RE: Shed Of The Week: Ford Mondeo ST24

[shedweller]

I have a st200 estate, bought on a whim and used daily for family duties for the last 4yrs, it has been faultless bar a broken front spring.
It was purchased for the Mrs to bash about in but I have to admit I've fallen for it a bit........ The cabin/drivers side is ergonomicly fantastic and the recaros don't make my back hurt despite doing a 9hr stint once.....
The handling has also surprised me with how well it copes with direction changes and its nimbleness belies its size and weight, brakes can cook a bit when loaded and pressing on.....

Still a 140mph car (loaded up) with an amazing induction note that should come from a bigger engine
And I really like The way the estate looks with the rsap kit and imperial blue paint.


It was replaced some time ago with a subaru legacy - and supposed to be sold, But every time I drive it or polish it up I just can't let it go despite having "better" cars to choose from.

[njw1]

BlueHave said:

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

I take it you've never driven a Mondeo then?

[Jiebo]

BlueHave said:

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

Boom in old Fords like this?

If true that's a HUGE red flag that this silly car bubble has reached it's end. This is a pile of junk that should be in the crusher.

[405dogvan]

"They have aged badly"

Absolute bks

Mondeos were so-far-ahead of anything else Ford had made (and Vauxhall and other mainstream makes would make for a decade) it was unreal. The only car which offered a decent drive AND family car cred. was the 405 but that was feeling dated by the time the Mondeo came out (I have a 95 405, I had a 95 Mondeo - cars from different eras entirely)

All that's happened since Mondeo arrived is that other cars/makes 'caught up' - and some took their sweet time - I reckon I'd take this car over a new Mondeo/Insignia right now tho, I'm fairly sure it's a nicer thing to use unless all you care about is gadgets...

Also - a Mk2 Mondeo where the back bumper is still attached - that's award-winning in itself ;0

[rallycross]

There is only one way to drive a V6 Mk1 Mondeo - watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niIy6Iu1xm0#t=2.30...

[9k rpm]

Is it just me or have ford completely lost their way in this segment or indeed completely removed themselves from it.

I fondly remember the ST24s and halo ST200s as cheaper, genuinely pokey well handling alternatives to the German saloon equivalents; basically the 325/328 3 series of the era. M3, S4 etc were a step above.

The mk3 mondeo was a big car and subsequent models huge and moving into 5 series or E class proportions.

Why did ford move out of a segment they basically owned with the sierra cosworths? I'm guessing money/profitability and lack of WRC spotlight?

[Konan]

9k rpm said:

I fondly remember the ST24s and halo ST200s as cheaper, genuinely pokey well handling alternatives to the German saloon equivalents

Nope - the ST24 handled like an accident damaged shopping trolley.

The ST200 had a bunch of work to try and improve it but the only good think I can think to say about it is that it wasn't as awful as a 6 pot golf of the era. But then, nothing was, even that shopping trolley.

[donkmeister]

405dogvan said:

Mondeos were so-far-ahead of anything else Ford had made (and Vauxhall and other mainstream makes would make for a decade) it was unreal.

Gawd I really don't know where this meme comes from but really it isn't true. They were all ste. I drove Mondeos and Vectras of this generation on a regular basis and have to say... nah. Same applies to the Passats and Avensis's I also drove.

No big fwd saloon/hatch of the last 20 years has ever been a good steer. If you fit a decent engine they can be a bit of fun for straight line acceleration, but no-one has ever taken a Ford Mondeo out for a spin and thought "Well I guess I might as well bin my Lotus, this fwd menopause on wheels is just as rewarding!". However, plenty of people have taken a Ford Mondeo out for a spin and thought "well this feels much faster than the car I am replacing, also a bloke down the pub swears that the Duratec is actually a Porsche engine, and I saw Top Gear review the Vectra VXR and am fairly certain they didn't just pull the fuse on the stability system and bury the throttle on every corner CLARKSON DOES NOT LIE!!!"

