The new Ford Mondeo is a great car, which Teknikens Värld's test shows, but there is one problem – the weight. Mondeo weighs 279 kg more than Ford claims. With big load (ie family plus luggage) the car therefore becomes illegal to drive.

The last car test that Teknikens Värld performed in 2014 included three highly interesting cars: the new Ford Mondeo Estate (Turnier in Germany), new Volkswagen Passat Estate (Variant in Germany) and Volvo V70. All three cars performed well except for one thing, the weight of the Ford Mondeo.

According to Ford's official figures, aka the vehicle's registration certification, the Mondeo Titanium Estate 2.0 TDCi 150 bhp S6 MPS has a curb weight of 1 601 kg (3 530 lbs). When we put the car on a crested scale, it turns out that the Mondeo weighs 1 880 kg (4 145 lbs). In other words, 279 kg (615 lbs) more than Ford claims. The curb weight is 17.4 % more than indicated.

If you load the car to the max, in the belief that it is okay, you actually commit a crime because the car's total gross weight is exceeded. Even worse, it can also be dangerous which our moose test shows. In an evasive maneuver the new Ford Mondeo Estate can not handle 279 kg (615 lbs) of overweight (an overweight that is not an overweight according to the car's registration certificate). Not even when driving straight ahead the Mondeo Estate handles the overweight in a good manner. The rear wheels scrape the wheel arches.
It should be mentioned that the new Mondeo Estate performs a good result in the moose test when the load is only 100 kg (220 lbs) above the actual maximum load limit. That is 179 kg (395 lbs) less than the vehicle registration allows you to load.

A month ago we discovered the same problem with the new Mercedes C 220 BlueTEC Estate (T-Modell in Germany). It weighs 245 kg (540 lbs) more than the car's registration certificate says. Mercedes-Benz in Sweden realized the problem and says they are now going to change the practice of weights. You can read more about this in the latest issue of Teknikens Värld, available in stores now and also available for online order.