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Goodwood's Festival of Speed provides an ideal arena for manufacturers to launch new sport-orientated models, and Ford has waded in this year with the launch of the Mondeo ST-Line. Building on the huge popularity of the Fiesta and Focus ST models, the Mondeo ST-line upgrades are unfortunately limited to visual changes only for the time being, with no word on the potential return of a bona-fide Mondeo ST.
Those changes are comprised of styling upgrades, which take inspiration from Ford's Performance range. Externally, the bumpers see new honeycomb grilles, splitter and a diffuser-style insert on the rear, with sculpted skirts and a spoiler (optional on the five-door version) adding some aggression to the Mondeo's appearance. New 18-inch and 19-inch alloys (bright machined finish on the former, metallic grey on the latter) fill each arch, and some black trim and ST-Line badging complete the look.
Inside, sportier seats with red stitching, a perforated leather ST-style steering wheel and more black detailing appear. The car sits on 10mm lower springs, and can be specified with either 148hp or 178hp 2.0-litre diesel powerplants. Ford's six-speed automatic Powershift transmission with steering wheel-mounted paddles is an option alongside the six-speed manual 'box, as is an all-wheel drive system. The car joins the Fiesta and Focus in the ST-Line offerings, and all three will be on display at this weekend's Festival of Speed alongside many of the Ford Performance range.