

3. EBD Greenstuff Brake Pads and Black Diamond Discs - Genuinely the best "feeling" brakes I've ever had in any car, you could tell exactly what each wheel was doing with so much feel and modulation sense, epic confidence builders those brakes! Daft Ian Time - this is how lacking my car knowledge was back then, the Black diamond discs came with a black "anti-rust" coating which wore off after the 1st 1 or 2 applications. I didn't know this and thought the brakes were carbon (like F1) and would be black forever

4. Oz Superturismos - Bought 17's with the wrong tyre sidewall ratio (35 instead of 45) so the already underwheeled OEM look was replaced by even smaller wheel/tyre combo whiich massively threw the speedo out, left massive arch gaps and just looked bloody awful.

5. Ecotek CB-28P valve - Need I say any more, what a massive muppet

I sold it and bought a R34 GTT Skyline which is where I "grew up" with modding but my family friend has never, not even 20+ years later, let me forget how I ruined his car

Edited by IanH755 on Friday 21st July 14:30

[lee_erm]

I can vouch for how well these drive. The controls are perfectly weighted too. The difference in terms of dynamics between this and say a Passat of the same era was night and day.

The Mondeo is more reliable and better built than a Passat of the same era too, although I doubt the PH forum would believe me on that one.

Edited by lee_erm on Friday 21st July 14:32

[Jimmy Recard]

I'm in two minds. They were good cars but I never really got on with the styling, especially the saloon.

At least earlier saloons had that full length light panel thing on the rear (or was that an option or only certain trim levels?) that split up the rear end a bit

[V8 TEJ]

These do sound nice and go well enough from what I remember.

In the early 2000's a chum had a nice one (S reg I think) and I used to own a 1995 Alfa Romeo 155 V6. Both our cars had sports exhausts and lower suspension on, and as much as I loved my Alfa (and that Busso V6), I have to say that the ST24 sounded better It had more of that throbby V6 noise like a Golf VR6 and as others have said once the 'secondaries' had opened it was even better.

They were not slow cars back then but I always wondered how they 'only' had 168bhp with 24 valves compared to my Alfa which had 166bhp with 12 valves. Our cars were pretty evenly matched and we had great fun tearing around in those days

The ST200 was noticeably quicker but their prices were a lot more at the time.

[Jimmy Recard]

TNH said:

Not sure how they only managed to squeeze 168bhp out of a 2.5 v6.

To be honest, that's around what I'd expect from a 2.5 V6 in the late 1990s. Sounds within a few horsepower of anything else at the time.

The Vauxhall X25XE (2.5 V6) was exactly the same I think (admittedly more powerful in the Vectra 2.5 GSi)

VW VR6 was a 12 valve 2.8 with about the same power (174bhp from memory?)

Rover KV6 was a new 2.5 V6 at the time with slightly more (175bhp?) and I am pretty sure that was supposed to be the most powerful 2.5 V6 in this class when it was released

[V8 TEJ]

Jimmy Recard said:

To be honest, that's around what I'd expect from a 2.5 V6 in the late 1990s. Sounds within a few horsepower of anything else at the time.

The Vauxhall X25XE (2.5 V6) was exactly the same I think (admittedly more powerful in the Vectra 2.5 GSi)

VW VR6 was a 12 valve 2.8 with about the same power (174bhp from memory?)

Rover KV6 was a new 2.5 V6 at the time with slightly more (175bhp?) and I am pretty sure that was supposed to be the most powerful 2.5 V6 in this class when it was released

The Alfa engine (2.5 24V) had 192 bhp when launched in 1998. But I agree, that it was the norm in those days

[Jimmy Recard]

V8 TEJ said:

The Alfa engine (2.5) had 192 bhp when launched in 1998. But I agree, that it was the norm in those days

Yes, you're right. The same for the Vectra 2.5 GSi I think

These numbers are just how it was. Try comparing a nice spec Windows 98 PC with a brand new PC World special offer and you'll see a much bigger difference

[s m]

Jimmy Recard said:

V8 TEJ said:

The Alfa engine (2.5) had 192 bhp when launched in 1998. But I agree, that it was the norm in those days

Yes, you're right. The same for the Vectra 2.5 GSi I think

These numbers are just how it was. Try comparing a nice spec Windows 98 PC with a brand new PC World special offer and you'll see a much bigger difference

Yes, most of the sports saloons of the time had a 2-layer type echelon of power. e.g 2.5 ST24 V6 @ 167 bhp....then the later ST200 with an extra 30ish bhp, Cavalier/Vectra V6 Sri ..170bhp....then the later GSI with 190bhp, 2.8VR6 with 174bhp.... 2.9 with 190, Alfa 155 V6 12v 164bhp,later 156 24v at 190bhp
BMWs 2.5 litre 24v of this time in the 323i put out 170bhp ( the earlier 2.5litre 24v in the E36 325i managed 192bhp )

[Jiebo]

What a load of junk - one of the worst sheds for a while.

No appeal whatsoever.

[BlueHave]

Possibly attempting to cash in on the boom in old fast Ford prices.

In reality it drives and handles like a bag of spanners and worth £500 tops

[s m]

a said:

alorotom said:

never driven one but cant imagine they are inspiring

Then prepare to be surprised if you ever do.

Proper feedback through every single control like you just can't find in any modern car. Nothing is overly-assisted, there is no numbness anywhere, while at the same time nothing is harsh (obviously compared to new cars it'll be rougher and more noisy, but not awful). Perfect driving position - you could spend all day driving hard and not get tired.

That engine was fantastic too. Lovely induction growl and gives you a proper kick in the back and a nice howl at 4,500rpm when the secondary valves open up.

Not really by the rules of £1k or under but I'd be tempted to spend another few hundred if I wanted the under-the-radar of a V6 Mondeo to get this later 3-litre version with 200bhp

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112483244908

Doesn't have the extra power of the 220 but still respectably quick ( quicker than this 168bhp Mk2 ) and a bit roomier than a Mk2 - plus a bit newer

[Jimmy Recard]

s m said:

Not really by the rules of £1k or under but I'd be tempted to spend another few hundred if I wanted the under-the-radar of a V6 Mondeo to get this later 3-litre version with 200bhp

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112483244908

Doesn't have the extra power of the 220 but still respectably quick ( quicker than this 168bhp Mk2 ) and a bit roomier than a Mk2 - plus a bit newer

That's a nice car. Nice spec, condition, cheap and a V6 with chain driven cams. It's hard to do better, I would say

[georgezippy]

s m said:

Although really you'd want this one in a comparison with the ST24

I once had a red MK4 cortina, which would have had no problem keeping up with a V6 mondeo.

[ambuletz]

probably would have been more desirable if it was in ford blue/performance blue right? nonetheless, would it handle better then the more modern mondeos? decent shed I guess and it looks like it was well maintained which makes it all the more worthwhile.

[exgtt]

Drove an ST24 when I had my 156 V6, it had that god awful engine damping when changing gear, revs hanging on in an attempt to flatter lazy drivers.

[skylarking808]

Was impressed by the ride and handling of a new fairly ordinary Mondeo back in the day. Ford were starting to make decent chassis in this era.
If you can get past the looks; maybe in another colour, then this would be a very under rated retro ride shed.
Made in the days before torquey diesels could give you a run for your money

[Konan]

georgezippy said:

I once had a red MK4 cortina, which would have had no problem keeping up with a V6 mondeo.

I miss my BOA.