VRS compared to Mondeo

[gwyn]

Hi Guys

I'm getting really excited now as my new VRS CR is meant to be arriving next week (not holding my breath though). Im currently driving a new shape Mondeo Ghia 140hp tdi which has 320nm of torque.

As it has a torque boost, it goes upto 340nm on hard acceleration, and I was wondering how its performance will compare to my new VRS?

Iv only actually driven the petrol VRS, and also my wife has got a 220hp TFSI Audi A4, which is a really sweet engine.

The Mond has a 0-60 of 9.2, so obviously slower, but I was wondering how much quicker the VRS will be at overtaking?

Sorry for the slightly pointless question, I just cant stop thinking about my new car, its in black by the way.

This is a great review with good pics:

http://www.themotorreport.com.au/45988/2009-skoda-octavia-rs-diesel-wagon-and-petrol-hatch-road-test-review

Cheers

Edited 26 September, 2010 by gwyn

[OCScene]

I think you may be dissapointed........I recently changed my 2.2 TDCI ST Mondeo for an Octavia. I know my local dealer very well, which is a Ford/Skoda dealer, and got a CR VRS for 48 hours so got to give it a good test in all sorts of environments. It books faster than the ST but certainly does not feel it. I thought my Ford diesel engine was noisy but hearing them side by side the VRS was much noiser. It didnt deliver the same 'punch' as the ST when you needed it if you know what i mean and the power curve was not as usefull as on the Mondeo. I was also weary of the infamous DPF that is fast becoming a menace on all modern diesel cars

I settled on a 1.8 TSI as found the balance of power, comfort, quietness and economy perfect.

Having said that the ST wat 15BHP more than your 140. So maybe this comparison is unrealistic.

Hope that helps.

The quality is probably a little better than the Ford.

Overall Im pleased i swapped

Edited 26 September, 2010 by OCScene

[gwyn]

Thanks for the info. Im not too worried about DPF as I do about 35k/year.

Could the power of the VRS you tried be down to it not being run in yet? Just a thought.

Edited 26 September, 2010 by gwyn

[sherlocks VRS]

I ran a mondeo st tdci for a year and i work at a skoda dealership as a techy i now own a octavia vrs tfsi with around 270 bhp, but i drive the diesel vrs on a daily basis when they come in for service etc and my money goes to the octy, it will give you less trouble than the daganam dustbin (thats comming from experience of owning one myself). the only possible thing you will miss is the massive torque which the mondeo gives especialy if yours has got the transient overboost fitted like mine had (all dependent on year mine was a 05 plate) but as previously said the sts are 158 bhp not like your 140. And if power feels down simply get it revo'd or equivelent. You wont be dissapointed as build quality is far superior to the mondeo as well. Phil.

[gwyn]

Nice one, thanks.

Cant wait to get it now. My Mondeo has got a really annoying engine stutter when accelerating hard, so it will be nice to have a car that revs smoothly to the red line.

[gwyn]

The dealer said that it should be here last week of September, but judging by all of the delays, I doubt it will. It was ordered early June and its the manual, in black with auto dimming mirror and auto lights.

[OCScene]

I ran a mondeo st tdci for a year and i work at a skoda dealership as a techy i now own a octavia vrs tfsi with around 270 bhp, but i drive the diesel vrs on a daily basis when they come in for service etc and my money goes to the octy, it will give you less trouble than the daganam dustbin (thats comming from experience of owning one myself). the only possible thing you will miss is the massive torque which the mondeo gives especialy if yours has got the transient overboost fitted like mine had (all dependent on year mine was a 05 plate) but as previously said the sts are 158 bhp not like your 140. And if power feels down simply get it revo'd or equivelent. You wont be dissapointed as build quality is far superior to the mondeo as well. Phil.

I agree with bits of your post like the amount of torque the 2.2 TDCI had butI had mine for 4 years and it never went to the dealer once other than a routine service. The same can't be said about my 54 plate Octavia VRS or 52 Plate Fabia (nightmare car, in the dealers more than on the road for the short 1 year I put up with it).

Ford are well built cars. The Mondeo particually so, look at the reviews which all hype the build quality.

I love my Octavia but would have another Ford again, it would just come down to price. Both are great solid, well built cars with a great range of engines. Look at the awards Ford keep on winning, they can't seem to put a foot wrong.

The big decidfing factor for me was the DSG gearbox, it is truelly awesome. I can't fault it at all.

[sherlocks VRS]

I agree with bits of your post like the amount of torque the 2.2 TDCI had butI had mine for 4 years and it never went to the dealer once other than a routine service. The same can't be said about my 54 plate Octavia VRS or 52 Plate Fabia (nightmare car, in the dealers more than on the road for the short 1 year I put up with it).

Ford are well built cars. The Mondeo particually so, look at the reviews which all hype the build quality.

I love my Octavia but would have another Ford again, it would just come down to price. Both are great solid, well built cars with a great range of engines. Look at the awards Ford keep on winning, they can't seem to put a foot wrong.

The big decidfing factor for me was the DSG gearbox, it is truelly awesome. I can't fault it at all.

