Mercury Milan Interior Review
On our silver Premier, the interior was black leather with contrasting white stitching on the seats and steering wheel, with black and white switchgear, black and white instrumentation with chrome rings, and lots of satin-finish metal panels to set off the black and white. Very tasty. And if you don't like the satin and patterned aluminum trim, there's a Wales Mahogany interior trim option at no charge.
The deeply bucketed front seats were especially cozy, more of an "in" seat than an "on" seat. The rear seat folds down in 60/40 fashion, enabled by an easy-pull latch on each side, to eliminate leaning over the decklid opening and fumbling for seatback latches. With the seat down, you get the 15.8 cubic feet in the trunk plus another 46 cubic feet of cargo space behind the front seats, making it into a once-in-a-while station wagon.
The interior is roomy enough for a 6-foot, 4-inch passenger to sit behind a 6-foot, 4-inch driver, with real headroom. The rear door panels are scooped out for more elbow room. The rear armrest packs two cupholders, for a total of six.
Storage cubbyholes are all over the place, two in the console, one quite large one at the top center of the dash with a latching lid, two more in each front door pocket hollowed out to take a Big Gulp cup, and one in the bottom center of the dashboard, all of which add up to convenience and ease. The quality of design and materials for a car in this price class was generally quite high, satisfying to touch and look at.
The premium eight-speaker sound system played our favorite compilation CDs exactly as they sound at home on our high-end equipment, minus a bit of bass.
We thought there was too much glare off the main instrument cover, likewise with the radio face and the otherwise lovely analog clock.
Mercury Milan Road Test
The Mercury Milan Premier's 221-horsepower V6 engine and Japanese Aisin six-speed automatic transmission give the driver the kind of power we all like when it comes to getting across the intersection or getting out of a tight spot, but there's not a lot of reserve after that, and there's not a lot of satisfaction in driving it hard.
The engine feels a bit choked and a bit underpowered, and doesn't sound like a powerful engine when prodded. A full-throttle kickdown maneuver will also get the front end to pitch, too quickly and too high for our taste, leaving the front tires scrambling for traction and direction for an annoying split second.
We found the steering to have a fairly hefty feel and effort at the wheel, but it was a bit too disconnected from the road surface for our taste, a minimum-effort, minimum-feel tuning, but most people will probably not notice much difference either way. High-speed handling showed predictable, normal and usual levels of understeer.
The ride, over the universally awful streets of Detroit, was quite good, with lots of compliance to soak up bumps, not too much body roll, and quiet, smooth operation.
The brakes, on the other hand, were strong and direct, without a lot of wasted pedal travel before deceleration starts to happen, and low effort-to-stop ratio.
Mercury Milan Lineup
The 2006 Mercury Milan comes in two versions, a basic four-cylinder package and a loaded V6 Premier model. Options packages, however, make it possible to have almost any combination you want. For instance, you can order a four-cylinder automatic Premier.
The base Milan ($18,995) comes with a 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine and a choice of five-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmission. Standard features include air conditioning, a premium audio system with AM/FM/CD/MP3 player, an analog clock, an overhead console with sunglasses holder, a covered flip-up storage bin on top of the dash, six-way power driver's seat with manual lumbar, 16-inch wheels, speed control, tilt and telescoping steering wheel with secondary controls, and remote keyless entry.
An optional Safety and Security package offers side-impact air bags (for torso protection), side curtain airbags (for head protection), anti-lock brakes (ABS), and a perimeter anti-theft system. Other options include a power moonroof and an AM/FM/CD6/MP3 Audiophile system with eight speakers.
The Milan Premier ($21,995) comes with a 221-horsepower 3.0-liter V6, a six-speed automatic, anti-lock brakes, and 17-inch machined aluminum wheels as standard equipment. Leather seating surfaces and the premium six-disc CD changer with MP3 and six speakers come standard.
The Comfort package includes a leather-wrapped steering wheel with secondary audio, speed and climate controls, automatic electronic climate control, auto headlamps, fog lamps, puddle lamps, and an auto dimming interior rearview mirror with compass. Options include traction assist ($95), heated seats ($295), power moonroof ($795), the Audiophile system with eight speakers ($420).