Of course, getting the style, accommodation and driver and passenger ergonomics right is one part of the equation. For a car with sporting pretensions (and a whacking great snail hanging off the engine-room), the real question is only answered in the driving.

Here, the Mondeo XR5 Turbo shines. Up front is the same 2.5-litre Duratec 20-valve five-cylinder turbo engine as found in the Focus XR5 Turbo (and sourced from Ford’s Volvo arm). Putting 320Nm  and a rorty 162kW @ 5000rpm under the toe, it propels the XR5 to a top speed of 240kmh and from 0-100km/h in a far-from shabby 7.3 seconds (reported sprint time that is; TMR’s timing gear – “one cat dog, two cat dog” – isn’t quite up to the mark).

Importantly, you don’t have to be wringing its neck to extract the ergs from that willing donk. Peak torque is available from between 1500 rpm and 4800 rpm. For overtaking, or getting away from the line quickly, those Newton metres provide express-train mid-range urge.

Sure, it’s not as quick as the brattish Focus Turbo, which can really give a thump in the back if you bury the shoe. The extra 238 kg carried by the Mondeo takes some of the sizzle off the numbers, but it’s academic really. It never feels anything other than a powerful, rapid, and well-sorted point-to-point tourer.

While sharp at the wheel, it does not crash or judder over broken bitumen when being pressed. In this, Ford has achieved the happy double. There is enough initial compliance to soak up all but the worst mid-corner bumps, but not so much as to allow the front to wallow or bottom out. (At least not in our hands.)