Ford Mondeo 'Super' wagon (On a budget) challenge #blogpost

09 Sep 2016

A few days ago, Alex post something telling CTzens to find a car for under £200. I found a Ford Mondeo estate/wagon for £199, which in my opinion was the best car that anyone had found. I think he’s chosen a mid 90s Proton, for some reason. Anyway my awesome finding gave me an idea to make a Ford mondeo ‘Super’ wagon for a 3rd price of a base model 4th Mondeo, which is £22,315 (according to Google). So that’s £7438 to play with.

The car that I found

I chose this car for three reasons. 1) Its a Ford. 2) Its was made after 2000. 3) It’s very cheap.

A donor car that i found for the Gearbox, axles and propshafts

I found this Jaguar for £450. I chose a Jaguar X-Type because the 2nd gen Mondeo and the X-Type share the same platform, and the reason why I chose this car particular is because it was cheap, has no MOT and need some welding done. I’m going to choose a different engine because the one in this car was somewhat 140,000 miles on it.

Jaguar AJ30 V6 from the Jaguar X-Type

I found a low(ish) mileage AJ30, well low compared to the engine in the X-type donor car. Anyway 87,000 miles is lower than than 140,000 miles. I found one for £400.

Supercharger Kit

Here’s the list of parts that would come in a supercharger kit. Supercharger Head Unit, Supercharger Bracket, Oil Feed Line and Drain Line, Supercharger Manifold, Drive Pulley, Crank Pulley, Idler Pulley, Tensioner Pulley, Belts, By pass valve, Discharge Tube, Air Intake Tube, Sleeves, Reducers, Couplers, Intercooler, Aftercooler, Fuel Management Unit, Fuel Pump, Fuel Injectors and a Reflashed ECU.

All of that would boost the engine’s power output from 230 BHP to 350-400 BHP. It would cost about £3000 for the whole kit.

Better Brakes

With 350-400 BHP, the car would need better brakes. I found some drilled grooved discs with pads for £165.

Better Suspension

Just like the Brakes, the Suspension had to be changed for better ones. I found a set of horribly coloured Springs and shocks for £460.

18" Ford ST wheels

At least they’re not steel wheels, but they’re £600, plus £250 or so on good tires.

Sticker Bomb Vinyl Wrap

The paint on the car isn’t what good (that what it looks like in the picture on Autotrader), so I thought that there’s two way to go about it. Multicoloured cable ties as stitching, but that’s a sign of a drifter’s car and because its all wheel drive, it would look dumb. Covering a car completely in Sticker Bomb Wrap would look dumber, But it’s different. I think £150 worth of wrap is enough for the whole car. Or drift stitches and Sticker Bomb Vinyl Wrap just on the black plastic trim.

Pioneer AVH-X7800BT

Just to make it more modern on the inside. This seems to be one of the best. Well it should be at £650.

Ford Mondeo = £199
Jaguar X-type (Gearbox, Axles and Propshafts) = £450
Jaguar AJ30 V6 3.0 = £400
Supercharger kit = £3000
New brakes = £165
Better Suspension = £460
Wheels and tires = £850
Sticker Bomb Vinyl Wrap = £150
Pioneer AVH-X7800BT = £650

TOTAL = £6324

That’s £1114 under my £7438 limit.

Comparison between my findings and the Ford Mondeo Zetec 1.0T EcoBoost Wagon.

Price: The Ford Mondeo Zetec 1.0T EcoBoost Wagon costs £22,315, whilst the Ford Mondeo ‘Super’ wagon would cost £6,324.

Fuel economy: The Ford Mondeo Zetec 1.0T EcoBoost Wagon gets 54 mpg combined, whilst the Ford Mondeo ‘Super’ wagon’s mpg isn’t available because it ain’t real, but I’m guessing it’s in the low 20s because of the supercharger.

Horsepower: The Ford Mondeo Zetec 1.0T EcoBoost Wagon has 123 BHP, whilst the Ford Mondeo ‘Super’ wagon would have an estimated 375 BHP, which is three times more than the Ford Mondeo Zetec 1.0T EcoBoost Wagon, so there’s a clear winner there.

Towing capacity: Who cares.

Engine: The Ford Mondeo Zetec 1.0T EcoBoost Wagon has a 1.0 litre turbocharged 3 - cylinder, whilst the Ford Mondeo ‘Super’ wagon would have a 3.0 litre supercharged V6, and there’s no replacement for displacement, so the Ford Mondeo ‘Super’ wagon wins.

Kerb weight: The Ford Mondeo Zetec 1.0T EcoBoost Wagon’s Kerb weight is 1,476 kg, whilst the Ford Mondeo ‘Super’ wagon’s kerb weight would probably be about 1,650 kg.

Acceleration 0-62 mph: The Ford Mondeo Zetec 1.0T EcoBoost Wagon does 0-62 in 12 seconds, whilst the Ford Mondeo ‘Super’ wagon would do it in 6 seconds (probably).

Overall the Ford Mondeo ‘Super’ wagon would win.