Driving a MC TDCi Mondeo

[juzandbec]

Hello all,

I am very close to purchasing a 2011 Titanium TDCi Mondeo.
I drove 2 today, very nicely built, you can tell the European influence stepping out of a BF Fairlane!

So I did some reading and the constant flag raised ( true or not ) was the powershift trans. I read about the fluctuating RPM on steady load up a hill indicating trans issues and sure enough, the first one I drove did this, the RPM waving back and forward about 500RPM, so I parked that one.

The second one i drove this afternoon did not do this so I am close to purchasing. I have a question on the driving experience / transmission for all those current owners of MC powershift Mondeo's: Does your trans change abruptly and sometimes seemingly out of sync with your acceleration or de-acceleration?

My experience was the trans would either hold or drop down or up abruptly, - it didn't necessarily jerk the car but rather it felt like a someone was driving it manually and changing through the gears too quickly. I guess I'm comparing it to the 6spd ZF from the Fairlane which is like butter, seamless and predictable.

In your experience is this normal behavior that you get used to or is the powershift playing up in some way?

Your thoughts and experience on driving a powershift appreciated.

Cheers
Justin

[manamp27]

I have the same exact model and the transmission is perfect. No surging. Operates just like it did when new. Much better than conventional auto in any car I've owned. It's a great car all round. Hasn't missed a beat. Still love driving it after 3 years. And ours is driven mainly in inner city Sydney, so lots of gear changes. As long as it's been serviced properly, you should be fine.

[ope126]

I have had a Zetec EcoBoost and a Titanium Wagon and the PowerShift has been faultless on both...

[whitelion65]

Justin,
mine doesn't behave like that. They are quite different from a conventional auto, but should be fairly seamless when driving "normally".
Did you have the lever pulled over to "sport" mode, that will change the shift pattern, but generally, it will just hold gears longer.

Good luck
Steve

[juzandbec]

Thanks all for the replies.

I feel better that the experiences seem positive but keen to get the car and drive it some more to see if it was just my perception or as suggested it may have been in sport mode.

It has a Ford service history so far - might need a trans service...

Hopefully picking up the car Thurs or Fri so I'll let you know

[whitelion65]

Justin,
transmission service is due at 60,000 and is quite expensive. Around $780 from memory. Check ford website - fixed price servicing.
Are you buying from a dealer or privately? It may be worth test driving a bran new car to get the feel for the tranny.

Steve

[Mickmelb]

Hey mate, I went from a BF2 Fairmont Ghia to a MC Titanium. The ZF auto is, as you say, like butter and the Mondeo will never get anywhere near it for smoothness it is after all a manual gearbox with auto shifting. The Titanium was the first Ford I ever thought about keeping past the 3 year lease it was that good, although not as good as my new GTI lol and light years ahead of the Fairmont so im sure you will love it. I did over 130k in it without any issues at all. Remember most people come onto the internet to report problems not the good stuff so its a very lopsided view you get. The only thing I didn't like was the lack of power so I fitted a tuning box that I took off before each service. It didn't turn it into a quick car but certainty made the acceleration more linear and well worth the money.

[Binny]

The behaviour of the powershift can vary a lot depending on how it's been getting driven over time. From what I've heard it keeps a score of how enthusiastically you drive which accumulates over time.
For example a quick thrash will bump up the score a bit but if you are driving like a loon all the time the score will keep climbing. Shifting into "S" mode ups the score by a pre-determined amount and drops the same amount when you go back to "D".
The higher the score is the more it will tend to hold gears for longer, shift down more aggressively and also shift gears faster.
In contrast with a lower score it will shift up early for economy and the gear shifts are slower and smoother. It feels to me like it rides the clutch a little during changes to smooth things out.

I drive like a nanna in slow moving heavy traffic most days and I find it ends up getting too slurry and slow to react for my liking. I find an italian tune up now and then gets it back in the zone where it acts the way I like. Nothing serious, just a run through the lower gears at a large throttle % as it rarely sees over 30%. A blast down the motorway on ramp in manual mode works well.