Ford on par with Audi?!

smudge_don

smudge_don

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Right, just picked up the replacement for the Audi, a 55 plate Ford Mondeo 2.2TDCi ST and drove it home from Newcastle

I have to say, i am very impressed! It's easily on par with the Audi for comfort and performance, i would say it handles even better than the Audi and the build quality isn't far off either

The interior isn't quite up to scratch in comparison, but is still very good.

All the toys on the Audi are included with this Mondeo as well. Xenons, auto levellers, headlight washers, auto lights, auto wipers, rear parking sensors, heated seats, climate control, cruise control

So for nearly a 3rd of the price, it looks as if i've got a right bargain ;)

Will still be sad to see the Audi go, but i've defo got a worthy successor to it :thumbsup:
 
Not a fan of ford ,

good luck with it .
 
Interesting....I had a 2.2TDCi Mondeo as a loaner while one of our cars was being repaired when someone had run into it.

Couldn't wait to get rid of it....slow,not particularly economical,horrid plastics on the dash etc,and an engine that sounded like a bag of spanners.

As long as you like it,but you can't argue with the price and value.
 
S3mad said:
Not a fan of ford ,

good luck with it .
Click to expand...

Neither was I until tonight tbh mate, it's a fantastic compromise

Reason for this switch is i'm saving a deposit for a house, and got an extra 10k spare this way
 
S3Alex said:
Interesting....I had a 2.2TDCi Mondeo as a loaner while one of our cars was being repaired when someone had run into it.

Couldn't wait to get rid of it....slow,not particularly economical,horrid plastics on the dash etc,and an engine that sounded like a bag of spanners.

As long as you like it,but you can't argue with the price and value.
Click to expand...

If anything, the Audi diesel is louder and more diesel sounding in my opinion

Interior isn't quite the same as the Audi standard, but still very nice

And this is just as quick as my 2.0TDI 170 i'd say, and way more economical
 
smudge_don said:
Neither was I until tonight tbh mate, it's a fantastic compromise

Reason for this switch is i'm saving a deposit for a house, and got an extra 10k spare this way
Click to expand...

Pardon my last remarks!....given the reasoning there,I can see why it's a no-brainer.

Good luck with the house...I hope that all goes well.
 
S3Alex said:
Pardon my last remarks!....given the reasoning there,I can see why it's a no-brainer.

Good luck with the house...I hope that all goes well.
Click to expand...

Cheers buddy

It's the sensible choice, even if it is a downgrade
 
im gonna level with you since 05- ford really have been pulling the stops to bring up the build quality, thier diags etc could use some work but they are decent cars (high spec variants)
 
P5SND said:
im gonna level with you since 05- ford really have been pulling the stops to bring up the build quality, thier diags etc could use some work but they are decent cars (high spec variants)
Click to expand...

Exactly my thoughts, the last 5 years they have really upped their game
 
smudge_don said:
Cheers buddy

It's the sensible choice, even if it is a downgrade
Click to expand...

You should see some of my sensible choices over the years when I've been moving house,or whatever....yours has 4 wheels and no holes,and wasn't made in the dark ages!
 
S3Alex said:
You should see some of my sensible choices over the years when I've been moving house,or whatever....yours has 4 wheels and no holes,and wasn't made in the dark ages!
Click to expand...

:laugh:

OK so i made a good, sensible choice :)
 
l had a look at a Ford. The RS. Sorry. Its a ford. Finish was crap in the interior. Even though the RS isnt made by Ford, or so they say.
 
the rs is awful and unresponsive looks like its glued together in the flesh too
 
smudge_don said:
If anything, the Audi diesel is louder and more diesel sounding in my opinion
Click to expand...
I have to disagree with this
fords diesel especially mondeos and jaguar engines sound like tractors and when there cold its even worse
good luck with the house thou
theres more money in bricks and mortar than cars any day .
 
good luck with the house mate i am doing the same but i can keep my a3 as its paid for and i would only save about 5-6k once a gont another car. at least its still a nice car but ford and audi are totaly diffrent audis are german and fords are american ( i have just sold a two year old dodge they are nothing alike)
 
My 2009 S Line 2.0TDi 170 Quattro was totalled so I have been given a hire while I wait for my new Audi which is apparently in stock on the 22/10/10.

The hire was a MY10 Astra 1.8SRi and its been the longest 16 weeks wait of my life!!

Its not that the Astra does anything wrong, it just does it in such a functional way and is just so boring to drive, the experience is between 0 and 1

The interior looks like it was designed by the Alan Sugar Amstrad guys who found employment at Vauxhall. The center console with all the switches and dials really would not look out of place on a power tower. The plastics in general are just cheap.

