T'Cal

This should be the next Mercury Mariner....

No new pix yet?? I read that the base engine will be the EB2.0L I4, with the 3.5L V6 optional. Is this confirmed? Will the more powerful 3.7L V6 or EB3.5 V6 be available for certain??

Nice! Thanks.

I agree. The CVPIs are not good in the snow and the RWD Tahoe with A/S tires was worse. The Impalas weren't much better because when the driving tires would slip, there went your steering too. The AWD Tahoes are much better of course but, man, do they feel heavy and huge in dry weather! They feel underpowered too compared to the RWD vehicles and they suck fuel. The AWD Taurus and Explorer could be the perfect compromise offering a large, quick, fuel efficient, balanced, all-weather vehicle. I'm hopeful. We'll see.

Lincoln needs a big car like this. The MKT is the least successful design Lincoln has right now what with the worst interpretation of the new signature grille and the unnecessarily cramped third row. It's especially disppointing after sitting in the Flex on which it is based; that SUV has so much more space. A stretched MKS would be a step in the right direction but with a bit more conservative styling. Someone here posted a pic of an updated TC that looked really nice that could work.

It's all set to happen but the next gen PI won't be out until January of 2012, making it a 2013 MY. Chevy will have a whole year on it by then, if not more as it's due out in a couple months (late 2010 CY). I wasn't a big fan of the Taurus-based PI but have softened a bit. I'll wait to see the final product. I've read lots on it, mostly hype, but with AWD and 285hp, this large sedan could do very well especially in the snow belt. Better yet, the Taurus-based Explorer PI could be the fleet deal of the century. It'll offer the extra utility (duh) of an SUV while being close in price to the sedan making it several thousand cheaper than the only other pursuit-rated SUV: the RWD only Tahoe. That behemoth not only costs more, but is far less fuel efficient and ungainly compared to what the new Explorer could be plus it will offer AWD in a pursuit-rated SUV. We might see lots of the Explorer PIs around if Ford keeps costs as reasonable as the Taurus PI. Not only that, but service technicians will need to work on only one kind of drivetrain lowering training costs of mechanics. The drivetrain parts would be identical too - oil, belts, tires, wheels, brake pads, brake discs, etc. I'm not expecting many police/sheriff's agencies to spend the extra bucks on the ecoboost V6. It'll likely be a couple thousand dollar option, which won't be worth it to bean counters when the NA V6 will be a better performer in every way compared to the current CVPI with the 4.6L V8.

Can you make the Town Car a Town Coupe?

How's your Aspen?? I love that tag line!

I was always surprized that Chrysler never put the PT Cruiser into fleet use as a taxi. Despite its small footprint, it was a roomy vehicle due to its high roof and upright seating. A 4"-6" stretch in the wheelbase would've made it even more appealing. If Chrysler had put a diesel engine in it it would've been a great taxi in the vein of the old London cabs.

Ford should've built a new T-bird off of the Mustang platform, especially the latest model that's getting all the good ink. I would love to see another two-seater powered by the new 3.7 and EB3.5 V6s.

I'd be interested in learning how well the '11 Mustang V6/auto performs. Especially the convertible. With the softer gearing (2.73), automatic, and extra weight of the convertible, is it still in the 5 second range for 0-60 and 14 second range for the quarter mile? If so, that and 31 mpg hwy is phenomenal. I remember buying my first GT 5.0 in 1982 after reading in all the car magazines that the Boss was back. They were raving about pre-production models getting to 60 mph in 6.9 seconds, although production models were a few tenths slower and the quarter mile times were very low 16s - stellar for the day especially when the new Z28 was barely turning 17 seconds.

I miss my Marauder a lot, too. I'm so tempted to pick up a used CVPI in black that I was on eBay last week looking for that and a set of Mustang GT 17" 5 spoke wheels. Add a console and a pair of Flowmasters and I'd be all set.

I'm so disappointed. I had really hoped Ford would develop a clear focus for Mercury and then commit to it. I had hoped that Mercury would be clearly different from Ford - more up scale, more performance oriented, and truly unique. I was so wrong.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!! Why all the hate?? I hate hate - just hate it.

I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I am that Mercury has been killed off.

I have to agree with Scalzo here. In the early 80s I drove Diplomats (rattle traps) and Malibus (lots of body lean but otherwise not bad). Then we went to Impalas in '85 and that was a big step up in handling and roominess. The aerodynamic '91 9C1 Caprice wasn't the most handsome car, but it had wide seats, a big prisoner area, good instrumentation with a digital speedo, and they handled well. In '94 when the LT1 350s were dropped into them and the suspensions and brakes were upgraded, they were in a league of their own. They became one of the best police packages ever produced - maybe THE best. The faster you went, the better they handled. Back then, the Fords were considerably down on power and were smaller on the inside. They just weren't as good for our use. I drove them and found them lacking in direct comparison to the 9C1s. At high speeds the Caprices would just hunker down and hug the road. With no posi, these cars would smoke the passenger side tire easily. As the old saying goes: Horsepower makes up for a lot.

