Ford Mondeo Ghia X 2.0 TDCi Estate Graham Whyte 20/3/2002 " What gear were you in when the accident occurred?" asked the magistrate. " A Cappry, your honour," replied my cousin, earning himself a custodial frown from the bench. " My client is referring to his Ford Capri Ghia, M'Lud," chipped in his brief. " I fear he misunderstood your question."

I doubt it. My cousin was inordinately fond of his Ghia X and never lost an opportunity to flaunt what he regarded as a status symbol, even if the vinyl roof was peeling off and only one of the four headlights communed with the road ahead. When he comes out he will be astounded at what the coveted 'Ghia X' badge now gets you in the Ford line-up, especially if it's the latest Mondeo.

For example, the standard specification of the Mondeo Ghia X 2.0 TDCi Estate test car included ABS with EBD and Electronic Stability Programme, self-levelling rear suspension, 17-inch alloys, heated front windscreen, 6-disc CD autochanger with remote stalk, trip computer, twin front, side and curtain airbags, cruise control, 8-way electric driver's seat, heated leather seats, electronic air conditioning and electric sunroof.

At £21,445, the full-spec TDCi Estate is the same list price as both the V6 and 2.0-litre auto Duratec spark-ignition models.

Although the Ghia story is fascinating in its own right, with bit-parts for Mussolini, Franco and a young Frank Williams, the real interest in the test car centres around the latest version of Ford's common-rail diesel engine and the company's tie-in with Vodafone to launch a telematics service to rival the Fiat Connect package.

Manufactured in Dagenham, which the company now describe as the 'Ford Centre for Diesel Excellence', the new generation of Duratorq engines come in three sizes: a 1.4-litre, 68 PS unit destined for the new Fiesta, a 1.8-litre, 115 PS power plant for the Focus and the range-topping 2.0-litre 130 PS engine, which is exclusive to the Mondeo.

The 130 PS Duratorq engine develops more or less the same horsepower as the 1.9-litre, 130 bhp TDI PD engine used in VWs and Audis (PS stands for 'Pfunde Starke', translates as 'horse power', and is now the standard used in Europe. 1 PS is roughly equivalent to 0.99 bhp). Whereas Ford continue to use common-rail technology, VAG have switched to unit injectors, which arguably offer finer control of the injection process.

At first glance, the Duratorq engine appears to be the poor relation, developing only 207 lbs/ft of torque relative to the VW's 228 lbs/ft. But the Ford unit has a unique 'overboost' feature, which briefly increases the torque to 244 lbs/ft under heavy acceleration. In fact, such is the mid-range urge of the Duratorq engine that in intermediate gears it delivers a more satisfying drive than many so-called 'performance' cars and I actually prefer the TDCi to Ford's own V6, petrol-engined variant. The constant injection pressure derived from the common-rail system largely accounts for the excellent 'throttle' response (although diesel engines do not actually have throttles), as a constant fuel pressure is present at the injector nozzle regardless of engine speed. This feature is augmented by a variable-nozzle turbo-charger, which enables boost pressure ( of the air, as opposed to the fuel) to be adjusted according to engine speed and load.

The quoted 0-62 mph time of 9.9 seconds hardly does it justice, the Mondeo emerging as a real star in the more significant 40-60 mph and 50-70 mph ranges where torque is king. The top speed of 125 mph is unremarkable and exactly the same as the 130 TDI PD Passat, although the Ford is slightly quicker off the mark.

Fuel consumption figures are also very close, the Ford returning 34.4, 58.9 and 47.0 mpg on the urban, extra-urban and combined cycles, respectively, only a tiny percentage adrift from the Passat Estate.

Drivers unfamiliar with the Duratorq engine will be surprised at just how quiet it is. Special 'listening' software constantly adjusts the pilot and main injectors to keep detonation knock to a minimum and at motorway speeds the only disturbance in the luxury cabin is moderate wind and tyre noise.

