Ford Mondeo Titanium X review

The Ford Mondeo Titanium X is the range-topping car in the Mondeo line-up, and while it's been around in its current guise since 2007, the Mondeo still has plenty going for it thanks to Ford's consistent updates. Available as a hatchback or an estate, the Ford Mondeo Titanium X comes in two versions - the Titanium X Business Edition which weighs in at around £22,000 and the Titanium X Sport Edition, which costs almost £30,000. Ford offers buyers of the Mondeo Titanium X Business Edition a choice of four diesels - three 2.0-litre TDCi engines with varying power outputs and the ultra-efficient 1.6-litre ECOnetic. However, there is only one petrol engine: the 1.6-litre EcoBoost. Similarly, the Ford Mondeo Titanium X Sport Edition gets a choice of four diesels - two 2.2-litre units, and two 2.0-litre engines with varying power outputs - and a 2.0-litre petrol EcoBoost with 236bhp. Both versions can be specced with Ford's PowerShift automatic gearbox, depending on the engine. The Ford Mondeo Titanium X Business Edition gets automatic lights, a touchscreen sat-nav system, front and rear parking sensors, plus a 'Quickclear' heated front windscreen. To differentiate it from the cheaper model, Ford fits the Mondeo Titanium X Sport Edition with a Sony DAB radio, 'Piano Black' interior inlays, aluminium pedals, 19-inch 'Y-Spoke' alloys, and Alcantara trim with red stitching. While Ford has regularly updated the exterior of the Mondeo since its introduction in 2007, sadly the same can't be said for the interior and the range-topping Titanium Mondeo X models are no exception. There's nothing really wrong with it, it just hasn't changed over the years - its large flat fascia features plenty of hard plastics, and like the Ford Focus and the Ford Fiesta, the dash has lots of buttons and some of them are fiddly to use. What's more, the red dot-matrix trip computer that's set between the dials looks dated compared to the TFT set-up in the Vauxhall Insignia. While it's all well screwed together, the overall look and feel is pretty cheap but its big windows give the cabin a nice airy feel. The Ford Mondeo is a big car, and it gets a generous 540 litres of boot space. With the rear seats folded, this increases to 1,460 litres. However, it still remains great to drive thanks to its entertaining front-wheel drive handling and low amount of body roll. What's more, the ride is also comfortable and generally absorbs bumps well, despite it letting in a fair amount of road and engine noise at motorway speeds. The most economical engine available on the Ford Mondeo Titanium X is the 1.6-litre TDCi ECOnetic with 113bhp which as stop-start, emits only 112g/km of CO2 and returns 65.7mpg. As for the petrols, the punchy 1.6 EcoBoost is the most efficient, with a fuel consumption figure of 42.1mpg, plus CO2 emissions of 149g/km. Our pick of the Ford Mondeo Titanium X range is the 2.0-litre TDCi diesel which returns 62.8mpg and emits 119g/km of CO2. Petrols are thirsty with the Titanium X Sport 2.0-litre EcoBoost returning poor figures of 36.7mpg and 179g/km of CO2.Like all other models in the Ford Mondeo range, expect the Titanium X to be reliable. At launch in 2007, it scored a five-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests and while the test has got tougher over the years, it's worth noting that the Mondeo gets seven airbags as standard. What's more, the Mondeo has yet to be recalled since launch. However, as the Ford Mondeo is popular as a used car, its residual values are much weaker than the Volkswagen Passat and in the latter part of 2014, Ford will introduce an entirely new Mondeo to the UK market.