back to article Ford unwraps '2013 Mondeo'

CES 2012 Week The great and good of the Ford Motor Company today whipped the dust covers off the new Fusion at the North American International Motor Show in Detroit. Should we care? Yes, because this is the 2013 Ford Mondeo, give or take a few minor technical details. Ford Fusion It is based on Ford's new global C/D …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Andrew 59

    So if this car has an Atkinson cycle, but the new Micra has a Miller cycle. Can anyone explain the difference to me in simple terms that even Jeremy Clarkson could understand?

    1. Robert E A Harvey

      I can't. Believe me I've tried. Both use clever valve timing to get more expansion out of the hot gasses in the cylinder, and both return less poer than you'd expect from the cubic capacity. After that I get brainfade.

      Where are the 6-strokes? We should have them by now.

      1. Zimmer
        Boffin

        ...

        Apparently a Miller is essentially an Atkinson with a supercharger , to add boost to replace the loss of power experienced in the true Atkinson cycle. In both their cycles( Atkinson and Miller) the compression stroke is effiectively 'shortened' by leaving the inlet valve open longer so that compression occurs later in that phase of upward piston movement....

    2. Neil Barnes Silver badge

      Atkinson vs Miller cycles

      Atkinson engines squirt out some of the air that comes in during the intake phase before closing the valve and starting the compression. The ignition/expansion phase therefore has effectively a larger volume than the compression volume, so there's some scope for more efficient use of the fuel, it seems. On the other hand, the inhaled air is less than an Otto cycle engine of the same nominal capacity, so there's less specific power for engine size.

      If it's got a supercharger bolted on, it turns into a Miller cycle engine; as far as I know (and I cheerfully admit I know damn all about it) that's the only difference.

    3. Andy Miller

      In simple terms that even Jeremy Clarkson could understand

      Car go brmm-brmmm.

      1. Andrew 59
        Thumb Up

        @ Andy Miller

        Excellent :)

        Now I have another question: taking the details from the Micra which has a 1.2 litre supercharged Miller engine, and (let's assume) it spits out about a third of its compression cycle, what advantage is there to the 1.2 Miller engine over a supercharged 800cc Otto cycle engine?

        And when I say advantage, I mean other than to marketing people.

        1. Robredz
          Meh

          You mean one similar to the FIAT Twin Air in the 500?, other experts may well know more, but could the larer capacity engine although down on power, deliver more torque, and therefore pull better without having to rev the nuts off it like you do with a FIAT twin air, to make fast progress to the detriment of the economy?

  2. David Wood
    Thumb Up

    There's something very American looking about this otherwise rather beautiful car. I imagine that front end will change before it reaches Europe.

    1. Robert E A Harvey
      Thumb Up

      So long as it doesn't get the 'startled owl' look currently disfiguring new alfas.

      I quite like what I see. I wonder what the estate will be like ( the current one is enormous)

    2. David Kelly 2

      I hope the front changes

      I certainly hope the front end changes before I'm in the market again for a new car. Unless that front grill feeds a jet engine intake it has to go! Else replace the front grill with a Cheshire Cat grin.

  3. naeem
    Boffin

    but what about the weight?

    The current Mondeo, when it was introduced, came in at 147kg more than the previous model, with no real changes in the engine line-up. More obviously, it also came in looking like slightly smaller than an adult blue whale.

    Looks nice - and "different" enough to make an impact - i just hope the improved handling of the last 2 models hasn't deterioated.

    1. Silverburn
      Unhappy

      Given previous trends with the focus, I think youre out of luck - this thing looks *hyooj*, so I doubt you'll see much savings over the previous model. And ford have started "softening" their cars too - witness the new focus. So don't expect crisp handling.

      I still say the best handling modern car ford did was the original ka.

  4. Levente Szileszky
    Thumb Up

    Wow, color me impressed...

    ...as it actually looks *good* unlike that God-awful abomination they sell here as Fusion. Lucky you, Europe.

    1. FutureShock999

      Not Lucky Europe

      This is actually the version going on sale IN THE US!!! We are only hoping that it makes it over the the EU/UK in something like this form...because wow, have Ford's designers done some nice work. Cues from Aston Martin abound, and the whole thing looks like a 1990s show car that on one would ever build. Huh. Someone just did...

