RE: Ford Mondeo ST220 | Shed of the Week

[Squishey]

My favourite car. I really wish I still had it

[leef44]

It's a yes from me.

I like the shape, size and Ford of that era always provided good handling, good steering cars.

[ruggedscotty]

first car that I was in that nudged 150 on a public road.... many years ago.did it with aplomb

[MC Bodge]

greenarrow said:

Great RPJ era Ford chassis too, optimised for British roads. Having owned 3 late 90s/early 00s era Fords, I do feel they were the high point for that marque. All drove fantastically well for what they were.

So a big thumbs up from me.

I had a MK3 Ghia X TDCi estate. The chassis was excellent. It felt very stable flat out on the autobahn too.

I have a Mk5 Mondeo estate (Titanium, 18" wheels) . They seemed to get a bad press from some, but it drives really well once the silly steering assist features are disabled (in software via the OBD port). Very comfortable and very nimble for such a big car, both empty or fully laden. Good brakes too.

[Mr Tidy]

That seems like a lot of Fastish Ford for the money, although I much prefer the looks of the previous Mondeo iteration.

But I lost interest in Fords when they all became FWD - my last was a 1991 Sierra Sapphire 2.0GLSi!

My current daily is a manual 2005 E90 BMW 330i that is more powerful, more economical (in my ownership anyway) and probably only worth Shed money now but I'd never consider replacing it with any Mondeo.

[MC Bodge]

Worth a look, if the rust isn't too bad

[Xenoous]

I really like the look of these, in blue or perhaps silver. I'd have one in a heart beat. The age scares me off. Can quite easily see these costing thousands to get right. Suspension refresh, aftermarket exhaust, preventative maintenance, clutch, dmf, bodywork etc.

It's a car I'd cherish, not sure my wallet can cope.

[GhiaInjection]

Fastdruid said:

greenarrow said:

Tiglon said:

Numeric said:

Some of the Fords of this era were just such good cars.

I used to drive a lot of different stuff and I often used to lament that people would rather a poverty 318i that could barely accelerate (low powered BMW never make sense to me) with sad M badges cos they had the M-pack rather than something like this, or if the diesel you could get say the Ghia x estate which was a another great car rather than the seemingly ubiquitous low powered A4 Avant.

But they did and here we are with Ford seemingly giving up in so many areas. Shows I knew little about motivations I guess.

With you on this - if you can't afford 6 cylinders, it's a waste of money getting a BMW.

Decent shed this, I'd be tempted.

Can't agree with this (and yes I do own a 4 Cyl BMW) because even with a "poverty spec" 3 series, you still get a superbly balanced RWD chassis and with less weight over the front wheels, arguably a more nimble car than the six cylinder variants.

Top gear did a test of the boggo 2l rep cars. amongst others there was a Mk3 Mondeo 2.0i and the more powerful E46 318i

The boggo 2.0i Mondeo was 2 seconds faster round the Top Gear test track than the 318i!

Edited by Fastdruid on Friday 17th March 09:44

Yes, and as the BBC have put all episodes of Top Gear on iPlayer you can watch it again! Series 1 Episode 4 47:47 in

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00yzqph

It's impressive that it beats the RWD similarly powered BMW. But what's equally interesting is that it beats the +20hp supercharged C-Class by 2 secs and the platform sharing Jag X-type by 5 sec!

The Mondeo did have optional 18" wheels, fitted which means it would have had Conti Sport Contact 2 225/40 tyres. Which would have helped (Ford must of had a tip off!). Although I don't think 18s were available as an option on any of the other cars at the time!?

[Mark-Anthony]

I bought an identical one off these back in 2012 , 7 years old and 50k miles for just £3700 which seemed like a bargain at the time and it really was money well spent as I've still got her 11 years on. The reason they were so cheap back then i think is the hefty fuel consumption mine seems be stuck on 23.6 mpg but as I only do about 2k miles a year i can live with it and she drives really nice . She's got 82k miles on her now and I'm hoping for a few more years out off her fingers crossed and not going down in value now .

[Vulcanproject]

They're great but you need a blue one in good condition to see the best rise in value over the coming years. I wouldn't spend lots on modifying one extensively since they have a nice ride and adequate chassis. I would do the exhaust, improve breathing and map it. Won't make it a rocket ship but you can feel the improvement on these and you'll never regret it for the sound, they are quite pleasant. Just don't do a full delete because it'll be obnoxiously loud and defeat the point of it being a comfortable mile muncher.