In the sketch, I do like that the rear quarter window blends with the door windo. I wish Ford had done that with the '10-later models.

Up until very recently, Mercury has a few of vehicles and so has Lincoln. They should have been viewed as Lincoln-Mercury not Lincoln and Mercury. Mercury could've been what Buick is becoming - successful with a clear focus.

IMHO, Ford is hyping the Taurus PI now because they want to generate some early interest to try to over-shadow the new Caprice, which will be out a whole year or more sooner than Ford's next cop car. The Dodge Charger will be updated quite a bit this fall, too. My guess is that those who buy CVPIs will hang around one more year and then decide what they want next year when that car is no longer produced. They will end up with a very different product whether they stay with Ford or switch to Chevy or Dodge so the market could open up for them. The Chevy will bring back some strong memories of the old LT1 Caprices of the mid 90's to those who drove them back then who are now in charge. Still, the Taurus will be offered with AWD and, with the base V6, that will make it very appealing to those of us in the snow belt. In addition, Ford could snarf up quite a few sales with the new Explorer PI. That vehicle will be identical mechanically to the Taurus PI plus it will be much cheaper, better handling, and more fuel efficient than the only other pursuit-rated SUV available: the Tahoe. Together, the Taurus & Explorer PIs could grab a bigger hold on the market than Ford has ever held.

I agree that Mercury needs some uniquely styled vehicles. It makes sense to use existing platforms but they cannot look the same as their Ford counterparts except with a chromier grille. Coupes and crossovers could help to attract younger buyers. I, too, would love to see a Cougar coupe built off of the Milan, a Marauder coupe from the Taurus, and a more upscale Mariner SUV. I'm an American car buyer but it might be interesting for the next Mariner to be based on Mazda's CX-7 but with Ford's 3.0L V6 or eco-boost I4. Mazda's been using the Escape/Mariner platform for years for its Tribute. Lastly, it's hard for me to believe that Ford is spending all this money to build new engines for the Mustang, a vehicle that shares next to nothing with any other Ford vehicle. How about a RWD two-seater Lincoln MKC or four-seater Mercury Capri? Spend some money to add an IRS go up market a bit, though not as astronomically (read: foolishly) high as the XLR from Caddy.

Ford will likely market the Explorer as a family mover; it'll be a soft-roader not an off-roader. Probably, the most noticeable or even mechanical difference between the AWD Taurus and the AWD Explorer will be that the SUV will ride higher.

You may be correct in this. Ford's press release read that the 3.5L V6 would have "at least" 263 hp. We could take that to mean it will have the 285 hp DI 3.5L V6 slated for next year's Edge or it could mean the 305 hp 3.7L V6 that will be in the sport model of that vehicle. BTW, they mentioned that the EB V6 will also have "at least" 365 hp and that the next gen PI is still being readied. I don't believe many agencies will spend the cash for the EB engine. The NA V6 will be the most popular and AWD will likely be very popular as well. The Explorer PI could be the real sleeper though.

Agreed! Ford should've updated the drivetrains back in '05 by adding the Mustang's 3V 4.6L V8 and the 5 speed auto. Now, what with the better engines in Ford's pony car, the Panthers could be powered by the 3.7L V6 as standard and offer the 5.0L V8 for the Ford CV Sport, the Mercury Marauder, and the Town Car Premium, not to mention the CVPI.

Meh. Crossover is a marketing word. A few years ago SUV was the hot thing. Then it was car-based SUVs. Now the buzzword is crossover. I see them all as raised station wagons. My point is I was referring specifically to the poor-selling Taurus-based "crossovers" and made no mention of, nor was inferring anything about the smaller Edge. I actually liked the look of the Freestyle, although the name sucked. I thought it looked a lot like the current Explorer, which was a real positive. I loved the mechanical and technological updates that came with the Taurus X but didn't particularly care for the chrome grill or that monicker. Still, if had needed to buy a people-mover when they were available, I would've bought one of them. The next Explorer sounds very promising and I hope it is a success. It's high on my list to replace my family vehicle.

Driving in regular traffic is very different from emergency driving. FWD Impalas simply didn't hold up to the rigors of urban police use in my agency. Also, when we had half our fleet RWD CVPIs and the other half FWD Impalas, we experienced more accidents. Every officer who crashed a FWD cars regularly drove a RWD car but his vehicle was in the shop for maintenance and was assigned a Chevy. The dynamics are very different. Ford's move to make AWD optional on the non-turbo V6 PI was a very smart idea. That car will be popular if the price is not too high.