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There's not much of a downside to this. Interior noise levels, which are inevitably higher in an estate than a saloon, are still quite subdued, though in general the Mondeo's suppression of engine sound is not class-leading.

Where the Mondeo range does score is in its reasonably sharp handling (by the admittedly moderate standards of the sector - the Mazda6 is by some way the best of the bunch). It's a little too cumbersome in town, but on country roads it performs in a way which still makes me wonder how Jaguar lost the plot using the same platform in the front-wheel drive X-Type.

The estate, with its large expanse of empty space between the rear suspension points, loses some of this ability, but the only significant issue is a slight tendency for the rear end to skip if it encounters a mid-corner bump.

Gearing It High

As with the CO2 statistics mentioned earlier, Ford's own fuel economy figures for the new TDCi engine are actually slightly inferior to those for the Euro III version, but it's still possible to travel over 500 miles per tankful. That's largely due to a very high sixth gear, which gives about 37mph per 1000rpm.

This is by no means an industry record. In their most high-performance forms, the turbo diesel Seat Ibiza and Skoda Fabia are more highly geared still. But they're much lighter cars and their top gears are useable almost all the time. Realistically, the Mondeo can't be asked to do less than 60mph on a level road in top without tripping over its shoelaces.

Point it down a motorway, though, and the Mondeo becomes a most effective high-speed cruiser, wafting along at barely twice the engine tickover speed, the diesel rattle a distant memory, and operating on a mere dribble of fuel. There's a lot to be said for this car in many situations, but it's as a dependable long-distance operator that it really scores.

Price: £19,590
Capacity: 1998cc
Power: 128bhp
0-62mph: 10.1 seconds
Maximum speed: 127mph
Economy: 56.5mpg extra urban, 45.6mpg combined
CO2 emissions: 163g/km
Maximum braked trailer towing mass: 1800kg
Insurance: Group 9
Ford figures.

Second opinion:
Yes, the current Mondeo seems to be a car which is maturing nicely rather than getting left behind, and there’s simply no arguing with the fact that it’s the best-selling diesel range in the UK. Compared with a number of apparently classier rivals, the estate offers noticeably more rear seat and load space. Interior detailing in the 2004 Zetec is quite neat, and there’s just the right amount of brightwork. The Mondeo cabin does look better with leather trim rather than the Zetec’s standard cloth upholstery, which might show signs of wear quite quickly. The gearing of the test car was certainly close to stratospheric. I regarded it as a four-speed vehicle in town traffic, a five-speeder in anything up to a 50mph limit, and a six-speeder only above that. There was no point in letting it lumber along in too high a ratio. But when you want it, there’s formidable torque - 243lb/ft from 1800rpm. And what a long-striding motorway machine! All things considered, I certainly wouldn’t swap the six-speed manual box for the automatic option. Ross Finlay .

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