who wants this car in the US?

[Stefanel1]

>Bruno4 : hi !

How is Paris : if you mean the weather, it's... grey today ! But the spring is coming, at least.
For your retirment, it's nice but I think the best is the south of France (Nice, Menton, Marseilles) because the weather is better... But, it's like that, when you're in London (or in Kansascity) you dream of Paris, and when you're in Paris you dream of Monaco, Nice of Florida and the sun !! We're never satisfacted... oh, my life, my life...

I put this Lancia badge because I've a Delta... original, isn't it ?! But it's far to be the Integrale (alas for the performances, hopefully for the reliablitity and the price !). And I'll change it for an Alfa, a BMW or a Peugeot at the end of the year. We'll see.
But we could continue about Lancia on the... Lancia section

And for the driving in the States, I had the impression, that it was very different from the States (I went in Florida, Virginia, California, Nevada an NY).
In New York they are not too slow, but in Virginia and Florida, they are very scary (... because they don't drive enough fast !). But I'm maybe wrong as zackiedawg is saying that you can drive fast.
A,d in England it's not so good, there are cops everywhere, and plus, they drive on the wrong side of the road Seriously, I think Germany is the best because the limits are not as stupid as in other countries (especially on the free-speed highways). It is funny to drive in France of Italy but the police is really stupid, you can find a radar on an highway with nobody on it, and if you drive over 160kmh (100 mph), you'll have a fine, and you won't have problems in Paris if you pass a red light, and all parisian drivers do it... and it's worse in Italy !

Finally for the radar detectors, you're lucky in the USA and (I'm sure) in the UK being able to have it.

[dusty]

Hello fellow car dudes, I have a Mondeo estate (Wagon) 2 litre and had the previous model well....previously. The old car seemed okay when I had it , a bit slow but wound out well on the highway. It handled very well (also a wagon) but was not terribly well put together. I did 135,000kms in 3 years and it never let me down, did not even need a new battery. The new one is a totally different kettle of fish and made the old car seem like a dog, fair enough its not an Audi or a VW but here in NZ it is pretty good value for money and copes well with the rugged geography and twisty roads. It is still regarded as the best steering car in its class when compared to mazda 6, latest vectra, and honda accord euro. They have all come close ,Mazda and Honda closest of all but for steering feel and composure on difficult tracks it still rates as one of the best drivers cars and I would not trade it for anything from Japan (maybe the euro accord if I had to) or a V6 Mondeo wagon (available in UK or Europe only) we only get the 2.5 V6 sport version the ST. The ST220 is supposed to arrive here in the next couple of months and by all accounts the chassis could handle plenty more power which hopefully is Fords plan, We will see.

[zackiedawg]

Dusty,

congratulations on your Mondeo Estate (wagon, variant, avant, etc)!

I was very pleased with Ford's redesign of the Mondeo to the current design, finding it to be a vast improvement over the prior version (not that it was bad). I rented one last time I was in England, and was quite pleasantly surprised how similarly it looked and felt to my Passats, and it did have excellent steering and good brakes too. The back seat even felt a bit roomier than the Passats.

Unfortunately, Ford has not graced our shores with this car (they always keep the best American cars for European and other World markets!!), so if we want a Ford wagon, we have to choose the smaller Focus or the uninspiring and long-in-the-tooth Taurus. Meanwhile, Europeans get the Ford Mondeo, Ka, and Escort Cosworth, Opels, Peugeots, Citroens, Fiats, Lancias, Alfa Romeos, and others...plus you all down under get the fast-hauling Holdens.

I have been very happily testing the W8's limits here in the states. Stefanel, you mentioned having visited Florida and finding drivers slow and dangerous...you're right! But you can find certain roads that allow you to travel at better speeds. In South Florida, there are a few highways that have some wide open, unpopulated stretches of road which are not usually monitored by police, and you can open up a car here. I have had my W8 to 125MPH for a few long stretches, and it is just coming into its element at that speed...the car actually begins to feel MORE comfortable and stable at higher speeds.

If you come to Florida again, send me an e-mail...I can let you know where are the best places to go, and to avoid the terrible drivers! Maybe even meet you for a drink to say hello to an international car enthusiast like myself!!

[dusty]

125 mph ? I think your W8 would be barely raising a sweat at that speed and as you say, the faster you travel the smoother and quieter it will become, just a question, my brother and I were discussing the W8 today and I am hoping that someone can explain the W8 layout to a dummy like me? I think I read somewhere that it is 2 V5s with a cylinder lopped off and then sort of "splined "together but that sounds kinda wayout to me , any clarification would be appreciated.

[zackiedawg]

Sure...what you said you heard isn't quite right, but not too far off.

You may be familiar with VW's now-famous VR6 engine. This engine has been around for over a decade, and is a narrow angle V6 (think of a 'V' with less space in between).

VW took two of these VR6 engines, and removed two cylinders from each...resulting essentially in two VR4 engines. They then joined these two engines longitudinally to eachother. The resulting layout is two narrow angle "V"s side-by-side, or a "VV"...hence the name, W8.

VW has a range of these engines using the same technique...In the 2001 Audi A8s, a W12 engine was available (two VR6s together), and the W12 is available in Volkswagen's Phaeton luxury car. Also, the W12 with turbochargers attached will be powering the new Bentley Continental GT coupe debuting this fall (VW owns Bentley). And finally, the Bugatti Veyron supercar will be running a W16 with 4 turbochargers (oh my God!) turning 1000HP.

Hope that helps!

Oh, and at 125 MPH, the W8 is turning at 3400RPM on the tach...with redline at 6800, there was definately PLENTY of room to go. VW has speed limiters on their engines in the US that cut you off at 130...but certain people know how to remove those limiters.

