The all-new Ford Mondeo, designed and engineered by Ford of Europe, is significantly improved from the previous generation Mondeo. Larger, more luxurious and featuring class-leading technology, the all-new Mondeo is an exceptional mid-sized sedan, according to the world’s motoring media.

Recently the all-new Ford Mondeo was a finalist in the 2008 World Car of the Year judging; it was chosen by the UK magazine Auto Express as Car of the Year.

In Australia, the all-new Ford Mondeo was named 'Best Car' by the national motoring associations.

In China, the media has also been very complimentary when evaluating the all-new Ford Mondeo. The all-new Ford Mondeo, built by Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Company in Chongqing, has received more than 46 awards from the most critical of the Chinese motoring media: A Top Ten Car in 2008 by Motor Trend, A Ten Best Car in 2008 by Car and Driver, Best Driving Performance Car bySina, and Judging Committee's Special Recommendation by China Mainstream Media Alliance.

Mondeo is available in China in four model variants: 2.0-litre Comfort, 2.3-litre Fashion, 2.3-litre Luxury, and 2.3-litre Luxury Sport.

The all-new Ford Mondeo appeals to the person who is passionate about driving and has an appreciation for quality engineering and European design. Best-in-class driving dynamics, high level of occupant protection, strong visual on-road presence with distinct design, and German engineering are the qualities most appreciated from the all-new Ford Mondeo.

Kinetic Design
The all-new Ford Mondeo brings kinetic design to the forefront. Kinetic design also influences the new Ford S-MAX and the all-new Ford Fiesta. Kinetic design is bold and independent, and is an expression of the car’s dynamic character.

The bold wheel arch reinforces the all-new Mondeo's dynamic on-road driving character. Large diameter wheels fill the arches to reinforce the all-new Ford Mondeo's athleticism. The tail lamps and distinctly styled front lamps are very technical in their design and reflect the in-motion dynamics of kinetic design.

German Engineering
The all-new Ford Mondeo manufactured in China inherits the same exacting German engineering from the European-built Mondeo that has directly influenced Mondeo's superior build quality, premium technology, and excellent safety performance.

Quality materials are used to accentuate the interior. The extensive use of soft-touch textures generates a superior and refined atmosphere. The all-new Ford Mondeo offers greatly improved noise suppression to reduce cabin noise by more than 20 percent.

Advanced technology has made the Mondeo more comfortable and more convenient for occupants. The all-new Ford Mondeo adopts the Easy Fuel system, Ford’s patented capless refilling system (an industry-first technology in China) as well as keyless entry and ignition.

In addition, various driver-friendly features make the all-new Ford Mondeo an outstanding player in its field, such as a Human Machine Interface (HMI) system composed of controls on the steering wheel, multi-media equipment and a large colour screen on the instrument panel. The HMI system boasts powerful functions. The driver can control the audio system, driving information, radio, mobile phone and DVD player through controls on the steering wheel, while information is displayed to the driver on a screen within the instrument panel.

Driving Dynamics
Impressively smooth, quiet and refined, an all-aluminium 2.3-litre (2261cc) Duratec four-cylinder engine is accompanied by a six-speed automatic transmission. The drivetrain responds precisely and quickly to throttle inputs to provide the driver with willing acceleration in all conditions. The Duratec engine produces 117kW at 6500rpm; what's more, it is light in weight and delivers more than 190Nm between 2000 and 5800rpm.

Peak torque of 205Nm is produced at 4000rpm. Technologically advanced, the Duratec engine features four valves per cylinder and two overhead camshafts. The intake camshaft is controlled by iVCT to improve throttle response and to improve the engine's fuel efficiency at all engine speeds.

The Mondeo Comfort is powered by a 2.0-litre (1998cc) Duratec engine producing 107kW at 6000rpm and peak torque of 184Nm at 4500rpm. The Mondeo Comfort is equipped with a five-speed manual transmission.

MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear independent suspension layout is the basis of Ford’s excellent C3P chassis design. Body integrity and structural rigidity enhanced by a front and rear sub-frame contribute to the all-new Mondeo's precise steering response and outstanding dynamics.

Safety Performance
The all-new Ford Mondeo offers an enhanced occupant protection system which includes an ultra-stiff body structure and rigid safety cell as the passenger compartment's structural integrity of the car is extremely important to passenger safety during a crash.

Straight rails and a well engineered load path distribution used in the front-end sheet metal are designed to absorb and transfer high-speed crash energy into the body, side structure and A-pillar, which reduces the deformation of the passenger safety cell. Due to the stiff outer waistline the side doors could be integrated into the load path, energy load during a crash is absorbed and stress is reduced in the passenger safety cell as forces are distributed rather than forcing the protection zone to collapse.