Don't misunderstand me, there are fwd cars out there that ARE fun to drive, but nothing in the Mondeo class counts as a good steer. Give it the 400bhp supercharger makeover and it will be fun in a straight line but that won't help the cornering ability.

[njw1]

donkmeister said:

Gawd I really don't know where this meme comes from but really it isn't true. They were all ste. I drove Mondeos and Vectras of this generation on a regular basis and have to say... nah. Same applies to the Passats and Avensis's I also drove.

No big fwd saloon/hatch of the last 20 years has ever been a good steer. If you fit a decent engine they can be a bit of fun for straight line acceleration, but no-one has ever taken a Ford Mondeo out for a spin and thought "Well I guess I might as well bin my Lotus, this fwd menopause on wheels is just as rewarding!". However, plenty of people have taken a Ford Mondeo out for a spin and thought "well this feels much faster than the car I am replacing, also a bloke down the pub swears that the Duratec is actually a Porsche engine, and I saw Top Gear review the Vectra VXR and am fairly certain they didn't just pull the fuse on the stability system and bury the throttle on every corner CLARKSON DOES NOT LIE!!!"

Don't misunderstand me, there are fwd cars out there that ARE fun to drive, but nothing in the Mondeo class counts as a good steer. Give it the 400bhp supercharger makeover and it will be fun in a straight line but that won't help the cornering ability.

I'm sure many mk3 Mondeo owners (me included) would disagree with you, sure, it's no Lotus, but they drive very well indeed, if you take into account the fact it's got four doors, a big boot and front wheel drive it makes the way it drives and handles even more remarkable IMO. I'm not a really a fan of front wheel drive cars either, a fwd car has to be REALLY good to impress me.

P.S Mine's got one of those 'orrible diesel engines and can still be entertaining if you want it to be.

[Jimmy Recard]

Fun is all relative. I can have fun driving a V6 Mondeo or Vectra. Some may not have fun doing that

[s m]

njw1 said:

donkmeister said:

Gawd I really don't know where this meme comes from but really it isn't true. They were all ste. I drove Mondeos and Vectras of this generation on a regular basis and have to say... nah. Same applies to the Passats and Avensis's I also drove.

No big fwd saloon/hatch of the last 20 years has ever been a good steer. If you fit a decent engine they can be a bit of fun for straight line acceleration, but no-one has ever taken a Ford Mondeo out for a spin and thought "Well I guess I might as well bin my Lotus, this fwd menopause on wheels is just as rewarding!". However, plenty of people have taken a Ford Mondeo out for a spin and thought "well this feels much faster than the car I am replacing, also a bloke down the pub swears that the Duratec is actually a Porsche engine, and I saw Top Gear review the Vectra VXR and am fairly certain they didn't just pull the fuse on the stability system and bury the throttle on every corner CLARKSON DOES NOT LIE!!!"

Don't misunderstand me, there are fwd cars out there that ARE fun to drive, but nothing in the Mondeo class counts as a good steer. Give it the 400bhp supercharger makeover and it will be fun in a straight line but that won't help the cornering ability.

I'm sure many mk3 Mondeo owners (me included) would disagree with you, sure, it's no Lotus, but they drive very well indeed, if you take into account the fact it's got four doors, a big boot and front wheel drive it makes the way it drives and handles even more remarkable IMO. I'm not a really a fan of front wheel drive cars either, a fwd car has to be REALLY good to impress me.

P.S Mine's got one of those 'orrible diesel engines and can still be entertaining if you want it to be.

Yep, ignoring the back from the pub crowd, they did handle pretty well unless you're a hardcore "rwd is the only way fundamentalist"
They often used to bung a Mondeo/405/406 into handling tests to illustrate the point
As on this one below.....

[George Smiley]

alorotom said:

these have aged very badly, the saloon moreso ... never driven one but cant imagine they are inspiring ... this is just very lack-luster to me

and a garage wanting over 10bags for one ... this is not an RS and not THAT desirable for a 'collector' IMHO

I had one at about 3 years old. It was a commendable commuter and a joy to drive.

