I'm looking to buy a new, or nearly new Ford Mondeo Automatic in the near future and was wondering if any backroomers have experienced driving the 2.3 petrol and the 2.0 diesel automatics and could advise which was the best drive.
I only do around 6k miles per annum, so I understand the cost differentials would probably favour a petrol. I worked out it would take me 5 or 6 years to recoup the extra £1000 on the purchase price of the diesel (by which time I would probably have sold the car and moved on to the next) and I have read good reports of how smooth the auto box is and well matched to the torque of the diesel, but is the petrol as good to drive as the diesel ?
BTW, I have not driven an automatic for a few years, are the latest boxes electronically programmed to suit the engine characteristics etc. ?
Also there seems to be a plethora of diesels but not so many petrols for sale, so it may be down to availabilty in the end.
opinions....?
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I had a Mondeo III tdci 2.0 auto a few years back.
From what I remember the auto was a 5 speed TC box, well matched to the engine, smooth changes & peacefull cruising. It did not have any adaptive feature IIRC. There is a manual function as usual by pushing the selector to one side. It would change down on steep hills if you braked to help engine braking. Not fabulously economical though at about 37 - 39 mpg.
I would think that the petrol version would be cheap to buy, and probably cost effective for 6k a year. I would expect about 25 mpg though.
Hope this helps....
Edited by mustangman on 02/04/2009 at 16:47
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I have a manual 2.0 TDCI estate, the engine is strong and smooth. A couple of owners on the Ford forums have diesel autos and rate the autobox highly, but economy is, frankly, crap.
Economy's not great on the 2.0 diesels anyway -- mine appears to be one of the better ones, averaging 42mpg -- but you'll be lucky to get 35mpg average from a diesel auto.
Not driven a petrol version myself. I've had mine for a year and have found it to be an excellent family barge. Now that it's run in a bit, it is also surprisingly quick for the size & weight
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Thanks for your replies lads but I'm after MK4 Mondeo automatic experiences.
I'm not overly fussed about the economy with the mileage I do, I am more interested in the comfort and driveability of the MK4 Automatics.
I already have a Mk3 Manual TDCi 130, which is great to drive and does almost 60mpg on a long run and over 40 mpg on my very short urban commute, but I'm hankering after a new auto.
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If you want economy and a diesel automatic I can highly reccomend any vehicle with the VAG 110TDi engine. My Fathers A4 avant with that combination regularly returned 48mpg
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