Hi all,
Following on from a very strange link to my Photobucket I have been reminded that I haven't posted a link here yet, but I've just bought myself some new wheels, Mondeo ST TDCi. I have to say that it's very strange to finally own the most commonly recommended car on the forum, but certainly not a bad thing!
First impressions are that she has bags and bags of power, is very quick and has loads of torque. She certainly feels quicker than my older V6. However, she is no where near as smooth and I feel like I'm stirring a pudding mix with all the gear changes that I have to make!
Features wise she doesn't have much more than my last Mondeo, I think the only extras are a much better Sony sound system and auto lights/wipers. The other fairl major factor is that the heated seats work much more effectively, they heat more quickly and get hotter, I never thought that this would be a benefit but it makes the car far more comfortable!
Economy so far has been highly disappointing (about 30mpg), however, I topped up the tyres tonight and one of them was down to 17psi (instead of 40!) so I suspect that this has had an effect, I also have a new MAF sensor ready to be fitted and will be cleaning the EGR and Inlet Manifolds next week to ensure that she runs more efficiently. I really hope that the tyre isn't a puncture but I suspect that it will turn out to be so! Worst case scenario and I have bought a car with knackered injectors, but time will tell!
Here she is in all her glory anyway:-
i191.photobucket.com/albums/z251/blueoval1984/DSC0...g
i191.photobucket.com/albums/z251/blueoval1984/DSC0...g
Economical or not, I'm still over the moon with her :-)
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Nice.......very very nice. Enjoy it. Once you get used to the characteristics of the diesel you'll soon be able to throw it about. I always fancied an estate one of those as I need the loadspace. Has it got fancy seats ?
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Lovely car. Always fancied one of those myself. Enjoy! :-)
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A friend was considering one of these - from knowledge gleaned here, I suggested a petrol one - his mileage is pretty low, he had a look at quite a few including a lovely blue one but ended up buying a petrol Mazda 6 sports also in blue. He bought it blind from Autotrader but it seems like a very nice car - he's chuffed. He ran a P plated Laguna from 3 years old, never ever let him down but recently only scraped an MoT though rusted lamps....
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lovely plumage :-)
get that squiggle in the roof looked at or you will get water ingress problems though ;-)
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Nice looking car there Blue, keep them clean i could imagine many hours with a toothbrush in all those crannies if the brake dust gets ingrained....incidentally some swear by EBC Green Stuff pads for giving off almsot no brake dust, never tried them meself mind.
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Yeah the car has half leather seats, I originally thought they wouldn't be very good as the ST220 comes with proper Recaros, these are just ordinary Mondeo seats. Boy was I wrong! They're incredibly supportive and comfortable and the heaters in them are superb, much better than the last one.
The wheels are in a nightmare condition already, I've only given it one quick wash so far, but what I have found is that all of them have baked on dust that I've been unable to shift, one of them is horrendous. I'm going to try a few tricks that were pointed out on the DW site, if that doesn't work then I'll have to live with it as diamond cut wheels cannot be adequately refurbished. I'm afraid it seems to be down to neglect and nothing else!
I'm finding the diesel a very different beast to the petrol, she doesn't encourage me to drive as hard as I did with the V6, in fact my driving has become much more sedate, except when I want to press on and I really feel that I can make some progress on the dual carriageways :-)
Main priority job after the MAF, EGR and inlet manifold is two new front tyres, she's currently shod with Pirelli on the rear and Wanli tyres at the front, they are, in a word, pants. (the swear filter prevents me from adequately describing them so that word will have to do!)
Anyway, I'm off out for another blast in her now!
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I'll have to live with it as diamond cut wheels cannot be adequately refurbished.
I was told that it was not possible to refurbish the 19" forged magnesium wheels on my M3 which had suffered kerb damage despite the wheel protectors on the tyres.
I took the car to a wheel specialist and they came back good as new, indistinguishable from the original, and with a 2 year guarantee on the surface. The guy showed me some of the customers' wheels he was working on. Everything from Golfs to Porsches, Aston Martins and Ferraris. Lesson learned - you can refurbish any wheels!
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Sounds good, do you remember their name?
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get that squiggle in the roof looked at or you will get water ingress problems though ;-)
Well done! You're the first person to spot my over-zealous use of the distort tool within Photobucket! :-)
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Illegal font in pic 2!!!!!!!!!!
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It's not illegal. It's a security check.
It says 'Chelsea'. Can I log in now?
Smart deadpan motor Blue. Can it really have more urge than a V6 though? I don't doubt the new one would be as quick in real-world driving, as well as less busy to drive. But surely the V6 would be better if you really worked at it?
I don't know. I'm just curious.
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Very nice. Did you consider the ST 220?
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Yeah I considered it, but for some reason my current insurers had a hissy fit, and I didn't want the expense of another LPG conversion. This one is hardly any more to insure and is cheaper to tax than my current one, I dread to think where an ST220 would end up tax-wise in a couple of years!
I actually find that I have to work the diesel harder to keep it on the boil, the difference is that when I want the power for an overtake etc. the diesel has it on tap and makes it feel easy, the V6 had to be revved harder to get the best from it, which did nothing for passenger comfort. I'm not saying that my next car won't be a petrol though, as I can see the benefits of both!
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I actually find that I have to work the diesel harder to keep it on the boil,
You'll probably soon learn to leave it in lower gears for longer to make sure the turbo is up to speed. You'll also notice mpg does not suffer too much for doing this.
Enjoy the car. But I bet your next car is some form of forced induction petrol. I know I will probably return to turbo petrol after having diesels for a while.
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Actually I could be easily tempted by the new Mondeo 2.5T :-)
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VAG's 2.0T with around 200PS (ish) was what I was thinking. For me in detuned 180PS form so benefit in kind not so bad. It's in the Audi A5 Sportback so will end up in other VAG cars soon. Got my Mazda6 2.0d for another couple of years yet.
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She ? Her?? Good grief !!
snipquote. Hi to you too. But don't quote all of a message please. Thanks.
Edited by rtj70 on 14/12/2009 at 23:50
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So I take it you've never noticed the personality that some cars seem to come with? :-)
Having said that, the newer the car the less personality they seem to have!
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Thanks for that, Blue.
I guess one has to balance the higher price for tax, insurance, and fuel for the ST220 against the bigger risk (I suspect) of big bills with the ST TDCi.
I just love the thought of the overtaking muscle in the latter, but the thought of a misfueled car, potential big bills, etc. scares me.
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