The all-new Ford Mondeo body structure incorporates a door-ring reinforcement and a B-pillar reinforcement made of ultra-high-strength steel to improve crash integrity.

The use of ultra-high-strength steel in the A-pillar, roof side rail and rocker helps to provide a sleek, lightweight design. The combination of different high-strength steel used in the B-pillars contributes to balanced side impact behaviour as well.

In the safety world there is a term used to refer to a vehicle's rigidity and its ability to absorb and deflect impacts. This term is called the 'crash pulse' of the vehicle, meaning the deceleration. With its large cars Ford has optimised the crash pulse and adapted the restraint system accordingly. This raises the occupant protection to new standards in the latest Mondeo.

Advanced Horizontal Stroking Steering Column
A further enhancement to driver protection on the all-new Mondeo is the advanced horizontal stroking steering column. This is an improvement over the previous model that utilised a stroking steering column.

This feature adapts the stroke direction to the driver’s impact direction, thus allowing for more effective energy absorption from the steering column. The amount of intrusion into the cabin is reduced as the column moves away from the driver under load instead of stroking down axially. The steering column strokes away for nearly 90mm in the horizontal direction. Reach and rake comfort adjustment to enable all drivers to tailor the steering wheel position is not impeded by this safety feature.

This steering column was an industry first when introduced in the latest Ford Focus and has been enhanced for use in the Ford S-MAX.

Safety Pedals
Another key factor in a crash situation is the response of the foot pedals. In the all-new Ford Mondeo the pedals have been engineered with a retraction mechanism so that they give way upon intrusion during a crash.

In case of an intrusion, the lightweight pedals will be pressed against the lower cross beam and then will fold away from the driver’s feet. A foam pad and a heel catcher serve a dual purpose: they provide additional protection and a comfortable rest for the driver’s left foot both in left hand drive and right hand drive versions.

Optimised Airbag Deployment
Much care has been taken to create a state-of-the-art airbag system that offers protection to the passengers in a wide range of impact scenarios.

Dual front airbags and front side airbags are standard on all-new Ford Mondeo Luxury and Luxury Sport models. The onboard computer systems tailor the airbag deployment depending on the collision. Exhaustive testing means that car speeds are referenced to different obstacles in order to provide early interaction between the passengers and the airbag in the event of a collision. They are inflated within 30 milliseconds of a fire signal being delivered to the airbags.

Safety Belt System
The advanced safety belt system provides several key safety features. Front safety belts have pyrotechnic pretensioners and load limiting retractors that tighten to reduce body movement in the event of airbag deployment. The retractors control the force applied to the safety belt wearer's chest upon impact.

Pretensioners have conventionally been positioned on the safety belt buckle. Ford's safety engineers have analysed this closely and have developed the system further by placing the pretensioners onto the vertical retractor. The advantage is that when deployed, any slack in the belt is removed more efficiently with a retractor pretensioner rather than a buckle pretensioner. This gives enhanced restraint to the upper torso which is where it is immediately needed. This alteration is also visually preferable as the pretensioners are hidden in the car's B-pillars and not visible to the passengers.

The finely tuned interaction of airbags, load limiters, adjustable safety belt anchors, anti-twist belt material, and optimised belt routing all combine to maximise passenger protection.

Advanced Seat Design
The new Mondeo seats were designed and built with comfort, safety, ergonomics and style in mind. The density and structure of the seat foams guide the passengers in the event of a collision. The seats have anti-submarining bases to help prevent passengers sliding beneath the safety belt in an impact.

Advanced Neck Injury Protection System
With Mondeo's new Advanced Neck Injury Protection system, the advanced headrest frontal shape and active mechanism lead to minimal relative movement between head and upper body during low speed rear impacts. Early guidance keeps the head and neck free of impulsive movement, resulting in less neck strain. Three components are critical to the success of the system:

Headrest designed for optimum protection of all passenger sizes, including a headrest locking feature
An active protection system that minimises relative movement between head and neck by the headrest pushing towards the head during a rear impact
Seatback foam which allows controlled guidance of the passenger
The active headrest has been further developed from the system used in the previous Mondeo model.

The all-new Ford Mondeo is equipped with an effective four-wheel disc braking system with ABS control and Electronic Brake Power Distribution (EBD) to assist the driver to maintain control during extremely situations.

The Mondeo Luxury Sport's braking system is further advanced. For example, Electronic Brake Assist (EBA) determines from the driver's initial brake input if maximum braking force is required. EBA will provide maximum braking pressure (despite the fact that the driver may not be applying full pressure to the brake pedal) in coordination with the ABS system to slow the vehicle as rapidly as possible.

The Electronic Stability Program (ESP) is an active safety feature that assists the driver to maintain vehicle control in extreme situations. It does this by monitoring several sensors, including a yaw sensor, to determine if the vehicle may potentially become unstable due to road surface condition or due to extreme inputs from the driver. The ESP system is then able to maintain stability by reducing engine power (via traction control system) and manipulate the braking system. ESP will assist the driver.

