The All New Ford Mondeo Vignale Hybrid Manager’s Review

Was that a typo I here you ask? Ford have now entered the Hybrid market? The answer is a most definite yes and what a statement of intent they have made. I could in fact write many, many pages on this car and its attributes, but I heartily recommend that you come down to Thurles and drive it yourself, just to make sure of my sanity, as I am genuinely crazy about this car, and after 25 years of driving a host of vehicles, it takes a lot to get me excited. Well, I am excited.

Firstly, the Mondeo Hybrid is available in the Mondeo only at present and as with the majority of Hybrids, it is married to an excellent automatic gearbox. The vehicle I am driving at present is in the Vignale guise and I have to be honest, it’s a beautiful looking vehicle. Chrome and leather abound but let’s break this gem of a car down somewhat. Our vehicle is in metallic black with cream leather.

The exterior is as said, beautiful. From the chrome front grill, LED running lights, around to the chrome that runs up the side to those gorgeous 18” alloy wheels. At the rear, those twin chrome pipes just exude quality and all in all, if it were parked next to a new C-Class or A4, the Mondeo would shine.

The interior is simply sumptuous as even the dash is covered in leather. The perforated heated leather seats are as comfortable as any that I have sat in and will eat up those daily miles of commuting. You have a large 8” Sync 3 display that enables you to control every aspect of the car with a touch of you finger and the leather steering wheel is awash with buttons to control cruise control, twin colour displays and the sound system. Even the Bluetooth is voice activated. 

It has keyless entry and keyless start, so as long as the keys are in your pocket, simply walk up and place your hand on the handle and the car will open. Place your foot on the break, press a button and hey presto, the car starts up. Or does it? One thing you have to get used to, is when the car starts up, there is zero sound, the car throws you off your guard a bit with this, but you do get used to it. When you start to glide off, due to the increased sound proofing on the Vignale, it’s eerily quiet. The gearbox is super smooth and although you have a quiet, serene drive, do not let that fool you into thinking tractors will be a worrisome intrusion, because when needed, you place your foot down hard and all of those 187 horses roar into life. That is the exception to the rule in this car though as it genuinely makes you drive more serenely than you would normally. I have even found myself taking longer routes home sometimes, just so I can enjoy the car for a bit longer.
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On the 8” display, you also have an app that shows you exactly where that regenerated energy is coming from, when your using fuel or when you are using battery. Let me explain a wee bit. Every time you break or take your foot of the accelerator and engage engine breaking, the energy created is normally wasted, but in a Hybrid, that energy is transferred into the battery which then feeds it back when driving. Sort of like the dynamo lights when we were kids, the harder you pedalled, the longer and stronger the light. So on our twisty roads and town centres, where normally the MPG would be poor, the Hybrid really comes into it’s own.

If you are a boy racer or drove it like you stole it kind of driver, then this is definitely not the car for you as the 2.0 petrol engine with 187 horses and auto gearbox will simply eat your fuel, but if you want to go somewhere, and arrive in comfort, enjoy the journey and maximise economy, you cannot go wrong with this car. This sounds corny, but you really enjoy the journey as much as the destination with this car.

So, I hope I have whet your appetite a little and get you to come and have a look at our demonstrator here at Barlo Motors Thurles. Before you taking the car out, I will personally take you out to demonstrate just how to get the best out of the car, as there are tricks to this. Our demonstrator is also up for sale at the discounted price of €38,595, which if you were to compare it to say a BMW 3 series, Mercedes C-Class or A4, would be great value. When you see it though, well, you cannot fail to be impressed.

Thanks again for reading my reviews. James Mc Vicker, Sales Manager, Barlo Motors, Thurles.