The ride is ok and it handles ok to, you always feel in control but the sport button is pointless and it just revs a little higher from what I can feel, but sport?? Not really.

I keep reading the ride on my S Line is harsh but though its not as smooth as some of my friends 'non sport' BMW its still pretty good and definetly offset by the handling I was getting with the quattro added...This Astra, though ok, was still a more coarse experience in that area to..

The engine is the next thing that annoys me, its just so course when you push up the revs, its really off putting and again takes away any pleasure you would get from pushing it a little and on a Motorway the drone just makes you feel tired...

It looks ok from a distance, its got a good low look and some nice large alloys but as soon as you get up close and then get in it you start to feel its cheapness...

I must have some Audi snobbery going on as well as I almost have been hiding fact its mine, I park it out of the way and when driving along I feek anonymous which is not a feeling I got driving the Audi around, even though one of the main appeals is that I have always liked its understated muscular sport appeal. But I suppose you just have that sense you are driving something just that little better from the experience of driving it gives you..

So If I was given the ££ and had to choose between a new Astra or a not too old Audi there would be simply no choice it would be Audi all the way...

Drove a focus not to long ago to, and though better than the Astra I was still not a fan of the cabin quality, the dial surrounds for the petrol for example look like something taken off a kids toy in the quality of material...

I know Fords and Vauxhalls are cheaper but if that was your budget go for a second hand Audi as once the 'new' part wears off and you have to drive it about you will be stuck with an inferior experience all round...
 
i could be wrong but isn't the 2.2tdci engine in the mondeo a BMW engine???????????
this is what i have been lead to believe
there a good car for the money and all the best with your house prospects
 
antmax7 said:
i could be wrong but isn't the 2.2tdci engine in the mondeo a BMW engine???????????
this is what i have been lead to believe
there a good car for the money and all the best with your house prospects
Click to expand...

i don't think BMW make a 2.2 engine. at all.
 
Sorry to say i am with smudge on this one. I don’t know about a 05 Mondeo but the new one is superb. A friend of mine who looks after the Lotus test fleet said that ford had gone over the top with quality materials and it was hard to see how they were going to make a profit its that good. I drove one a few months ago, back to back with the loan A4 i had when i crashed my A3 and compared to the A4 that has no suspension at all, tiny front doors so if you are 6ft+ getting in and out is not easy, an iffy dash from a 1975 Ford Granada and absolute Zero driver feedback...The Mondeo is streets ahead, nicely finished, all the toys, mostly std with superb suspension and steering. AND as has been pointed out, far less money although you will get less back on it of course.
Dont judge the Mondeo by the Focus and Astra !its a different quality of car all together.
 
paddy said:
Dont judge the Mondeo by the Focus and Astra !its a different quality of car all together.
Click to expand...

i'm not exactly sure why you'd judge the Mondeo based on the Astra :think:

I really like the new Insignia tho. i'd have one of those over an A4 Avant i reckon
 
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Well for some reason post 18 goes on..........and on..... about how bad the Astra is Which i thought was odd given we were talking Mondeo's..:)
 
paddy said:
Sorry to say i am with smudge on this one. I don’t know about a 05 Mondeo but the new one is superb. A friend of mine who looks after the Lotus test fleet said that ford had gone over the top with quality materials and it was hard to see how they were going to make a profit its that good. I drove one a few months ago, back to back with the loan A4 i had when i crashed my A3 and compared to the A4 that has no suspension at all, tiny front doors so if you are 6ft+ getting in and out is not easy, an iffy dash from a 1975 Ford Granada and absolute Zero driver feedback...The Mondeo is streets ahead, nicely finished, all the toys, mostly std with superb suspension and steering. AND as has been pointed out, far less money although you will get less back on it of course.
Dont judge the Mondeo by the Focus and Astra !its a different quality of car all together.
Click to expand...

Paddy the Ford lover!
Fords are complete piles of rubbish.
They have not made a good car since circa 1983.
Good luck with the Mondeo, your gonna need it.
Once you have thrown some injectors at it, then a high pressure fuel pump, you will hate it.
If it aint German, its SH*TE.
 
audi upgrades
paddy said:
Sorry to say i am with smudge on this one. I don’t know about a 05 Mondeo but the new one is superb. A friend of mine who looks after the Lotus test fleet said that ford had gone over the top with quality materials and it was hard to see how they were going to make a profit its that good. I drove one a few months ago, back to back with the loan A4 i had when i crashed my A3 and compared to the A4 that has no suspension at all, tiny front doors so if you are 6ft+ getting in and out is not easy, an iffy dash from a 1975 Ford Granada and absolute Zero driver feedback...The Mondeo is streets ahead, nicely finished, all the toys, mostly std with superb suspension and steering. AND as has been pointed out, far less money although you will get less back on it of course.
Dont judge the Mondeo by the Focus and Astra !its a different quality of car all together.
Click to expand...