[dusty]

Thanks for the reply, the Bugatti sounds pretty scary. In WW2 a company in GB called Napier made an engine called the Sabre and it was used in the Hawker Typhoon fighter, it had an H 24 which was 4 rows of six cylinders arranged in an H layout horizontally opposed and driving 2 crankshafts, I guess it was like 2 x 12 cylinder boxer engines, 1 stacked on top of the other one. It had a (for the time) high rev limit of 3750 rpm and sleeve valves along with around 2,000 HP this turned out (after some patch ups ) to be a better engine than the Rolls Royce model , the Vulture. This was an X24 and comprised 2 x 12 cylinder engines joined base to base and driving a common cranksaft. The engine turned out to be a total dog and was scrapped along with the Tornado fighter and the Manchester Bomber (which became the Lancaster with 4x RR Merlins, arguably the best heavy bomber of WW2 when payload is taken into account) The Buggatti sounds like its engine should be used for an aircraft rather than a car. So engines geeks have been dicking around with motors for many years it would seem with some very interesting results. When you compare the Litres/KW it would be an interesting exercise, a RR Griffon aero engine (V12 and 36 litres) pumped out around 2,000 HP with two speed / 2 stage supercharging how does the BUG engine compare for capacity and output? I know the dragster fraternity have strapped Packard Merlins etc into their go karts , now that would be a wild ride!! Only in a straight (hopefully) line though. Now a W8 Passat would be a dream car to me (So would a Falcon XR6 Turbo) , your a 4tunate guy.

[zackiedawg]

I believe I recall the Bugatti engine being 8.0 liters. They could probably develop something like it for aircraft use...maybe increase it to 12 or 16 liters to go for the big-bore torque (not that 800 Ft Lbs is too shabby!).

There are definately some interesting hybrids floating around out there...I have heard about the Packard transplants and other strange hot rods...

One of the strangest is the MTT Y2K, of which there are a rare few floating around. Not sure if you have these down your way...this is a turbine-powered motorcycle made of carbon fiber, and using a Rolls Royce Allison 25O-C18 helecopter turbine. It runs around 320HP and 425Ft Lbs of torque in its detuned state, and has been modified to run on any form of fuel (though it reaches peak performance on jet fuel). Jay Leno bought one! You have to be careful not to tailgate one if you happen to see it, as the exhaust is hot enough to melt the plastic bumpers off your car!

Crazy.

[tanirdriver]

"The Mondeo is simply too small to be classed a family car in America- sad but true"

Well the carbody is slightly shorter than that of the Taurus but the wheelbase is exactly identical (2.75 metres). Incidentally the Renault Laguna and the Citroën C5 also have a 2.75-metre long wheelbase.

In fact the Taurus, the Mondeo and the Falcon share the same platform but have different bodies. In particular there aren't any Taurus or Falcon liftbacks sold, which I think is a good thing because I find Mondeo liftbacks horrible.


Regards,


Tanir

[replicant_008]

[font=arial black][i]In fact the Taurus, the Mondeo and the Falcon share the same platform but have different bodies. In particular there aren't any Taurus or Falcon liftbacks sold, which I think is a good thing because I find Mondeo liftbacks horrible.

[font=arial]
Where did you get that information from... because it's blatantly wrong.
The Falcon is an Australian rear wheel drive platform that has its origins in the 1960s vintage US Falcon compact. It uses a longitudinal mounted inline six (aka Barra) which is manufactured in Australia with a iron block and the chassis features a wishbone front end and up until very recently a live rear axle. The chassis is unique and is used nowhere else in the world but recently uses a version of the control blade IRS rear end.

The Taurus uses a transverse mounted front wheel drive platform using the mainly the all alloy Duratec V6 as its powerplant. The front end of a Taurus uses a Mac-Strut arrangement.

The European Mondeo chassis is a separate platform altogether. It uses mainly transverse mounted Duratec HE all alloy inline four cylinder powerplants powering the front wheels although there is a turbodiesel and sporting versions using the Duratec V6. The current chassis has been shared with other vehicles, Jaguar X-Type which is predominantly all wheel drive although there is a front wheel drive version in some markets. An earlier Mondeo platform was used in the Ford Cougar and the Ford Contour in the US but it is definitely not shared with the Taurus.

[tanirdriver]

Of course I used the wrong terms. Sorry for that.

What I meant was "the three cars are in the same category from a social/aesthetical point of view". I didn't mean to talk in technical terms. I mean that the Falcon, Mondeo and Taurus are three examples of sleek mid-level cars made by Ford around the world. The fact that the 2001 Mondeo has got a wheelbase that is as long as that of the Taurus makes it look almost as impressive as its American counterpart even though the carbody is 30 cm shorter.


Regards,


Tanir

[turbotamer]

Originally Posted by ChristopherJ

What 4cyl engines do the Mondeo's get?
Will the Mondeo ever get the 2.3 Mazda 6 Engine?
With Holden selling the Vectra here in December Ford should import the Mondeo, they could even do a FPV version.

The Modndeo in england 4 cylinder is either a 1.6, 1.8 or 2.0 and there is a 4 cylinder diesel too I found some info at www.mondeosport.com/forum

[Ford Mondeo ST220]

Mondeo ST220 is the best car i have ever owned!!
I bought the mine in june its a 2004 model brand new. A litle about the car.
Its preformance blu with a black lether interior by Recaro and all the extras.
The engin is 3 litrs and 226 Bhp. Swaybars and sport springs and dampers. This car is relay a car for tight corners and hard braking. 18" weels standard in Sweden.