Note for Electronic Stability Control
Electronic stability control (ESC) is a technology that improves the safety of a vehicle's handling, by detecting and preventing skids and slides, helping the driver maintain control of the vehicle. This technology is applied through a computerized system.

ESC simplifies steering for the driver. ESC uses the vehicle's braking system as a tool for "steering" the vehicle back on track. Braking is automatically applied to individual wheels, such as the inner rear wheel to counter understeer, or the outer front wheel to counter oversteer. Some ESC systems also intervene by reducing engine power or accelerating the driven wheels.

ESC compares the driver's intended direction (by measuring steering angle) to the vehicle's actual direction (by measuring lateral acceleration, vehicle rotation (yaw) and individual wheel speeds). If the vehicle is not going where the driver is steering, ESC then brakes individual front or rear wheels and/or reduces excess engine power as needed to help correct understeer (plowing) or oversteer (fishtailing).

ESC incorporates yaw angle control into anti-lock brakes. Yaw is rotation around the vertical axis; i.e. spinning left or right. Anti-lock brakes enable ESC to brake individual wheels. ESC may also incorporate traction control, which senses drive-wheel slip under acceleration and individually brakes the slipping wheel or wheels and/or reduces excess engine power until control is regained.

ESC cannot override a car's physical limits or increase traction. If a driver pushes the vehicle's traction beyond its limits, ESC cannot prevent a crash. It is a tool to help the driver maintain control using available traction.

The ESC-system uses several sensors to determine what the driver wants (input). Other sensors indicate the actual state of the vehicle (response). The control-algorithm compares driver input to vehicle response (25 times per second) and decides, when necessary, to apply brakes and/or reduce throttle.

The sensors used for ESC have to send data at all times in order to detect possible defects as soon as possible. They have to be resistant to possible forms of interference (rain, holes in the road, etc.). The most important sensors are:

Steering wheel angle sensor : determines the driver's intended rotation; i.e. where the driver wants to steer. This kind of sensor is often based on AMR-elements.
Yaw sensor : measures the yaw angle (rotation) of the car; i.e how much the car is actually turning. The data from the yaw sensor is compared with the data from the steering wheel angle sensor to determine regulating action.
Lateral acceleration sensor : often based on the Hall effect. Measures the lateral acceleration of the vehicle.
Wheel speed sensor : measures the wheel speed.
ESC uses a hydraulic modulator to assure that each wheel receives the correct brake force. A similar modulator is used in ABS. ABS needs to reduce pressure during braking, only. ESC additionally needs to increase pressure in certain situations.

The heart of the ESC-system is the Electronic Control Unit (ECU). The various control techniques are embedded in it. Often, the same ECU is used for diverse systems at the same time (ABS, Traction control, climate control, etc.). The input signals are sent through the input-circuit to the digital controller. The desired vehicle state is determined based upon the steering wheel angle, its gradient and the wheel speed. Simultaneously, the yaw sensor measures the actual state. The controller computes the needed brake or acceleration force for each wheel and directs via the driver circuits the valves of the hydraulic modulator. Via a CAN-interface the ECU is connected with other systems (ABS, etc.) in order to avoid giving contradictory commands.

Note for Electronic Brakeforce Distribution
Electronic brakeforce distribution or EBD is an automobile brake technology that automatically varies the amount of force applied to each of a vehicle's brakes, based on road conditions, speed, loading, etc. Always coupled with anti-lock braking systems, EBD can apply more or less braking pressure to each wheel in order to maximize stopping power whilst maintaining vehicular control.

When a rotating wheel is subjected to excessive heavy braking, it is prone to lock-up. In motor vehicles, the anti-lock braking system (ABS) works to prevent this by monitoring wheel speeds and taking action in the form of releasing pressure on the braking circuit, when a rapid deceleration occurs in any of the wheels to ensure steering and vehicular control is maintained during heavy or emergency braking. This has its disadvantages though, as different amounts of braking pressure are required to lock a rotating wheel on different surfaces. For example, less braking pressure would be needed to lock a wheel which was in contact with ice than a wheel which was in contact with an asphalt road. In a situation where the wheels of a vehicle are on different surfaces (for example the two left wheels are on a concrete road and the two right wheels were on snow), during an emergency stop ABS would detect the two right wheels about to lock and would activate, even though the two left wheels would not have locked when the right wheels did.

EBD detects such conditions and electronically controls the braking force applied to each individual wheel, and therefore maximizes the braking force to ensure a maximum braking effectiveness. The final result is more precise and effective braking under all conditions, and also makes the car much more stable under heavy braking, reducing front end dive.

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