Glad to see someone else understands where i'm coming from :)

a3dee said:
Paddy the Ford lover!
Fords are complete piles of rubbish.
They have not made a good car since circa 1983.
Good luck with the Mondeo, your gonna need it.
Once you have thrown some injectors at it, then a high pressure fuel pump, you will hate it.
If it aint German, its SH*TE.
Click to expand...

I threw and injector in the Audi....

Plus it needed the DMF and DSG box changing at just 23k....Audi isn't all that from my experience
 
The real problem with Audi sport these days is the influx of rather stupid people with bigoted posts like that !
So everything thats not German is ***** is it ?? Well thats Ferrari/Nissan GTR and Aston martin/Bentley/RR out the window then
So Ford have not made a good car since 1983 ? Despite What cars best Saloon and Estate being the Mondao for the last 2 years
And you have never had to through a set of coil packs at an Audi...or a turbo...lol

Audi's are good cars ! reliability is not great, some models have cronic design floors like my 3.2 but this idea that they are good because you pay throught the nose for them is a myth !1 And the idea that if its German it must be good falls flat if you own a pre 2007 Merc....lol
I feel sorry for you if you limit your choice by insisting on German.
 
why the hell are we talking about FORD's on a audi forum best get on a ford forum

smudge_don said:
Glad to see someone else understands where i'm coming from :)



I threw and injector in the Audi....

Plus it needed the DMF and DSG box changing at just 23k....Audi isn't all that from my experience
Click to expand...
 
paddy said:
Sorry to say i am with smudge on this one. I don’t know about a 05 Mondeo but the new one is superb. A friend of mine who looks after the Lotus test fleet said that ford had gone over the top with quality materials and it was hard to see how they were going to make a profit its that good. I drove one a few months ago, back to back with the loan A4 i had when i crashed my A3 and compared to the A4 that has no suspension at all, tiny front doors so if you are 6ft+ getting in and out is not easy, an iffy dash from a 1975 Ford Granada and absolute Zero driver feedback...The Mondeo is streets ahead, nicely finished, all the toys, mostly std with superb suspension and steering. AND as has been pointed out, far less money although you will get less back on it of course.
Dont judge the Mondeo by the Focus and Astra !its a different quality of car all together.
Click to expand...

I had a couple of A4 loners recently and thought the cabin was fantastic, although they did have the MMI/AMI thingmy.
Superb place to sit IMO. Certainly felt more special inside than a Mondeo hire car I had last year. But then it should be for the extra money.
Not suggesting the Mondeo is a bad car, it obviously isnt, just didnt feel as nice from inside.

Agree on the reliability thing though, from my experience the german bombproof myth is exactly that, a myth.
If you want a car that doesnt break then buy jap.

cheers
Paul
 
Mondao is probably German anyway..lol

I found that if you are tall then the drivers seat was back behind the door pillar and the dash/steering wheel blocked a third of the door opening........ I do find the A5 coupe a huge improvement being 2 door but i havnt driven one.
 
Mate of mine had a A5 3.0Tdi, very nice. Worth a try, I was surprised how much the bar has been raised in terms of cabin quility in the A4 and A5 compared to the A3.
The A5 is mahoosive in the front btw so ideal for the longer amongst us.

cheers
Paul
 
audi upgrades
PaulAr said:
Mate of mine had a A5 3.0Tdi, very nice. Worth a try, I was surprised how much the bar has been raised in terms of cabin quility in the A4 and A5 compared to the A3.
The A5 is mahoosive in the front btw so ideal for the longer amongst us.

cheers
Paul
Click to expand...

good because the E-Coupe is tiny in the front. i don't actually fit in the front of it if it has a panoramic roof
 
paddy said:
Mondao is probably German anyway..lol

I found that if you are tall then the drivers seat was back behind the door pillar and the dash/steering wheel blocked a third of the door opening........ I do find the A5 coupe a huge improvement being 2 door but i havnt driven one.
Click to expand...

You're not wrong about the A4. I'm well over 6ft tall and have an S3 (3 door) and an A6 Avant, but when I drove an A4 I kept hitting the B pillar getting in !
 
I can't help but chuckle at some of the comments on this thread, for whats it's worth here are my opinions (from someone who has owned a Ford Mondeo, Focus ST170 and a Focus ST-3 and now an Audi S3):

1. Ford are very good value for the lower spec'd / performance cars (i.e. Zetec models or up to ST performance class), anything over Zetec for comfort or ST for performance and Ford start to over price. The reason for me moving to an S3 was because the difference in price between the S3 and the new RS was £700 and in my opinion no Ford is worth £30K +

2. All Fords are built by Ford and (correct me if i'm wrong) but the majority of the European models are built in Germany (Cologne) so from a skill perspective the argument of German v any other is a flawed one (the only variables are material quality and aftersales service hence my reasoning for why Ford are not worth £30K or more)

3. In terms of sales in the Uk Ford don't do too bad so they must be doing something right.

4. As a public Forum surely the whole point of subjects like this is public debate where people who have experience of the subject can talk openly about opinion and experience!