[abbott013]

Had the diesel version for a few years, two egr valves. Sticking rear calipers, hand brake mechanism. And those beautiful diamond cut wheels, was plagued by pot hole damage and corrosion.
The drive was fantastic, a real drivers car with great chassis feedback.
My mk4 in comparison, you feel a little removed

[njw1]

I had a 2.2 TDCi Titanium X which was a fantastic car and regretted selling it so bought the ST220's diesel brother, an ST TDCi. The Titanium was nothing but reliable but I must have bought the ST just as everything wore out as it needed suspension arms and bushes, a driveshaft, steering rack, clutch, a turbo and probably other stuff I've forgotten, luckily parts are cheap, I know which end of a spanner is which and they're fairly easy cars to work on.
My ST had the optional 'special suspension' which is the same set up as the ST220 but as stuff had worn out I fitted upgraded shocks, lowering springs and polybushed the rear subframe, it was the best handling car I've owned. Despite the issues I had with my diesel one I've always fancied an ST220 and when I see cheap examples like this weeks shed it makes me want to scratch the itch even more.

My ST TDCi;

Edited by njw1 on Saturday 18th March 17:31

[GhiaInjection]

Owned a 2006 ST TDCi from 2007 to 2018. Great all rounder.

Posted a comprehensive review when one appeared on SOTW...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Ron240]

BeastieBoy73 said:

I simply don’t do Fords.

I don't do Ferrari, Lamborghini or Bugatti.

[finlo]

ruggedscotty said:

first car that I was in that nudged 150 on a public road.... many years ago.did it with aplomb

I managed an indicated 165 in mine on an unrestricted stretch of road when I first got it, all in the name of research of course!

[s m]

Ron240 said:

BeastieBoy73 said:

I simply don’t do Fords.

I don't do Ferrari, Lamborghini or Bugatti.

[apc321]

The ST220 estate is the one you want.

This is mine (55 plate):

Fantastic car.

[Mr Tidy]

finlo said:

ruggedscotty said:

first car that I was in that nudged 150 on a public road.... many years ago.did it with aplomb

I managed an indicated 165 in mine on an unrestricted stretch of road when I first got it, all in the name of research of course!

Ford speedos always exaggerated!

Both of my 4 speed 2.8i Capris got past the 140 mark on the speedo, but were geared for 132ish before the rev-limiter cut in. Research on private roads obviously.

[Jon_S_Rally]

Had one of these about 10 years ago. Probably one of the best all-round cars I've owned. Not the fastest, but it sound great and the engine revved pretty well. Chassis was the stand-out though. I don't think I have driven a car that inspired such confidence. I've owned cars that could cover ground faster, but there was something about the ST220 that made you fearless. It was just so easy to press on.

Mine was also super reliable. I bought it off a friend on about 115k and took it to 150k in around a year. In that time I think I changed an ABS sensor and put front discs and pads on it. The brakes were the only real weak point to be honest. I think some people fitted Focus ST brakes as an upgrade.

Many happy memories in mine for sure.

Piston Heads said:

...especially if you had one with the very comfortable heated Recaro leather seats, as here

All ST220s had the Recaro seats as I recall. It was only the ST TDCi where they were an option.

Jordie Barretts sock said:

Just leaves me cold. Uninteresting Ford.

Truly the words of someone who has never driven one. These were a very well-regarded car in period. I remember when I bought mine, a guy I worked with (formerly of Lotus) waxed lyrical about it and said the Mondeo was always a benchmark in chassis terms. You might not like it, but they are definitely not "uninteresting".

Fastdruid said:

Erm are we forgetting about the later Mk4 Mondeo 2.5T here?

Sure, the ST220 was the last Mondeo with an ST badge but the 2.5T was an ST in all but badge, using the same engine as the Focus ST with better handling than the Mk3 Mondeo, quicker than some variants of the ST220 and massively so with a remap. In Australia they badged the Focus ST as the XR5 Turbo and the Mondeo 2.5T as the Mondeo XR5 Turbo.

You could argue it didn't have the special sports suspension that the Mk3 ST220 did...but then again, neither did the Mk3 STD as standard (it was optional).

Edited by Fastdruid on Friday 17th March 09:46

I had a 2.5T and was really disappointed with it. It was definitely more of a cruiser than an out-and-out sports saloon. It lost the Recaro seats, and the suspension felt soft and didn't have the edge of the ST220. The long gearing also made the engine feel flat. It was very quiet, well-equipped and a decent mile-muncher, but it didn't feel sporty in the slightest. It got written off after a few months (someone pulled onto a roundabout and hit me) and I wasn't sad to see it go at all. ST220 was definitely the peak in my eyes.

[s m]

Mr Tidy said:

Ford speedos always exaggerated!

Pretty much all speedos exaggerated back then!

Read any Autocar road test of that era and you’ll see

Quite common to see 10% inaccuracy at 100mph even on a BMW