Just been test driving....

[ligloo]

(soz looked for the more than 2 wheel category and cant see it now)

A new Ford Mondeo and a new Ford Kuga ..... I like 'em both!

The new mondeo is a cracker, can't believe the room in it and drives great .... smooth, quiet and powerful ... I've had my heart set on one since they came out (ok I cant believe I'm a ford convert either now but after our last one, I'll never go back!!!) On the other hand, I think the Kuga looks fantastic, far more attractive than the mondeo and I like the height when driving but its noisier, less 'grunt' about it and is way smaller inside.

My head tells me the mondeo is the better car and much more practical for me/us as a family, however I'm vain and love the Kuga's looks...

????? *sigh*

[TC]

Agree the Mondeo is a fantastic car and I am very happy with mine. Just coming up for 10,000 miles now and it has actually got better as it has got more miles under its belt, and size wise it is not dissimilar to my old mark 3 Granada I had many years ago, just better built.

The down side (perhaps compared with the Kuga) is that it is quite wide and it is very difficult to judge when reversing due to its very blunt back end and quite a sloping bonnet, so one of the things I should have had fitted as an option from new and which I will now probably get fitted at its first service is the reversing sensors.

But that is about the only gripe, although the brakes can feel excessively sharp until you become acustomed and I have heard that from a few other owners as well.

Otherwise brilliant car and well screwed together

[ligloo]

Agree the Mondeo is a fantastic car and I am very happy with mine. Just coming up for 10,000 miles now and it has actually got better as it has got more miles under its belt, and size wise it is not dissimilar to my old mark 3 Granada I had many years ago, just better built.

The down side (perhaps compared with the Kuga) is that it is quite wide and it is very difficult to judge when reversing due to its very blunt back end and quite a sloping bonnet, so one of the things I should have had fitted as an option from new and which I will now probably get fitted at its first service is the reversing sensors.

But that is about the only gripe, although the brakes can feel excessively sharp until you become acustomed and I have heard that from a few other owners as well.

Otherwise brilliant car and well screwed together

The sharpness of the brakes was the one thing that really stood out, glad the seatbelts worked ok, when it was hubby's turn We want the titanium x model, not sure if it has parking sensors as standard but that would defo be an option we choose..... although in the past I find my towbar works equally as well

The obvious difference with the Kuga is that the bonnet appears to be so much more sloping than the mondeo that it's difficult to judge in front of you, though I believe the parking sensors are front also... I would need it on that!

I really did like them both, although for different reasons... would appear that the mondeo is winning atm though.....

[TC]

The sharpness of the brakes was the one thing that really stood out, glad the seatbelts worked ok, when it was hubby's turn We want the titanium x model, not sure if it has parking sensors as standard but that would defo be an option we choose..... although in the past I find my towbar works equally as well

I looked at the whole model range and considered the Titanium X. The only diffrence between that model and the Zetec I eventually went for was that as standard it nhad the automatic headlight switch and automatic rain sensors which I know from experience on my wife's C Max can and do go wrong, and if I am incapable of turning the lights and wipers on myself, then I really should not be driving

The Titanium also had the 6 Changer CD which is not really that important to me, and it had half leather, again not something that I was that bothered about.

I thought the higher spec models also had mmory seats as standard, but to my surprise, no, we both have te same seats and Martin (my buddy) fully speced his.

On both models the reversing sensors are a £200 option and not standard but they can be retro fitted as they simply ling into the reversing lights.

A friend of mine has the 2.5 V6 Titanium X saloon and alongside each other (forgetting that he has a 2.5 petrol and mine is the diesel) there really was very little to choose between them given that the Zetec already has a vey good equipment level as standard. The dashboard is slightly different as the Titanium has the LCD Information centre but as my buddy says, after a while it actually becomes a bit of a pain and he prefers the one I have in mine.

He also has the keyless ignition (where I have a standard ignition key) and already he has locked himself out a couple of time having left the locking device in the car and it has cost him a fortune to get Ford out to gain access. At least you don't have that problem with an ordinary ignition key.

The model that is really lacking is the Edge which is very basic as it has steel wheels and a basic trim level, but the Zetec has proven t be a good choice for me personally.

If you are looking at new, even in the 4 monhs I have had mine, I believe that Bluetooth is no fitted as standard across the board, something mine doesn't have, so it looks like they are addng all the time.

What has really impressed me is the economy. I am getting a minimum of 600 miles to a tank of diesel (and that is cruising in the high 80's low 90's), and the range meter has shown 800+ miles on more than one occasion.

A week or so ago I went up to Hull which was a 525 mile round trip on half a tank of fuel and te other half tank saw me throug for the rest of the week which was about 225 miles and even then I was not fully empty when I filled up.

Downside is that at the height of expensive fuel it was about £80 to fill up, although it has now come down to a more reasonable £60 - £65, but economy is still impressive