Review
The contrast between the Ford and its Premier Automotive Group executive brand couldn't be more stark. What £7,800 gets you (the difference between the price of the two cars) is evident from the start. The cosseting leather seats feel as if they're reaching up to welcome you into the driver's seat, the centre console has more toys than Hamleys and the engine must stand as one of the finest achievements in diesel technology.
I failed a version of the Pepsi challenge which sees you guess on first 'tasting' whether the engine was diesel or petrol. It is the most uncommon of common rails in that we have a diesel engine that to the average motorist can pass itself off as a petrol unit - and yet still return more than 40 miles per gallon on average.
Standard equipment includes electric windows and mirrors, six airbags, traction control, steering wheel audio controls, cruise control and air conditioning.
The SE trim upgrades air conditioning to automatic climate control and adds front fog lights, leather seats and walnut effect trim, a trip computer, auto-dimming rear view mirror, four-CD radio with Dolby Surround Sound and nine speakers, and 17-inch alloy wheels.
Extras on our test car include metallic paint (£500), an electric tilt-and-slide glass sunroof (£700) and a winter pack (£300) comprising heated front seats, luxury floor mats and headlamp wash/wipe.
However, there has to be a leak in this particular sauna. The drive is so smooth, the steering and engine responses so refined that you don't in fact so much drive this car as be driven.
The S60's solidity, its airbags and its 'auto-everything' cuts me off entirely from the bump and grind that I've come to expect from 15 years of driving. I actually missed the hands-on, future in my hands experience the Mondeo and all its rough edges embodies.