Luxury is the word - I have already mentioned key aspects of the specification but to the impressive hardware must be added a sense of well-being. Every switch, every knob has a precision feel about it; the centre stack would not look amiss on a B & O music system, and the chunky, four-spoke steering wheel would feel at home in an Audi. The engine may come from Essex but the cockpit is straight out of Ingoldstat, or so it seems.

As well as best-ever levels of luxury, the Ghia X Estate offers even more luggage space, which has been increased to 1700 litres at full stretch (60 cu/ft), accommodated on a load platform almost 2 metres long and a useful 1.1 metres wide, making it perfectly square when the rear seats are raised.

In typical Ford fashion, the ergonomics are millimetre perfect and I challenge anyone not to feel at home within minutes of sitting behind the wheel. To this must be added extraordinary comfort, a point I made in my previous test of the 2.0-litre saloon, which I took on a lengthy trip to Germany. Since I covered handling and roadholding in some detail in that report, and heaped much praise upon them, I shall take that as read and move on to the telematics.

Not to be confused with telemetry, which, for example, is used by Formula One engineers to interrogate the black boxes of moving cars, telematics is the latest ruse to get you to spend more money on your next car.

At present offered only by Ford in its various guises, and Fiat/Alfa Romeo, telematics combines GSM technology with GPS to provide an on-board terminal for a variety of interactive services. Although differing somewhat in their execution and appearance, both Ford telematics and Fiat's Connect system do much the same job. Functions include telephony, emergency assistance, traffic information and an operator service. The Ford module is integrated with the car radio and is accessed by operating one of four push-buttons. The first summons emergency assistance in event of an accident and is also activated if the driver's airbag deploys. The GPS function automatically transmits the vehicle's location to assist in the routing of the emergency services.

A second button connects the driver to an operator service for non-emergency information, such as the location of nearby hotels, cash machines, petrol stations, places of interest and so on. A sort of 'Ask Jeeves', direct from the comfort of your driving seat.

A third button accesses 'real time' traffic information to provide reports on local conditions, much as might be heard on your favourite radio station.

The final button activates the GSM telephone. With no key-pad, it responds to voice commands, which can be either a spoken number or a name from a 'contact book', registered via the Ford telematics dedicated web site. Advanced voice-recognition software eliminates the need for 'voice training', and any driver can use the system. For customers without Internet access, the contact book can be compiled or modified via the operator service.

Ford telematics differs from Fiat Connect in the way in which subscribers pay for the service. Ford charge £600 for the module to be factory installed (it is currently available only in Focus or Mondeo), whereas Fiat charge a more moderate £480 for the same service.

Connect comes with one year's free subscription, after which it costs £170 per annum with no additional call charges for the operator service.

In contrast, Ford customers have to pay from the outset and are required to sign up to a Vodafone airtime agreement in order for the whole thing to work. I tried to access the Vodafone site to get some idea of the call charges but the page in question was not available. But apart from Vodafone, customers also get a monthly bill from Ford and the charges are not cheap. Traffic information costs 45p per minute and the operator service costs 75p per minute, plus12p every time he/she asks the driver to press the 'Info' button to update the vehicles exact location. (Ford point out that their telematics hardware is not a full-blown satellite navigation device and therefore the vehicle's location is sent by SMS text-messaging only when the 'Info' button is pressed. SOS transmissions automatically fire off a similar message).

Unlike Connect, the Ford service, including the GSM 'phone link, functions only in the UK.

The SOS service is potentially a life-saver and its value cannot be underestimated. As for the rest of it, I'm not so sure. The 'hands-free' telephone is clever but not unique and traffic information is now available from a variety of cheaper sources. I suppose the operator service could be useful in certain circumstances, if only I could think of one. But we live in an age when people like to sub-contract resourcefulness and I have no doubt that many hard-pressed company car drivers would find ample excuse to run up sizeable bills.

But for me, the star performer in the test car remains the TDCi engine. Clever, quiet and powerful, it pulls strongly whatever gear you're in, M'Lud. {{body4}} {{body5}} {{body6}} fo_mondeo_01_e1.jpg fo_mondeo_01_e2.jpg fo_mondeo_01_e3.jpg