Ford has been knocking it out of the park with its latest Fiesta ST and the Focus ST is also a rather capable car - as is the drift mode enabled RS. But for me there has been a hole in Ford's performance market, the Mondeo. The last sporty Mondeo was the ST220 which finished production in 2002 - 14 long years ago.
The hiatus is over though as Ford has announced the new Mondeo ST Line. Now for those of you who don't know, ST Line is the trim below ST so it's not quite out-and-out performance but it's very much a step in the right direction. The Mondeo ST Line will join the Fiesta and Focus ST Line models that were announce recently.
Diesel only I'm afraid
By this point you may be getting rather excited about the thought of another fast Mondeo but I'm afraid I'm about to take the edge of a little bit - it only comes in diesel. So if you were looking for a EcoBoost petrol you simply won't find it, no matter how hard you look. What you will find however is a 2.0 litre TDCi diesel which comes in two power variants, 148bhp and 178bhp.
Both engines can be mounted to either a six-speed manual or six-speed Powershift automatic gearbox. The lower powered engine will deliver 65.7mpg and 112g/km whilst the the more powerful unit will claims 62.8mpg and 117g/km. Ford's Intelligent All Wheel Drive can be selected as an option when the Powershift transmission is chosen. Ok, that's the powertrain covered, what about the rest?
Sportier style
Like the Fiesta and Focus ST Line, the Mondeo will host a sportier style compared to other trim levels thanks to features such as sport side skirts, front lip spoiler and sports rear bumper. Large alloy wheels can also be found as well as silver tailpipe surrounds and high-gloss black honeycomb grilles. The car has also been lowered by 10mm as well to give a more dynamic drive.
The estate version comes as standard with a rear spoiler whereas it's an option on the five door saloon. On the inside the St Line them continues with sports seats, perforated leather ST steering wheel, sports gearknob (for manual obviously) and ST scuff plates.
The new car will go on show at the Goodwood Festival of Speed which is well underway.
