MC Bodge

The Mondeo has 235/45/18 tyres. There were various comments about the Mk5 Mondeo being not very good, barge-like handling etc. The Octavia was big enough, but it just would not carry as much of our stuff inside as the Mondeo, and wasn't a deciding factor in moving on. Admittedly, I had been under the impression that it wasn't as good as the previous Mondeo, but it is actually a very good car. Despite being bigger and much heavier, it also steers, handles and stops far better than the Octavia we had. It is very composed. FWIW, even our 2006 Fiesta (that we still have...) was better to drive and ride in than our Mk3 Octavia Estate.

I re-discovered my Briskoda activity 3 years on... In contrast with my relatively short and frustrating Octavia ownership, I still have the Mondeo. The Mondeo has been painless to live with. The chassis is excellent, even on 18" rims on its standard non-"sport" suspension. Not once have I thought that I needed to make it ride better or to make it quieter (I even leave my roof bars on) The steering did initially have an annoying anti-drift, anti-weave feature that I disabled in software and it improved the driving a lot. I suspect that this was a negative feature that tainted early reviews. The boot is more useful than the Octavia estate. It will carry more camping and sports kit, as is very useful for tip and DIY shop runs. The Sync3 infotainment unit works as it should. The radio sounds good, but benefits from a bass enhancement. The halogen headlamps are not good. Better bulbs helped a little, but if I still did a lot of driving on dark back roads, I would fit a set of extra driving lamps. The rear tailgate won't hold a bike rack. It required a towbar and a cantilever rack, which is a superior method of carrying anyway. The 1.5 petrol engine is not as good as the 1.4TSI. It is not as economical. Its not quci off the mark -Torque is restricted in first and second gears, and gearing is very long, although from third onwards it is fairly rapid. The aircon is very powerful, although spring temperatures can confuse it a little. I managed to correct some of the settings in software. With the great chassis and adequate power it is much quicker and more agile than the Octavia on the road, empty or with a full load, roofbox and four bikes on the towbar rack. Whatever some people argued on this forum, the Mk5 Mondeo is in a different league to the Mk3 Octavia (and is far better than its reputation suggests) and to argue otherwise is just perverse.

I re-discovered this thread 3 years on... In contrast with my relatively short and frustrating Octavia ownership, I still have the Mondeo. The Mondeo has been painless to live with. The chassis is excellent, even on 18" rims on its standard non-"sport" suspension. Not once have I thought that I needed to make it ride better or to make it quieter (I even leave my roof bars on) The steering did initially have an annoying anti-drift, anti-weave feature that I disabled in software and it improved the driving a lot. I suspect that this was a negative feature that tainted early reviews. The boot is more useful than the Octavia estate. It will carry more camping and sports kit, as is very useful for tip and DIY shop runs. The Sync3 infotainment unit works as it should. The radio sounds good, but benefits from a bass enhancement. The halogen headlamps are not good. Better bulbs helped a little, but if I still did a lot of driving on dark back roads, I would fit a set of extra driving lamps. The rear tailgate won't hold a bike rack. It required a towbar and a cantilever rack, which is a superior method of carrying anyway. The 1.5 petrol engine is not as good as the 1.4TSI. It is not as economical. Its not quci off the mark -Torque is restricted in first and second gears, and gearing is very long, although from third onwards it is fairly rapid. The aircon is very powerful, although spring temperatures can confuse it a little. I managed to correct some of the settings in software. With the great chassis and adequate power it is much quicker and more agile than the Octavia on the road, empty or with a full load, roofbox and four bikes on the towbar rack. Whatever people argued in this thread, the Mk5 Mondeo is in a different league to the Mk3 Octavia (and is far better than its reputation suggests) and to argue otherwise is just perverse.

After a second, but fairly brief, disappointing, and only 10 month, stint at Octavia ownership I'm departing. I chose to buy an estate car with the excellent TSI 150 engine, but hadn't appreciated, until a day or so after taking up ownership..... just how poorly executed the rear torsion beam was in the estate version. The ride, handling and really unpleasant thud/boom/vibration (that I found to be as unpleasant as somebody scraping their nails down a blackboard) really let down what should have been a very good car - and is....until you start driving on a less than perfectly smooth road, or a road with fast or tight bends or undulations in it. The OEM brakes/pads were a little inadequate too. Having spent time and money trying to improve the situation, and feeling increasingly frustrated, I have now traded it in. I've seen some interesting things on here and had some useful info. Cheers.

On a recent trip to Snowdonia, on surprisingly pleasantly quiet roads I was able to give the car a bit of exercising (within the bounds of wife tolerance) Whilst the steering feel isn't the best (no feedback) and handling is OK when pressing on, I did notice that the back end rolls a bit disconcertingly even with gentle acceleration on a fast sweeper - despite the hard rear- and the car doesn't feel sure-footed. The 1.4TSI 150 warrants a better chassis. (I do now have the tyres at 30-31psi to counter the terrible ride, but that didn't appear to be the issue). I suppose that a rear ARB would help, but wouldn't do anything for the jiggling and jarring over small bumps. It is on drives like that where my Mk3 and Mk4 Mondeos are missed....