Two thoughts.

(i) What are the new prices of both models and what do matching near new prices tell us about longer term depreciation.

(ii) Not long ago 110PS/bhp (albeit off a 2.0 rather than1.6) was premium grade for a Mondeo class diesel car - standard was 90PS/bhp.

My 110PS 2000/XXantia is no slouch.

I have come across the 1.6D in a Focus and it wasn't that impressive in that, so I wouldn't think it would be very good in a Mondeo. Furthermore, with diesel the torque figure is mor relevant than the BHP and I would assume that the 1.6 is way down in torque.

These cars are probably geared okay taking all of this into account, but after a year of being caned they probably will start to show signs of raggedness.

I had the 2.0 140bhp TDCI in a Mondeo IV Zetec estate for over 3 years. It was a very good car, no problems at all apart from a failed tail-light bulb, and it averaged a genuine 42.5mpg in that time over 38,000 miles.

Based on my experience, I would definitely recommend the higher-output version. The 140bhp version went fairly well, but to use the old Rolls-Royce expression, it felt more 'adequate' than lively.

Part of this was the relatively tall gearing that modern diesels are being saddled with, to lower emissions. My Passat B5.5 PD130 was geared at 21mph / 1000rpm in 4th, which was fantastic for A- and B-road usage: at 40mph you were just at the start of the fat part of the torque band, which made for rapid, safe progress.

The Mondeo was geared about 10% longer. This, combined with its extra 200+kg of kerb weight, meant you had to be just a bit more careful in overtakes, despite the higher power & torque ratings (on paper at least)