  5. Giles Jones Gold badge

    A touch of Aston Martin but also a touch of Volvo as well.

    1. ravenviz Silver badge

      They're boxy but they're safe.

  6. JDX Gold badge

    MPGe?!

    Can't we just have a proper unit like KmPkWh ;)

    1. Trainee grumpy old ****
      Boffin

      Re:MPGe?!

      Enquiring minds want to know: How much is it in Kilo Brontosauri / Norris Hour?

  7. Ted Treen
    Thumb Up

    Probably...

    ...shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but it's one damned-nice looking car.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It should be interesting

    ...to see if Urrupeans like the horrible chopping block front end styling as much as the Lads across the Pond in the U.S.

  9. LarsG

    A CROSS BETWEEN

    an Aston Martin and a Peugeot, sort of quirky.

    Like an aged supermodel who has had too much plastic surgery.

    Still I do quite like it.

  10. jonathan keith

    Does that mean that the new car that Aston are unveiling this year to replace the DB9 will look like a Ford?

  11. Daniel 44

    What's with the current styling trend to add a smiley face to the front end? I suppose it's better than the pumpkin-faced Mazdas but it's other wise a very nice looking car with an annoyingly stupid smile on the lower portion.

    1. bep

      smiley faces

      I once saw a Japanese car designer explain that they did this quite deliberately. He saw it as part of the Japanese animist tradition of ascribing personality to inanimate objects. Since most people would agree that cars have 'personalities' it's a logical extension to give them faces as well.

  12. Carl W

    Looks like they've stolen the front from a Mitsubishi Lancer

  13. Mr Young
    Happy

    I for one, hic

    Welcome our usable car overlords

  14. Vometia

    Like others here, I can't help noticing the Aston Martin-esque features. I like it rather a lot, actually.

  15. Sarev
    Unhappy

    Don't like the look of that. More than a hint of Toyota Corolla. And the wheels look too small. Plus the back end doesn't seem to match the front. All very subjective, I know. Roll on the down-voters...

  16. Zog The Undeniable
    Boffin

    OK, thermodynamics 101. To increase the efficiency of an internal combustion, you must increase the expansion ratio. Not the compression ratio, the expansion ratio, because this determines how much heat you have transferred into useful work. Compression, on the other hand, absorbs work. Conventionally the compression ratio is the same as the expansion ratio, which is why everyone quotes it for Otto and Diesel cycle engines. The thing about Atkinson and Miller cycle engines is that they cheat; they compress less than they expand by taking a cylinder full of air but then letting some of it back into the manifold before compressing the rest. Bhp per litre (and per kg) go down because you're burning less mixture, of course, but thermal efficiency goes up. Fit a slightly larger engine or a supercharger to compensate and you still save fuel.

  17. Jim 59

    Looks

    Rather than a "touch of Aston Martin", I would say the grille is simply an Aston Martin photocopy. It's a piece of plagarism that distacts from the genuinely smart looks of the car.

  18. Velv

    "Should we care? Yes, because this is the 2013 Ford Mondeo"

    Err, I didn't think any self respecting El Reg reader would be seen dead buying a Ford. None of the toys are new, already featuring on several Japanese and German offerings, many of which are cheaper than the Ford, and some of which are assembled in Britain.

    But then I guess some people are still won't buy Japanese or German.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Holmes

    Looks like...

    ...a Jaguar to me.

    1. A Nonny Moose
      Coat

      but does it have a CD player player player?

  20. Paul 98
    Thumb Up

    I like it. Slightly Aston / Volo front end and slightly Jag XF from the side / rear view. A very smart and tidy car and a lot nicer than any recent German car. I'd have one.

  21. Alex King
    Thumb Down

    Eh?

    Don't understand where the 'good looking car' comments are coming from. Looks like a giant, amorphous blob to me, with the current trend for basking-shark style grilles continued up front. It doesn't look like an Aston - it looks like a ford with a cheap copy of an Aston grille.

    The hybrid is pointless for europe, where their diesels already get better MPG in the current model, and the EV only one must have a poo range if they won't even tell us what it is.

    Colour me underwhelmed.

  22. KBBS

    so much for Ford's new design language. All they've done is mate the Lancer front with the Aston Martin front. At least they continue to make their cars less anonymous, but inspirational is clearly a long way away.

This topic is closed for new posts.