Cant comment about your experiences of mondeo ownership but i bought mine which was 18 months old with 12,500 miles on and in the 12 months i owned it it had a full set of injectors fiited at a cost of £1300, a egr cooler and valve, 2 alloy wheels (laquer lifted), oil leak from the timming chain cover,luckily for me it was covered under warranty, interior trims were also comming away from the backings (not covered under warranty), and the final nail in the coffin was the turbo went ti**s up, so it had to go. Another point i want to make i work at a skoda dealership as a techy and across from us is a ford dealership and we obviously speek to the techys there and they say the early mondeos gave a lot of trouble but the new ones are better,

[OCScene]

Cant comment about your experiences of mondeo ownership but i bought mine which was 18 months old with 12,500 miles on and in the 12 months i owned it it had a full set of injectors fiited at a cost of £1300, a egr cooler and valve, 2 alloy wheels (laquer lifted), oil leak from the timming chain cover,luckily for me it was covered under warranty, interior trims were also comming away from the backings (not covered under warranty), and the final nail in the coffin was the turbo went ti**s up, so it had to go. Another point i want to make i work at a skoda dealership as a techy and across from us is a ford dealership and we obviously speek to the techys there and they say the early mondeos gave a lot of trouble but the new ones are better,

Wouldnt call an 05 (yours) or 56 (mine) an early Mondeo. More late MKII. You were obvoiusly very unlucky. I was in the ST owners club and the ongoing thing talked about was the resounding reliability of the Mondeo ST.

[weyland]

Injector failure was a fairly common fault on a large number of TDCi's, the ST included. Lots of mention of this on numerous websites inc. ST owners club

[mikey vrs]

Fuel pumps are another expensive problem on the tdci mondeo,we had them at work & they were a nightmare(always breaking down & costing silly money)ours ranged from 2002 to 2007now been replaced with toyota avensis,Ive never heard a octy diesel engine close up but i cant believe its noiser than a mondeo diesel,these have a transit van engine in them!

[rob_e]

OCScene - you really can't compare the 2.2 TdCI to the 2.0 140ps that the OP has. There is a very significant difference in the torque outputs of those cars - the 2.2 is MUCH quicker.

My 02p: your VRS is a much better car - interior / build quality and faster.

[dibbley]

Hi,

I had a 56 plate VRS TDI, obviously not a CR engine, I now have a 2.2 Titanium X Mondeo, I personally owned both cars. The Mondeo is quieter, there is no doubt about that, the Mondeo feels slower, but that may be because the Octavia lets you know (through noise) what's going on, the Mondeo is thirstier (41.4 MPG, mainly motorway), The Mondeo does not inspire the same confidence when cornering fast over changing road surfaces M60-M62 Eccles interchange for example, the off slip road from the M4 to Swansea is another. The servicing costs for the Skoda were in my opinion high, considerably higher than the quotes I have had from Ford. The rear tyres on the Octavia became very noisy due to tracking errors.

Overall the Skoda did well over 93,000 miles, the DPF had a sensor problem when I first got it, but never again. The major difference I have found is the number of gizmo's in the Ford compared to the Skoda. The hands free is super in the Ford.

I would have another Octavia tomorrow, in fact anyone willing to make an offer on a 59 2.2 Titanium X Mondeo???

Whilst the Mondeo is a good practical/comfortable car for getting from A to B, the Skoda is more fun.

I am not sure how the Octavia would manage against the Ford in a 50-90 drag in top, the 2.2 engine has an enormous amount of torque. So probably not very well.

The Skoda looks nicer to!

[mikey vrs]

If your mondeo is a 59 plate its the latest one which has a newer/different & far better engine in it than the previous mondeo st thats been mentioned.The latest mondeo is a nice motor,we have a 58 plate one at work & its a vast improvement over the 56 plate it replaced.

[psycholist]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned yet that the Mondeo is supposed to be a whole car class bigger than the Skoda. The fact the Octy is doing well in the comparison with a car that's supposed to be a class higher is a testament to the standard the Octy is at.

[sherlocks VRS]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned yet that the Mondeo is supposed to be a whole car class bigger than the Skoda. The fact the Octy is doing well in the comparison with a car that's supposed to be a class higher is a testament to the standard the Octy is at.

GOOD CALL!!! Yes the mondeo is in the same class as the super "B".

[silver1011]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned yet that the Mondeo is supposed to be a whole car class bigger than the Skoda. The fact the Octy is doing well in the comparison with a car that's supposed to be a class higher is a testament to the standard the Octy is at.

No one mentioned it because the opening post was comparing performance not size.

The Mondeo is comparable to the Octavia even if the Octy is a fraction smaller.

[Furby_Lass]

Octavia beats the Mondeo any day in my books!

[OCScene]

No one mentioned it because the opening post was comparing performance not size.

The Mondeo is comparable to the Octavia even if the Octy is a fraction smaller.

I dissagree completly! I went from a Mondeo Hatch to and Octy estate and there was far more space in the Mondeo hatch.

I bought it in order to downsize so the the good lady didnt have to to struggle to park at work.

[silver1011]

I dissagree completly! I went from a Mondeo Hatch to and Octy estate and there was far more space in the Mondeo hatch.

I bought it in order to downsize so the the good lady didnt have to to struggle to park at work.

Again, you are comparing size, the OP is talking performance.

I don't deny that the Octavia is smaller than the Mondeo, however to me there doesn't look to be a lot in it.

When I was looking at my next car the 140bhp Mondeo was on my shortlist. For my needs it was in direct competition with the Octavia and the Octy estate won hands down.

Edited 27 September, 2010 by silver1011

[TsvRS]

They are both good cars in my opinion and the 2.2 Mondeo is agile enough despite its size (in the image above looks over 30 cms wider?).

I like the Octavia more but I could easily understand someone else arguing the opposite view.

[jlwah]

I know the OP was comparing performance between the two, but the Mondeo is (even after discount) about 25% more expensive than the vRS (e.g. £20K for a loaded CR vRS estate and £25K for similar spec Titanium X estate). Worse still for the Mondeo is that come resale time there's barely £500 in it between the two.

I quite like the Mondeo, particularly the estate, but I certainly don't think it's 25% better.