It's a sharp contrast with the car I've been running for the last seven months, the Evo VII RS Sprint. They're black and white, literally and metaphorically. Jekyll and Hyde, literarily. There's only one way to drive the Evo - hard and fast, which is brilliant, when you're in the mood. The Mondeo moulds itself to your mood, though with fewer than 1000 miles under its wheels, what's most apparent so far is its ability to mooch around, slurring soothingly on a swell of 3-litre V6 torque. On a couple of occasions I have let the needle swing right round the rev counter, purely in the interests of thorough road testing, and the signs are that there's a vigorous top end too.

This isn't the first V6-engined Mondeo I've run as a long-termer. Back in 1996 I drove a 2.5 24V which was superb, and which I still get to drive very occasionally even now because it belongs to photographer Kenny P. Until now there hasn't been a V6 Mondeo that's bettered it - the 200bhp ST200 that evo ran a couple of years ago had a lumpy ride and a disappointingly peaky delivery. I expected to like the cooking V6 version of this new-shape Mondeo, given how finely poised, supple and responsive the chassis of the bum-basic, four-pot, Hertz rental model is, yet it doesn't sparkle, feeling nose-heavy and wheezy.

Happily the ST220 is a much better sorted package, replicating the polished poise of the four-cylinder cars and adding the charm of that gutsy, suave V6. The hike from 2.5 to 3 litres has swelled power to 217bhp but more importantly torque is up 30 points to 204lb ft and is delivered earlier, which transforms the character of the engine. When you tread on the throttle there's now something useful happening whatever the revs.

It's a handsome, subtly aggressive car too, with its multi-vaned 18in alloys, lower bodykit and that metallic black paint. Inside there are Recaros trimmed in red leather, piano black for the centre console surround and plenty of kit, most of it standard. Optionally, our ST has sat nav, parking proximity sensors and a few other nick-nacks that add around ΂£3K to the base price of ΂£22K. Co-ed Meaden was quick to joke that for another few thousand I could have a 1973 Capri. Ha, ha.

Yes, it's an expensive Ford and you could have a six-cylinder Jaguar 2.0 X-type, Alfa 156 2.5 or BMW 320i for the same or less, but the ST220 is the dynamic equal of any of them, more spacious and better equipped. It's also much faster, though so far it has been its unfazable temperament and effortless low-rev flexibility that I've been enjoying.

When you're manoeuvering you simply play the idling V6 against the clutch, while you can tool around town in third or even fourth and enjoy the sound and silkiness of the engine as it hauls with conviction from just a few hundred rpm. That's a characteristic I expect the other black Ford will share, though the exact arrival date of the Capri is still a closely guarded secret. That's right: I haven't a clue.