65.6 Average MPG & Just 114 Co2 Emissions
Changes in engine technology have happened at a massive pace and the performance and economy of smaller capacity engines is almost unbelievable when compared to what they achieved just a few years ago.
The latest example of this comes from Ford with their 1.6TDCi Diesel which when fitted in new Mondeo, produces 115bhp, achieves a combined average mpg of 65.6mpg and delivers a P11D busting 114g/km Co2, free road tax for the first year, then just £30 a year afterwards making this the most economical Mondeo ever.
Now we are not talking little car here, but a big comfy saloon with a real executive feel about it and yes I can already hear you saying a 1.6 engine wont be big enough, but fact is, you are wrong as the Mondeo still runs to 60 in the 11 second bracket and does not top out until almost 120mph and “it is” however you might feel about it, the way all car manufacturers are heading.
The Mondeo has sophisticated direct injection inlet controls and turbo giving it a seamless character, pulling eagerly and strongly even from low revs, right through mid-range and its very composed cruising at the motorway limit. When you are around town, the stop/start system will ensure you are not burning up too much fuel, or chucking out to as little pollutants as possible.
Other benefits of this amazing package will be that this economical masterpiece with its low Co2 is going to become super desirable to buy as a used car and that’s only going to mean one thing and that is when you sell it in 2 or 3 years time, your going to get a very strong value for it, making it even cheaper to run.
You can’t help but be impressed by what car makers like Ford are achieving with this new technology, but you, me, all of us, have to get rid of that hang-up we have about engine size and accept that we are going to get as much or more power from these modern smaller capacity engines as we did the larger, but less sophisticated, more heavily polluting and far less economical engines of the past.
So, in summary, don’t go off and buy a big capacity engine just because that’s what you’ve always done, or because you have some misguided view that a bigger capacity motor gives you some kind of superior status, because that’s not the way it is anymore. We all want to be smarter, or at least make people think we are smarter, so don’t be “dinosaur man” at least, when its time to change your car, take a test drive in a vehicle with a smaller capacity engine and actually show everyone that you’re better than smart, you’re clever.
