I just returned from a 2-week vacation to England, France, Switzerland and Italy with my wife and 3-year-old son. I could go on a lengthy spiel on how enjoyable a vacation this was, but I'll confine my comments to the automotive experience.
We rented a Ford Mondeo Estate TDCi (diesel, manual) in Calais, France and drove across France, through a small portion of Switzerland, and on to our final destination in northwestern Italy, Aosta.
A few points about the car:
- nice...the Mondeo interior is a nice step up from our Contours, esp. automatic air con and nice audio system
- the turbo diesel (I think we had the 130 hp, 2.0l version) is surprisingly responsive and refined (a little diesel clatter under certain conditions, but no smoke or smell)
- the shift linkage seems a little looser, less precise than my SVT Contour (mind you, this is a rental)
- very spacious...it handled the 3 of us (including kid's car seat), plus my bro-in-law and a fair whack of luggage with ease
- it handled 140-160 km/h motorway cruising very nicely
- handling on tight Alpine roads was excellent...205/55-16 Hankook all-seasons dealt nicely with rain and a bit of wet snow
- E-code headlights are much better than ours
- snap quiz: can anyone tell me where the hood release is on current-gen Mondeos? (after about 30 minutes of futile searching, someone in a gas station clued us in to a lock behind the flip-up Ford grill emblem...sheesh!)
- this is a BIG car on the continent; most parking spaces seems to be created for 1.0l Fiat Lupo's
About European driving:
- diesel is E1.05/l in France; fillups are around E50 ($80 CDN)
- European drivers are far better, more disciplined than NA drivers; "Keep right except to pass" is religiously followed
- motorway tolls suck (to the tune of about E100 one way from Calais, France to Aosta, Italy...the Mont Blanc tunnel alone is E29.30 for one way)
- plenty of neat cars we don't have here (or haven't had for a while): Peugot, Renault, Alfa, Fiat, etc.
