Teknikens Värld has made lots of headlines with its moose test, which a number of vehicles have failed to muster, the latest victim being the Porsche Macan. Now the Swedish magazine has put the new Ford Mondeo under its microscope – and there seems to be a serious problem: its weight.
You don’t have to be a car guy to figure out that, the more you load your car, i.e. increase its weight, the more you change its driving dynamics. That’s why manufacturers state a maximum load allowed in all vehicle registrations.
Ford’s official figures state that the Mondeo Titanium Estate 2.0 TDCi 150 bhp S6 MPS has a curb weight of 1,601 kg (3,350 lbs). When it was put on a scale, Teknikens Värld discovered that it actually weighed was 1,880 kg (4,145 lbs), or 279 kg (615 lbs) than the Ford’s claims. In other words, the Mondeo Estate is 17.4 percent heavier than it’s supposed to be.
When you load the car to the max, and this edition being an estate it’s reasonable to assume that there will be quite a few occasions like that, you actually exceed the manufacturer’s total gross weight. This makes it dangerous both in a straight line, where the rear wheels scrape the rear wheel arches, and in the moos test.
The fully-loaded Mondeo simply can’t handle the evasive maneuver. On the other hand, when the load exceeds the actual maximum limit by only 100 kg (220 lbs), which is 179 (395 lbs) less than the one stated in the registration, it scores a good result.
Unlike the Mondeo, the VW Passat Estate and Volvo V70, which were also tested, had no problems. Last month, though, the Mercedes-Benz C 220 BlueTec Estate was also found to be overweight, this time by 245 kg (540 lbs) than the manufacturer’s official figures. Mercedes-Benz Sweden responded by acknowledging the issue and promising to change the way they measure their cars’ weight.
Photos & Video via Teknikens Värld
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