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Thursday, July 24, 2008 --- 45 days ago http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/windingroad/~3/344710853/fleet-review-2008-mercur
| After spending a little over a week and a half in our test fleet, we found the 2009 Mercury Mariner Hybrid to be a good contender in this segment, but not something we’re eager to drive on a daily basis. For the new model year, Ford bumped up the power of the four-cylinder gasoline motor to 175 horsepower, but overall acceleration is still somewhat slow. On top of that, the weak engine mated to continuously variable transmission creates a really horrible noise when a lot of power is needed. The interior, however, is quite pleasant, and we're definitely not complaining about nearly 30 miles per gallon in observed fuel economy. Click through to read all of our individual impressions of the Mariner Hybrid. Chris Paukert Editor-In-Chief Given the Mariner’s aging bones, Mercury has done a credible job with this latest update bringing their small crossover into the here and now. The exterior is attractive and unfussy in a traditional SUV way, and the interior has been greatly elevated over the previous model, with a more sensible and elegant layout and better materials. It isn’t class-leading stuff just yet, but it’s on pace. The problem for me, in this case, is that this newfound refinement is killed stone dead when driven with anything approaching urgency. While this obviously isn’t a sportscar, even merging on the highway is a grating aural experience, as the drivetrain makes a tremendous racket without yielding appreciable gains in ... |
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