Colour makes a big difference too

[greenarrow]

9k rpm said:

Is it just me or have ford completely lost their way in this segment or indeed completely removed themselves from it.

I fondly remember the ST24s and halo ST200s as cheaper, genuinely pokey well handling alternatives to the German saloon equivalents; basically the 325/328 3 series of the era. M3, S4 etc were a step above.

The mk3 mondeo was a big car and subsequent models huge and moving into 5 series or E class proportions.

Why did ford move out of a segment they basically owned with the sierra cosworths? I'm guessing money/profitability and lack of WRC spotlight?

I absolutely agree with this. Despite all the ridiculously negative comments about the ST24, the Mk1 Mondeo really shows up how the current Mondeo has lost its way. Very roomy hatch or saloon, about 4.5 metres long (current car is close to 4.9) weighing in at around 1300 Kgs for the phase 1 2 litre saloon. The Mk1 had more than enough room for any family, handled well compared with the class average and absolutely WAS the class leader for its entire production run.

The latest Mondeo is fug ugly, off the pace in terms of performance and economy, way too big and frankly outclassed by stuff like the Skoda Superb, which is an equally large car, but far bigger inside and out, better looking, better built and with much more efficient engines.

[hundleydavid]

Blast from the past!

Had one as a company car through Hertz. Drove it 8k in 3 months from new.

I still feel for the person who probably thought they were getting a deal when it was put for sale at 4 months old.

I still felt guilty for actually thinking it was ok at the time lol

[Dazed and Confused]

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 3.0 24V in my 1990 Mercedes is good for 230bhp+.

[Jimmy Recard]

Dazed and Confused said:

The 3.0 24V in my 1990 Mercedes is good for 230bhp+.

Interesting that a Mercedes 3.2 24v V6 from the late 1990s is not capable of that then.

Not that either of those things are that relevant to what I posted. It looks to me that a Mercedes 2.6 straight six in 1998 managed 168bhp, so the same as the Ford in the article. (This is according to Wikipedia, so who knows?)

[njw1]

greenarrow said:

9k rpm said:

Is it just me or have ford completely lost their way in this segment or indeed completely removed themselves from it.

I fondly remember the ST24s and halo ST200s as cheaper, genuinely pokey well handling alternatives to the German saloon equivalents; basically the 325/328 3 series of the era. M3, S4 etc were a step above.

The mk3 mondeo was a big car and subsequent models huge and moving into 5 series or E class proportions.

Why did ford move out of a segment they basically owned with the sierra cosworths? I'm guessing money/profitability and lack of WRC spotlight?

I absolutely agree with this. Despite all the ridiculously negative comments about the ST24, the Mk1 Mondeo really shows up how the current Mondeo has lost its way. Very roomy hatch or saloon, about 4.5 metres long (current car is close to 4.9) weighing in at around 1300 Kgs for the phase 1 2 litre saloon. The Mk1 had more than enough room for any family, handled well compared with the class average and absolutely WAS the class leader for its entire production run.

The latest Mondeo is fug ugly, off the pace in terms of performance and economy, way too big and frankly outclassed by stuff like the Skoda Superb, which is an equally large car, but far bigger inside and out, better looking, better built and with much more efficient engines.

Can only agree with the above, I drive one of the bosses mk5 Mondeo at work fairly regularly and I'm glad to get back in to my old mk3 to drive home. I wouldn't say the mk5 is a bad car though, but it could be a lot better.

[s m]

From a road test with its nemesis of the time...a V6 Vectra ...but in GSi form rather than vanilla 170bhp V6 power...it wasn't until the ST200 Mondeo arrived that the Ford would compete on power. Rather confusingly there was also a Vectra ST200 at that time

[Djrowley]

Much better than a vectra in every single way

[s m]

Djrowley said:

Much better than a vectra in every single way

....although in that test above the MSD-worked over GSi got the nod. I guess the ST200 was more of the equivalent Mondeo to the GSi though.

Quite a few mags at the time wondered how they'd done such a good job on the Vectra - the limited edition ST Vectras even had Performance Car praising them