2005 Ford Mondeo ST TDCi review from UK and Ireland

No faults.

This car does everything.

Beautifully finished interior with gorgeous leather Recaros. I think the finish is on a par with a friends 2005 Mercedes C220 CDi, and actually so does he! Not that the C-class is the best finished Merc ever, but when you consider the price difference....

Tasteful bodykit which looks aggressive, but is not too heavy handed.

Tremendous performance from the 2.2 TDCi engine, especially after the recent Superchips Bluefin remap. Now making 181 bhp, and 400Nm of torque at just 1800 RPM (peaks 426 at 2,200). Effortlessly fast, and will still return 45-48 mpg on a motorway cruise in 6th, although knock 10 mpg off that when "on it". Pulls convincingly away from BMW 330d drivers which it couldn't do before - not bad for 800 cc less.

Chassis still better than anything else in this class in my opinion. Drove a Vauxhall Vectra, VW Passat, Nissan Primera and an Audi A4 and none got close to the Mondeo's turn in or feel.

If I had to complain it would be about the depreciation and the fact that everyone asks why I didn't buy an Audi. Simple answer is, "cachet" apart, this is a better car for less money, but nobody believes you. Their loss. Cracking value "nearly new" which this was.

Good without the remap - amazing with it. Test drive one with an open mind.