Hey up,

I'm looking to get a diesel Mondeo estate for bike carrying duties and as it is one of the STW favourites I thought I'd ask here. The TDCi versions come in two flavours with 115 or 130 bhp. Now, ideally I would always go with the more powerful version but the 115s seem to be a bit more prevalent in my price range so I was wondering if anyone knew what the difference was likely to be in the real world. Looking at figures and stuff it seems that the 115 is about a second slower to 60 but I've not managed to find any in gear acceleration figures anywhere.

I have driven a Jag X-Type with the 130 engine as felt it was fine but how big a difference is the loss of 15bhp really going to make.

Also, is there any quick ways of determining whether a car is the 115 or the 130? Especially from the outside?

Any advice, opinion or experience would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

My old man has the 115 which has a 5 speed box, he also looked at the 130 with a 6 speed box.
He opted for the 115 due to there gear ratio's and tax.
He's be happy as larry with it until he came to tow a car with it and the extra power would have been useful, but it still flies with 4 adults and luggage in it and returns a decent mpg.

I hate to be reasonable and sensible, but which one has the lowest emissions and therefore the (quite a bit) lower road tax? I'd take that one for 15hp.

Thanks Luke, that's the kind of comments I was looking for.

TooTall, they're both in the same group and both have the same VED.

I had a 130bhp and 6 speed box and it was lovely – I preferred it to the 115bhp 5 speed car as I also dive a lot – the power is notable when carrying very heavy loads. I'd also go for that option if you intend to drive on the motorway a lot!

Buy the 115 pay lower tax then chip it ?

It's a bigger turbo in the 130bhp car is it not?

Anyway, great choice. I've driven a couple of the 130bhp ones and they really are very good cars indeed.

I'm unlikely to be doing massive mileage during the week as I am only 15 miles away from the shop and I will ride that from time to time. I will however have weekends away racing and riding and possibly the odd trip to the Alps or similar.

I would definitely prefer the 130 if I can find one but just checking to see whether it would be worth looking at the 115s or avoiding them.

I had thought about chipping them too but not entirely sure the gains are worth the outlay.

Still interested in opinions though.

Oh, and is there anything else pertinent to look out for? I know about the DMF issue but owt else.

Can't comment on the 115, but I own the 130 and it's lovely. It's a big heavy car bear in mind, the estate more so.

Go to a dealership and test-drive 'em, see what you think first-hand?

I had the 130 and found that the power was just enough, there if you needed it. I had the old lx 5 spd version and would of liked a 6th gear, so I'm going to say go for the 130 to get the 6spd.

It cruises lovely, I did a 300mle drive in it without stopping, and if i didn't have a company car i don't think I would have sold it.

Have a look at the reviews on the What Car website- they have a section titled "Which one to get" to help choose the best model of each vehicle.

Have a 115 estate, don’t know about comparisons to the 130 Mondeo but it’s a tad slower than my previous 130 Passat and 2.0L petrol Mondeo (hatch), not that you remember after a while. Carries and vast amount of stuff, bikes, kit, family etc. Do 100 miles a day on the motorway and it keeps up fine.

You’ve mentioned the DMF and there’s the associated starter also the TDCi’s can suffer injector problems. The estates have a different rear suspension layout so don’t suffer the sub-frame bush issues as the hatch. Regular servicing and all should be fine (famous last words).

some misfire at 1800 revs – a plug in to the computer/update sorts it. Weird vibration from the intercooler pipe is also a known annoyance.

We had a 130TDCi Estate with a 5 speed box. It was lovely, nice and quick. I checked the figures before buying our 2002 model and the mpg figures were either the same or slightly lower than the 115, obviously it will do less mpg if you can't stop yourself using that extra 15bhp.

Don't know how to tell the differences between the engine, I think ours had a sticker on the slam panel under the bonnet that said 130ps or similar.

Is the 130 an older version? I got the 2.0 tdci 140bhp 6 speed and reckon it's pretty spot on. Quick enough without being too thirsty. I'm getting 30-40 mpg with mostly commuting travel which is either twisty or stop start. About the same as my 1.6 petrol Focus fwiw.