Mercury Montego Interior Review
Inside is where the Montego shines, in several ways. First and foremost is in the sheer roominess, 107 cubic feet front and rear combined, that the engineers have designed into this family sedan. The Montego's generous interior dimensions put it among the leaders in virtually every category, including best-in-class headroom and knee room in the rear compartment. Mercury says that the Montego has more interior space than competitive vehicles that are up to seven inches longer than it, and that its trunk, at 21 cubic feet, is also the largest in the class, aided by a space-saver spare tire. Both rear seats and the front passenger seat can be made to fold down, extending the useful cargo area of the Montego to station wagon proportions. With the front seat flopped over, you can get nearly 50 inches of storage length down the right side of the car.
The interior design was influenced by SUVs. The beefy steering wheel looks like it came from a Mercury truck, with more buttons than ever for added convenience, easier control over the cruise control, and more audio functions. Other SUV design cues include the overhead console, a big brow over the instruments. All the graphics are large, white on black, and very easy to read.
The Montego comes in three interior colors, two-tone grey, two-tone tan, and black. There's enough brushed aluminum trim to tell you you're in a Mercury product. The Luxury model comes with a straight-grain wood trim, while the Premium gets burled wood trim.
A large, oval-shaped clock is the central feature of the instrument panel, which is dark on top and light on the bottom, just as the seats are dark on the outside and light on the inside (unless you opt for the all-black interior). The instruments are easy to read and the controls are easy and quick to use.
The driving position in the new Montego dictates that it feels more like an SUV than a car, nice and high up, with wonderful outward vision. The seats sit up about four inches higher than the seats in a Sable sedan, and they are bit of a design throwback, with big outside segments and simple transverse segments. But they are also large, plush and a good deal more supportive than Sable seats. The rear seats are set up higher still so that rear-seat passengers can see out without craning.
Mercury Montego Road Test
The upgraded Duratec 3.0 engine worked extremely well with the new wide-ratio six-speed automatic. It always seemed to match the right gear with the driving situation, and was extremely smooth and quiet in operation. The CVT version gets its good performance from very low final-drive gearing and computer-optimized ratio changes. Long-term fuel economy should be very good with either. Rated at just 200 horsepower, though, the Montego is underpowered when compared to the Japanese and Korean sedan competition which reach up as high as 270 horsepower.
The handling of the Montego is particularly noteworthy, very European in feel, with a quickness and a nice, hefty feel to the steering, and rapid response to inputs with minimal body roll. The suspension, a modified version of the Volvo XC90 suspension, worked just fine on smooth and medium bumpy road surfaces, working with the stiff body and chassis to keep noise to a minimum. The rear suspension located far outboard, kept the Montego hunkered down.
For a car of this size and weight, the brakes are excellent in terms of quick reaction to pedal input, short pedal travel before braking commences, and sheer deceleration power. The aluminum disc brakes on Montego are large, 12.5 inches in front and 11 inches at the rear; they are designed to offer more stopping power than previous designs, with less brake dust on the front wheels due to a change in friction material.
Mercury Montego Lineup
Mercury Montego comes in two trim levels. All models are powered by a 3.0-liter 24-valve V6 engine and offer a choice of front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive. Front-wheel-drive versions are tied to a new six-speed automatic transmission co-developed by Ford and GM. All-wheel-drive versions use a new continuously variable transmission, or CVT, co-developed by Ford and the German ZF firm. If you order the all-wheel-drive version, you automatically get a suspension upgrade that includes self-leveling rear shock absorbers.
The Luxury model ($24,345) comes standard with dual-zone electronic climate control, six-way power driver's seat, a fold-flat front passenger seat, split-fold rear seats, auto-dimming rearview mirror, two 12-volt power points, AM/FM stereo with single CD player and tilt steering wheel with remote audio controls, remote keyless entry, folding heated power exterior mirrors, power windows and door locks, passive anti-theft system, 17-inch seven-spoke wheels, automatic high-intensity discharge headlamps, LED tail lamps, fog lamps. The Luxury model is available with all-wheel drive ($26,045). Cloth upholstery is standard; leather is optional ($895).
The Premier model ($26,545) comes with leather seating, heated front seats, power passenger seat, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, overhead console with Homelink, woodgrain interior appliques, memory function for power seats, mirrors and adjustable pedals, remote perimeter lighting, an AM/FM stereo with 6-CD changer and subwoofer, and a trunk cargo net. Premier comes standard with traction control and 18-inch 15-spoke alloy wheels. It's also available with all-wheel drive ($28,245).
Options and packages include a moonroof ($895); park assist ($250); and a safety package with side curtain air bags and a rollover sensor ($595). We strongly recommend the curtain air bags as they can help reduce the chance of head injuries to your passengers, assuming they're wearing their seat belts.