I love my Audi to bits but in all honesty if the RS had been £25000 I would have one on my drive right now. My ST was fantastic but it was time to upgrade and the only cars that interested me were the RS or the S3 and I made my choice based on what I thought was right, to say Ford are this or that or German brands are this or that is pointless, people make choices based on any number of factors with price being one of them (and seeing how expensive house prices are I can understand the op's perspective tbh).
As I said this is only my opinion and someone else may disagree but such is life.
 
taylorc said:
I can't help but chuckle at some of the comments on this thread, for whats it's worth here are my opinions (from someone who has owned a Ford Mondeo, Focus ST170 and a Focus ST-3 and now an Audi S3):

1. Ford are very good value for the lower spec'd / performance cars (i.e. Zetec models or up to ST performance class), anything over Zetec for comfort or ST for performance and Ford start to over price. The reason for me moving to an S3 was because the difference in price between the S3 and the new RS was £700 and in my opinion no Ford is worth £30K +

2. All Fords are built by Ford and (correct me if i'm wrong) but the majority of the European models are built in Germany (Cologne) so from a skill perspective the argument of German v any other is a flawed one (the only variables are material quality and aftersales service hence my reasoning for why Ford are not worth £30K or more)

3. In terms of sales in the Uk Ford don't do too bad so they must be doing something right.

4. As a public Forum surely the whole point of subjects like this is public debate where people who have experience of the subject can talk openly about opinion and experience!

I love my Audi to bits but in all honesty if the RS had been £25000 I would have one on my drive right now. My ST was fantastic but it was time to upgrade and the only cars that interested me were the RS or the S3 and I made my choice based on what I thought was right, to say Ford are this or that or German brands are this or that is pointless, people make choices based on any number of factors with price being one of them (and seeing how expensive house prices are I can understand the op's perspective tbh).
As I said this is only my opinion and someone else may disagree but such is life.
Click to expand...

Well said

Some people on here seem to think that everyone else must be wrong if they don't have an Audi. You pay a premium for the Audi badge, but i have got a car which i am equally happy with in terms of spec, performance, looks, build quality and some other perks for almost a 3rd of the price

Can't complain really...
 
Just to confirm/disprove some of your comments..

Ford make all of their cars, except the Focus CC, which is **** and made under licence in Italy. Mondeos come from Genk (Belgium), Focus and Fiesta are from Cologne or Valencia.

I worked for Ford for 13 years until last year - I can tell you they are obsessed with Audi, now trying to copy the interior design and certain exterior elements, in part by having recruited the ex-Audi Chief of Design a few years back. Some of the cars are very good, especially from a value/equipment comparison, but the cheaper models are no comparison. I personally found the Focus awful, and I had top-spec examples all the time. Give me an A3 anyday. Mondeo versus A4 is closer though....

A lot of Audi bashers on the Autocar forum slag off people who pay money for perceived quality, but in the case of Audi versus Ford there is a tangible difference. It all boils down to whether you want to pay the money - if you are buying a house then that is far more important, and a Mondeo (if looked after) should prove trouble-free.
 
just another thing to toss into the mix, audis are farrrrr easier to work on, however ford as we all know is far cheaper on parts
 
P5SND said:
just another thing to toss into the mix, audis are farrrrr easier to work on, however ford as we all know is far cheaper on parts
Click to expand...

How'd you work that one out? I think that Audi have over-complicated almost every single fixture and fitting on their cars
 
We can anaylise this to death, and do all kinds of VFM comparisons, but desirability is the key thing here, and thats something thats very very difficult to measure, quantify and translate into VFM.

Posh watches, designer T shirts etc...are all desireable and aspirational but rarely do the job better than the cheaper alternative. This is what we have here.

IMO the perception of FORD is of a thoroughly decent mode of transport, where as the equivelent A4 is considered a premium product and much more of a luxury purchase.

It just depends how important the badge and those finer touches are to you as an individual, and whether you are wlling to pay the money.

Its very much a dimishing return scenario, twice the price wont necessarily get you twice the product.

How often to people drive past a FORD dealer and say "mmm....one day I will have one of those"
Or flick through ARGOS looking at watches and say "One day that £50 Casio will be mine one day..."
Or drool over T Shirts in George ASDA etc....
You get what Im saying.

My 2p.

cheers
Paul
 
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