What replacement for Mk4 Mondeo Estate?

[MC Bodge]

I've owned a Mk4 Mondeo 2.0 Tdci Estate for the past 7 years.

It has been great. Comfortable, brisk enough for the autobahn (although don't go there often), agile for its size (even fully laden), good boot, reliable and painless to own.

I'm wondering what to go for next.

Criteria:

Spacious
Big boot
Good handling
Compliant, comfortable & composed ride (not interested in rock hard suspension and massive rims) that combined with good handling make it a decent bumpy back roads car.

Torquey, ~140-180bhp+ . Would prefer a fairly frugal petrol turbo to a diesel.
Image is irrelevant
1-3 years old

Cheers

Edited by MC Bodge on Thursday 23 November 11:40

[IanCress]

I guess if size is your main criteria then you can't do much better than the current Skoda Superb. Can be had with the 1.4TSi engine, but I bet they're pretty rare.

[ExPat2B]

IanCress said:

I guess if size is your main criteria then you can't do much better than the current Skoda Superb. Can be had with the 1.4TSi engine, but I bet they're pretty rare.

The fuel economy drops off very heavily at fast motorway speeds on these engines. Great for the 40mph everywhere crew, not so much for the fast road user.

[Fastchas]

MkV?

[MC Bodge]

Can the Superb or Mk5 Mondeo be hustled along a back road with gusto in comparison?

Ford 1.5 petrol turbos are rare.

[jamiebae]

Skoda Superb is the obvious option, with the 1.4TSI engine. Nothing will drive as well as the old Mondeo, as everyone has moved to electric PAS, I guess a Peugeot 508 might be close but you won't find a petrol powered one of those.

It's pretty slim pickings really, at a push maybe a Seat Exeo but it'll be a bit smaller inside than the Ford.

[boxsey]

Mazda 6 sport nav tourer. I have 2.2D 175 PS version and it's proved to be a great car. Practical, spacious and fun to drive. The petrol version is a little down on power (160 PS) but no doubt will be just as good to drive.

[IanCress]

Still spacious but better to drive - Focus ST Estate, Octavia VRS, Leon FR. Can the Peugeot 308 Estate be had with a more powerful petrol engine than the 1.2 130bhp?

[irc]

ExPat2B said:

The fuel economy drops off very heavily at fast motorway speeds on these engines. Great for the 40mph everywhere crew, not so much for the fast road user.

My Octavia 1.4Tsi got 47mpg on a Glasgow to Cambridge run mostly at 73-75mph (a true 75mph from satnav) The most I've had is 52mpg on a long A road 50-60mph trip.

So not dropping that much. I can't see many big petrol cars doing much better.

[Jag_NE]

you are looking at euro6 compliant diesels based upon your age range, based upon what you are using it for i cant think of a single practical, economic or environmental factor that a small petrol would bring vs a 2.0L TD. NOx and PM at euro6 is pretty much a wash, CO2 on the petrol will be way higher.

i would argue that the TD may be better overall for the environment as that little petrol will probably go pop earlier in its life if you are tanking it down autobahns.

[captain_cynic]

MC Bodge said:

I've owned a Mk4 Mondeo 2.0 Tdci Estate for the past 7 years.

It has been great. Comfortable, brisk enough for the autobahn, agile for its size (even fully laden), good boot, reliable and painless to own.

I'm wondering what to go for next.

Criteria:

Spacious
Big boot
Good handling
Compliant, comfortable & composed ride (not interested in rock hard suspension and massive rims) that combined with good handling make it a decent bumpy back roads car.

Torquey, ~140-180bhp+ . Would prefer a fairly frugal petrol turbo to a diesel.
Image is irrelevant
1-3 years old

Cheers

Whats your budget? doing a quick search for Estate, Petrol, 2014 and onwards gives me a few results. An Audi A4 estate is £16,000... whist many a Vauxhall Astra estates are £6000.

if you like the Skoda, what about a SEAT? Not sure what the bootspace is like though.

[KTF]

Why not buy a Mk5 version? Either that or an Insignia will get you your best bang for the buck.

[Nickbrapp]

Superb with the 280 engine?

[MC Bodge]

Cheers folks.

To clarify, I don't often drive on the autobahn, but was making the point that my existing car was quick enough.

I currently do only around 9,000 miles per year.

Superb TSI 148 is looking promising.

Mazda has a hard ride, doesn't it?

[Barchettaman]

KTF said:

Why not buy a Mk5 version? Either that or an Insignia will get you your best bang for the buck.

Have a look at GlasgowRob´s thread on his Mark V Mondeo replacement over on Reader´s Cars.

Suffice to say, he´s pretty disappointed.

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

[quinny100]

Budget?

Honestly, your best bet would be the newest, highest spec Mk4.5 Mondeo you can find. Or an F11 5 Series Touring if your budget is >15K.

2.0 Titanium X Sport petrol is a lovely car if you can live with 30MPG average.

I've just swapped my Mk4 Mondeo for a Mercedes C350e. The Merc is way more technologically advanced, it's very quiet, very fast (in a straight line) and the ride is fantastic on air suspension but the Mondeo was a better steer for any sort of enthusiastic driving.

[tedman]

MC Bodge said:

Mazda has a hard ride, doesn't it?

Only the Sport trim has the harder ride due to suspension and larger wheels (19") wheels.

The SEL trim is probably the best if you want a better ride, but still has most of the toys.

[boxsey]

tedman said:

MC Bodge said:

Mazda has a hard ride, doesn't it?

Only the Sport trim has the harder ride due to suspension and larger wheels (19") wheels.

The SEL trim is probably the best if you want a better ride, but still has most of the toys.

I'm sure Tedman is right about the SE specs being softer but I personally don't consider the sport to be a hard ride. I've always liked Fords and consider the Mazda to have very similar driving feedback. And it has way better feedback than my previous Audi A4.

[IanCress]

Coming from a diesel, the OP may find the naturally aspirated Mazda a bit gutless. He did ask for a torquey turbo petrol.

[MC Bodge]

IanCress said:

Coming from a diesel, the OP may find the naturally aspirated Mazda a bit gutless. He did ask for a torquey turbo petrol.

Correct. Decent torque starting from quite low in the Rev range is what I'd like from a big road car. It's not a racer.