Variants Explained Please

[wcah]

Hi im new here as im looking for help to distinguish the differances in the 2008 modles of the mondeo estate, edge, titanium, zetec, giha, ect. At the moment iv a st200 estate so im looking for somthing with a decence bhp an a bit sporty im looking at spending upto 9k MAX

Many thanks.

[alexp999]

Hi and welcome to FOC!

Nice dog in your profile pic too :)

In ascending order the trim levels go as so: Edge, Zetec, Ghia/Titanium. - With the last two, iirc Titanium replaced the Ghia naming scheme as the top spec.

Zetec is normally the minimum trim most people go for. You might be able to find an old brochure detailing the exact differences

[FOCA]

Engine-wise the quickest is the 2.5t (has the same 5-cylinder 225bhp petrol-turbo Volvo engine as the Focus mk2 st225) - can easily be chipped up to 260hp, or 300 without breaking the bank - they are gutsy though and expect 20mpg when "booting" it

diesels -

Then there is the 2.2L PSA turbo-diesel - off the top-of-my-head i think they were 170Hp, these can be tweaked upto 220Hp and still return a good MPG

The 2.2 was released as 170hp and 200hp (oops it was ps- never mind) form, later the 170hp was discontinued and replaced with a 163ps 2.0 - the 140ps version of the 2.0L (diesel) is reputed to be better on the road because of better bottom-end/ midrange torque, than the 163 that has been reported at being "gutless" low down, especially with the high gearing they put on these cars

Finally have you considered a mk3? much more likely to get a bargain and the issues are liable to be fixed/ the money you save you could keep for potential DMF/ injector/ egr problems (diesel)

A Mondeo mk3 2.2 titanium x is a really nice car, and can be picked up for a "song" these days, it is mechanically identical to an ST-TDCI (155ps) (another option) or, another bargain is an ST220, fantastic car to drive, realatively heavy on fuel (ok if you can afford it or are doing a low milage) if you had 9k to spend, and you paid 5k on the car, that woukld leave 4k for fuel/ repairs etc :)

At the end of the day, sometimes i think it is worth getting the car you REALLY want and be prepared to spend a little bit more on it/ on fuel etc

[BOF]

Edge, titanium, zetec, giha, ect.

Roughly, the order goes

Edge -> Zetec -> Titanium

-> Ghia

Edge doesn't have alloys (which may rule it out for many people, but is obviously easy to fix by buying alloys), front fogs and the dual zone, set-the-temp air con, and just has the simpler 'towards red for hotter, towards blue for colder' version.

Zetec puts those things 'right'

Ghia adds the Sony audio, bigger tyres and (rather delicate) different alloys. Better trip computer, but still with the orange vacuum fluorescent display (more info than on some of the lower models, although fittings seem a bit variable, so maybe an upgrade was possible).

Titanium replaces the orange display with a 256 colour job (which is nice), and goes up a step again in tyre size (...or is that just the Sport/Sport X?).

Various things such as the Sony stereo and the wheels could be upgraded by one step at purchase time, but as these were usually fleet cars, upgrades didn't happen that often.

At the moment iv a st200 estate so im looking for somthing with a decence bhp an a bit sporty im looking at spending upto 9k MAX

I suggest that you look on, eg, the autotrader website for an idea of what is available and for how much.

[wcah]

Thanks for the info, sorry but more questions, how does a 2007 2.2tdci titanium x rate estate? I know its the older model but for a 3k price drop does that realy matter? (Even though i do like the new shape) is there any bad points to look for? What sort of millage can you get out of them

Many thanks

[FOCA]

Thanks for the info, sorry but more questions, how does a 2007 2.2tdci titanium x rate estate? I know its the older model but for a 3k price drop does that realy matter? (Even though i do like the new shape) is there any bad points to look for? What sort of millage can you get out of them

Many thanks

if you mean a mk3 (2000-2007) it is mechanically identical to the ST-TDCI withe the same 155PS Ford engine (non PSA)

You can get a big mileage out of them as long as you keep changing the DMFs, EGR valves and, less often, the injectors, the VNT can coke up and the electronic actuator can give trouble - a higher milage one is more likely to have had these things done. Easy/ cheap to tune with big gains just with a remap/ Bluefin,

[BOF]

What sort of millage can you get out of them

At high mileages, with essentially any car, get a lot more concerned about the service history. You might get away with a rather spotty service history on, say, a 40 k miles car, but expecting to do the same at 100k+ miles is probably a bit adventurous.

Another interesting bit of evidence as to whether the car has been cared for is whether the previous owner has fitted decent tyres - Words like Pirelli, Dunlop, Goodyear, Bridgestone or Michellin on the sidewall are a good sign, but any name that you aren't sure how to pronounce, or looks like an attempt to rip off one or more of the above (Goodstone, for example) may be a sign of an owner who has been that bit too desperate to save money on maintenance.