| Loving the Ford Mondeo |
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| Tuesday, 16 September 2008 | |
 After testing a flexi-fuel version of Ford's Galaxy last month, I got an opportunity to drive another one of Ford's flexi-fuel range, the award-winning Ford Mondeo.The main difference from a petrol or diesel car is that with flexifuel you use E85, a mixture of 15 per cent petrol and 85 per cent ethanol. E85 is much cheaper than petrol or diesel and if you cannot find a garage that sells ethanol, you can use unleaded petrol until you get to one of the Maxol stations that sell E85. Ford, of course, is synonymous with County Cork and coincidentally the ethanol is also produced in there by Carbery Milk Products from whey, a left-over from cheese production. Ford is very committed to biofuel cars and a Flexifuel version of their best-selling Focus has been on sale in Ireland since 2005. Although there is a significant VRT rebate for flexi-fuel models, the take up has been fairly slow in Ireland. Ethanol is now available at 28 Maxol stations around the country and a few Emo garages countrywide, so why so little interest? Do people need more education on bio-fuels or could it be that Irish motorists are really worried about the arguments that food should not be used as energy for cars? I was looking at the price list for the Mondeo and there are 65 different models of the current Semperit Car of the Year to choose from. So there should be a model there to suit your pocket. Prices start at e26,595 for the four-door 1.6 model while the price of the 2.0 felixfuel model after a VRT rebate of e2,500 is e34,380. Despite all that green energy the C02 emissions rating of the flexi-fuel model is 189. That puts the car in Band 3 for road tax which is a bit steep at e600. It really is such a comfortable car to drive. The Titanium model I drove was extra classy with lovely soft seats. It's no secret that I have always been a big Ford fan. I can still remember the registration number of the second-hand Ford pick-up truck my father bought from Coleman's of Millstreet over 40 years ago. I always like the simple radio controls in Ford cars and of course you are spoiled for choice with various slave controls on that classy-looking steering wheel. However, it's also a very long motor and you will really appreciate the sensors back and front for parking. One slight criticism I found happened while driving at night. The light on the main dial under the steering wheel is a bit too bright and definitely a distraction at night. Hopefully it can be toned down. The boot is massive and there should be no complaints from golfers about carrying all their golf gear. You could probably buy something in all of the shops in Dundrum Shopping Centre and have enough room in the boot for all your shopping. I honestly didn't notice any huge difference in power between the petrol and ethanol model. Perhaps I needed five adults on board to see what the pulling power was really like. For me and my family the Mondeo could run on 'fresh air' and I would still love it! |
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Developed by Kevin Flynn