Mercury Milan Test Drive - Ford Forums

GMACK24 · 12-30-2005, 11:23

Mercury Milan Test Drive

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I test drove a Mercury Milan yesterday. Why? Because Mercury will give me a $50 American Express card for doing it.

It's a reasonably attractive car. The one I drove had the V6, and standard alloy wheels. They're 16 inchers, with Continental tires. Pretty decent.

The interior is very nice. I liked the look of the dashboard. It has full instrumentation, but I'm sure the oil pressure and voltage gauges are just idiot lights with needles. Anyway, the dash design is clean, and I think it even includes real aluminum. The telescoping steering wheel is probably useful, too.

The cloth seats seemed a little chintzy. They have sort of a suede texture that doesn't seem like it will last very long.

I looked under the hood. The engine is really packed in there. The salesman told me that the transmission is sealed--no maintenance required for 100,000 miles. It has no dipstick! I'm guessing the FoMoCo powertrain warranty only covers the first 50,000 miles. Time will tell whether or not that's a good idea.

The car is very appliance-like in its performance. Steering weight seems good, the steering wheel has a nice thickness, and the ratio seems reasonable. It's not a performance car by any means. When you hit the gas, nothing seems to happen, and then the car moves forward. It has no noticeable torque whatsoever. Gearing could have something to do with that.

The brakes felt pretty good. I didn't do a panic stop, but based on a quick stop, they seem pretty firm.

Visibility seemed good all around.

For someone looking for a stylish alternative to an Accord or something less gee-whiz than an Altima, I'd say the Milan is a fine car. And I'd certainly drive one again for another $50....

Ohio XB · 01-02-2006, 16:45

I drove one yesterday. My wife's Aunt bought it. I was stuck in a 25 MPH trailer park (50 year old and up community) so I couldn't really get into it. It did seem to have plenty of pull from a stop and this was a 4 cylinder with auto trans. I don't know why anyone would think the 4 cylinder didn't have enough motivation to get the car going. You are not going to win any drags with it but the car gets out of it's own way just fine. I'll elaborate on more driving after I have a chance to get it on the road.

I thought the seat material looked a little chincy as well. Otherwise the interior was nice.

One other thing I noticd was that the torque converter seemed to be well matched for the engine's powerband allowing it to rev to 2,500 - 3,500 so that it was in it's powerband.