Post by Roadrunner on Oct 19, 2018 15:30:13 GMT
My hire car for a trip to Germany this week. Collected from Dusseldorf airport it took five of us on a two hour late night journey to Bad Laer and coped very well, with some local driving for a couple of days and a return journey to Dusseldorf yesterday afternoon.
It was brand new, with only about 800 km on the clock, but it had some good loosening up once we hit the unrestricted Autobahn sections. The 1.5 turbo motor cruised easily and very quietly, while the ride soaked up the bumps with aplomb. Single carriageway roads revealed the usual exemplary road holding we have come to expect from Ford. At 170 kph it remained rock solid on the road.
Where the car did disappoint was in acceleration in the upper two of the six gears, which I suppose is unsurprising. After easing back for a 100 or 80 kph section, the return to proper Autobahn mode required either lots of patience, or a change down and firm pressure from my right foot. Overtaking on single carriageway roads required dropping three gears and lots of revs. As has been mentioned in another thread, this is a perfect example of where a modern, smaller capacity turbo petrol will deliver the goods up to a point, but fail to serve up the effortless waftability which turbo diesel drivers have come to know and enjoy.
That aside, it was a comfortable and capable car. The interior, while not to German standards, was better than it looks in the photos and I liked the ST Line trim package - looking smart and coming with just about all the kit that most drivers would want.
All in all a very good effort from Ford, but one which would be more enjoyable with the sort of engine which is now being phased out.
It was brand new, with only about 800 km on the clock, but it had some good loosening up once we hit the unrestricted Autobahn sections. The 1.5 turbo motor cruised easily and very quietly, while the ride soaked up the bumps with aplomb. Single carriageway roads revealed the usual exemplary road holding we have come to expect from Ford. At 170 kph it remained rock solid on the road.
Where the car did disappoint was in acceleration in the upper two of the six gears, which I suppose is unsurprising. After easing back for a 100 or 80 kph section, the return to proper Autobahn mode required either lots of patience, or a change down and firm pressure from my right foot. Overtaking on single carriageway roads required dropping three gears and lots of revs. As has been mentioned in another thread, this is a perfect example of where a modern, smaller capacity turbo petrol will deliver the goods up to a point, but fail to serve up the effortless waftability which turbo diesel drivers have come to know and enjoy.
That aside, it was a comfortable and capable car. The interior, while not to German standards, was better than it looks in the photos and I liked the ST Line trim package - looking smart and coming with just about all the kit that most drivers would want.
All in all a very good effort from Ford, but one which would be more enjoyable with the sort of engine which is now being phased out.
