First of all a bit of background on me...

For the last 15 years I've had Audi or VW and I liked them and then in the last 4 months I found myself 'down grading' to a 2001 Ford Mondeo 1.8

I put down grading in quotes because I thought I would be losing out - more fool me... What a brilliant drivers car that Mondeo is. OK the engine is a little gutless and rough and the interior is a little lower quality than the german stuff but boy is it good to drive..! And face it that's what counts.

So much tighter and more responsive, a little bit of understeer and then very, very controllable lift off oversteer. And the chassis control give me the confidence to press on a lot more than the wallowy barges I used to own.

Now that circumstances have finally hit rock bottom and are (hopefully) bouncing the other way and I've found myself in possession of a company fuel card (and most of my driving is for work so that's free petrol folks!) I'm wanting something with a little more get up and go.

So I started to look at the ST220.

What are they like to drive and own?

As I enjoy my cornering I was worried a big lump of engine up front might make them very nose heavy. Is that a problem?

And are they 'faster' in the real world than the 8.6 to 60 suggests? It's a false indication of performance and I'd hope that the big engine would make it a good overtaker.

One more thing I need to think about is reliability of the electrics. The ST's seem to be fully loaded and that's a lot of stuff to go wrong. Especially as I will be looking for a 3 or 4 year old one.

Can you good folk give me some feedback and also what I would expect to pay for a tidy example?

Many Thanks

Slugs

Got a couple of mates with 220's. Quick, reliable cars. Never heard anything bad about them and I come from a Mondeo background. Try looking on www.fordmondeo.org and asking for recommendations on them Decent bunch of people I've been a part of since 2003.

If your still interestted in the 220,

I have one at the moment thats up for sale, price is negociable.

35k miles,

52 plate,

black,

its on the for sale section page 7 mate

if you have any problems i can do another thread showing you the pictures.

thanks,,

had a few mondeos in my my time and always loved them, i have only had the 2.5 V6 st24 but always liked the ford v6's even the old essex engines ! the only thing is that the timing chains can rattle and may need a tensioner or guides if so walk away because its an engine out job to change it ££££££! with the st220 try and get one after 2004 i think it was 53 or 04 plate they facelifted the inside and you got the 6 speed gearbox !! great for long runs in a V6...

good luck i was looking at them last night on autotrader i fancy one myself(i got fuel card too) 5.5-6K will get you a good one.

cheeers bob.

nice motors.. i hired one and i was well impressed with it.