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Mercury Marauder: It's a muscle car, it's a luxury car too
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
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IRVINE, Calif. -- The long runway at California's decommissioned El Toro Marine Base in Irvine stretches for a mile toward the swayback summit of Saddleback Mountain.
This enormous swatch of concrete in previous life served as the landing zone for aircraft ferrying Marines in training as well as Presidents flying on Air Force One.
On this particular day, however, the path has been transformed by an intricate patch of orange plastic traffic cones into a lengthy drag strip and skid pad in order to put the pedal to the medal on a racy new muscle car that ripples with the power of more than 300 horses stuffed beneath the hood.
Dressed in black and rolling on flashy chrome wheels, the long and strong sedan is called Marauder as the reincarnation of Mercury's muscle car out of 1963.
Originally, Marauder amounted to a performance variation of Mercury's big Montclair and Monterey sedans. It emerged as precursor for the muscle car era and street-legal homage to successful Marauder stock cars, including the one Parnelli Jones steered to victory in the 1963 Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
The modern rendition of Marauder, patterned after a concept vehicle that Mercury unveiled at the 1998 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, becomes a 2003 marque in Mercury's line cast from a souped-up and spiffed-up Grand Marquis full-size sedan.
Like the vintage Marauder muscle car, this new one can fly down a straightaway, all of the torque from its beefy V8 channeled directly to the oversized rear wheels.
Marauder's 4.6-liter aluminum V8, with twin cams on top and 32 valves in the cylinders, gushes to 302 hp at 5750 rpm and makes 318 lb-ft of torque at 4300 rpm.
Those numbers beat the single-cam V8 in a 2003 Grand Marquis LSE, which musters 239 hp at 4900 rpm and torque of 287 lb-ft at 4100 rpm.
Marauder's engine sucks air through a low-restriction air intake system with aluminum upper and lower intake manifolds. Fuel spurts into the engine through a dual-bore throttle body and high-flow fuel injectors.
All power for Marauder translates through Ford's heavy-duty and hydraulically-operated four-speed transmission, as controlled by a shifter stick stuck on a center console.
In a drag race with pedal on the floor for a wide-open throttle, Marauder reaches the first up-shift point at 6000 rpm, then moves from second gear into third at 6200 rpm, which almost tags the tachometer's redline of 6250 rpm.
It feels strong and powerful when speeding lickety-split down a straightway with throaty exhaust notes marking the muscle perhaps like the first Marauder barked.
Unlike the original Marauder, however, the modern version can also carve out a tight set of turns on a curvy circuit, which we prove while dodging traffic cones on the slalom course stringing down El Toro's runway.
Marauder's agile nature comes in part from the precise new rack and pinion steering gears as well as new chassis frame featuring fully boxed front sections forged from hydroformed steel.
These front rails are lighter and stronger than welded steel channels on the frame of the previous Grand Marquis.
Further, new cross member braces have been attached to the rectangular frame, including a cast aluminum piece that serves as a stage supporting the new steering rack, plus new engine mounts and the front suspension's control arms.
The cross braces work together to make the frame more rigid and less flexible when set in motion, which ultimately helps to stabilize the car's body and reduce undesired sway when rounding a curve.
Independent suspension elements consist of a short/long arm design up front with steel upper and aluminum lower control arms. The coil-over-shock arrangement operates with Tokico monotube dampers.
In back there are load-leveling air springs and monotube dampers with multiple links in an arrangement called Watt's linkage. Its purpose is to maintain a secure stance around all corners, with reduced dive and squat evident when accelerating or braking and virtually no trace of a big sedan's tendency to float and flounder.
Whip it to the left around one cone, then quickly cut back to the right around the next one, all the while modulating the go-pedal to exert a little throttle-steering boost so the rear wheels slip outward modestly in oversteer maneuver with each rotation around the cone post, all to push Marauder smoothly through the slalom set at a rapid rate with confident control.
Tires squeal from 18-inch ultra-high-performance Goodrich g-Force T/As. Rear treads (P245/55WR18) tip slightly higher than front (P235/50WR18) so Marauder makes the pose of a muscle car -- and rear ones also spread a larger contact patch for more traction when accelerating.
The reining force for Marauder matches its launching strength. Brakes use 12-inch ventilated discs in front and 11-inch ventilated rotors in back, as matched with twin-piston front and single-piston rear calipers.
Also, Marauder's brakes connect to a computerized anti-lock system (ABS) tied to an electronic brake-force distribution device (EBD).
Regarding outward appearances, a monochromatic Marauder shows only dark glossy paint -- strictly black for initial issues, with a version in dark blue to follows. The black shade makes Marauder look menacing and all-powerful.
Headlamps and taillamp bezels are tinted dark too, with Cibie brand foglamps etched into front fascia. Ornamentation is minimal, save for a bead of chrome ringing side windows and five-spoke aluminum wheels glinting in a chrome finish.
Another bright point: Exhaust pipes with stainless steel Megs tips stretch several feet to the muffler.
Marauder's four-door passenger compartment has seats for five riders, with two up front on sporty buckets and three on a rear bench with indents for two.
Seats are clad in luxurious leather hides that feel incredibly smooth and soft.
An instrument panel contains large analog gauges with bright white faces and red needles. The speedometer extends to 140 mph, with the tachometer notched to 7000 rpm.
Front section of the center console holds two more round AutoMeter gauges -- oil pressure and voltmeter.
Marauder lists for $33,790, plus a $705 delivery fee. The only two factory options are a trunk-mounted CD deck for six discs ($350) and a $172 trunk organizer.
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| Vehicle Specifications: |
| 2003 MERCURY MARAUDER Specs |
| Description: |
Full-size performance sedan
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| Model Options: |
Full-size performance sedan
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| Wheelbase: |
114.7 inches
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| Overall Length: |
211.9 inches
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| Engine Size: |
DOHC 4.6-L V8
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| Transmission: |
Auto/4
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| Drive: |
Rear
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| Braking: |
Power 4-disc/
ABS/EBD
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| Airbags: |
2 (front) + 2 (side)
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| Gas Mileage: |
17/23 mpg
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| Price: |
$ 33,790 |
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