Manual Transmision

New Car 2006 Mercury Montego Review

Very functional car with room for family; most rear leg room and trunk space than any sedan Ive seen. 200 Hp engine is adequate and reviews of car being underpowered seem misplaced. High seating somewhat unique and makes for ease of entry. Top safety ratings are a big plus.




The leather interior is wonderful. With all the luxury features this car has, it is really a great value. And it looks great.

The Montego (and its Ford Five Hundred twin) is a large sedan with elevated seating positions to improve outward vision and access. The lackluster V6 engine has to work hard to move the Montego. Front-wheel drive is standard, with AWD optional.

News

The 2008 Montego is expected to be freshened for an early debut in calendar 07. Also due for 08, probably as an option, is Ford Motor Companys new 3.5-liter V6, likely to provide around 250 bhp. A new-design 6-speed automatic transmission, developed with General Motors, will reportedly replace the CVT in the near future. Keep checking back with us for further updates.

New For 2006 Mercury Montego

A navigation system and DVD entertainment are new options for Mercurys version of the Ford Five Hundred. Montego has a 203-hp V6 engine. It comes in Luxury and Premier models, both with a choice of front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. Front-drive versions have a 6-speed automatic transmission. AWD versions have a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). Antilock 4-wheel disc brakes are standard. Traction control is standard on Premier, a no-cost option on front-drive Luxury models. No antiskid system is available. The Safety Package option includes front torso side airbags and curtain side airbags with rollover deployment.

Xenon headlamps are standard, as are a fold-flat right-front seatback and split folding rear seatbacks. Leather upholstery and power-adjustable pedals are standard on Premier, optional for Luxury. The newly optional navigation system is exclusive to Premier, while DVD entertainment is available for both models. A sunroof and rear obstacle detection are optional. Montegos performance and accommodations mirror those of comparably equipped Five Hundreds.

Interior Design and Special Features

Scrutinize the cabin and its apparent that designers put a lot of thought into creating an attractive and functional environment. In lieu of the shapeless dash and seats found in the Sable, the Mercury Montego has the crisp, clean lines and two-tone interior typical of European sedans. The front seats are roomy enough to fit most drivers, yet the cockpit has a snug, almost intimate feel. Rear passengers are treated to equally spacious quarters, making these cars good bets for families with teenagers. The rear seats fold flat in a 60/40 split and this, along with a fold-flat front-passenger seat, allows owners to carry items up to 9 feet in length inside the car. Trunk capacity is an impressive 21 cubic feet.


Safety

All Montegos come with a full set of disc brakes with ABS and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution. Optional on all models are side-impact airbags that protect front occupants torsos and side curtain airbags that protect the heads of outboard front and rear occupants. Traction control is standard on all Montegos, but stability control is not available. Front- and side-impact testing by the NHTSA returned a perfect five-star rating across the board. The IIHS named the Mercury Montego a "Best Pick" after conducting its frontal-offset crash test.

Powertrains and Performance

Every Mercury Montego comes with a 3.0-liter V6 rated for 203 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque. Buyers have two transmission choices. The first of these is a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which has an infinite number of ratios and chooses whichever one best fits a given situation. The other option is a six-speed automatic. Buyers must also decide between front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive. All front-drive Montegos come with the six-speed automatic, while AWD models get the CVT.

Body Styles, Trim Levels and Options

The full-size Mercury Montego sedan is available in one of two trims, Luxury and Premier. The Luxury starts you out with 17-inch alloy wheels, a six-way power driver seat, full power accessories, air conditioning, a CD player, cruise control, HID headlamps, dual-zone automatic climate control and a fold-flat front-passenger seat. Step up to the Premier and youll get 18-inch wheels, leather upholstery, seat memory, an upgraded audio system, wood grain trim and heated front seats. Options on the Mercury car include a moonroof, adjustable pedals, a reverse-sensing system, rear-seat DVD entertainment system and a navigation system.

Driving Impressions

On the road, the Mercury Montego is smooth and quiet. Its Duratec 3.0-liter V6 works well with its wide-ratio, six-speed automatic. The transmission always seemed to match the right gear with the driving situation, and was extremely smooth and quiet in operation. The CVT version also performed well, thanks to low final-drive gearing and computer-optimized ratio changes.

Rated just 203 horsepower, the Montego looks weak compared to the Japanese and Korean competition, which reach up as high as 270 horsepower, but it tops the 190-hp V6 thats standard in the comparably priced Chrysler 300. (The highly publicized Hemi-powered 300C costs nearly $10,000 more.) Fuel economy is an EPA-estimated 21/29 mpg City/Highway for front-drive models, while AWD models are rated at 19/26 mpg.

The Montego handles well on smooth roads at a moderate pace. Its a big car, however, and doesnt do as well when driven hard on bumpy, winding roads where it starts to protest by bobbing around a bit. The suspension, a modified version of the Volvo XC90 setup, performed 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.

The all-wheel-drive system uses electronic controls to achieve optimum performance whether on dry, wet or snow-covered roads. Normally, only the front wheels are driven. But when an electro-hydraulic limited-slip coupling senses a difference in speed between the front wheels and rear wheels, it can distribute up to 100 percent of the driving torque to the rear.

The brakes are excellent for a car of this size and weight. The react quickly to pedal input, the pedal travel is short, and quick deceleration follows. The aluminum disc brakes on Montego are large, designed to offer more stopping power than previous designs, and give off less brake dust on the front wheels due to a change in friction material. Antilock brakes are standard, as is Electronic Brake-force Distribution. ABS helps the driver maintain steering control while using the brakes full force, especially on uncertain surfaces. EBD continuously and instantly shifts maximum braking force between front and rear wheels as needed to improve braking stability and reduce stopping distances.

Favorite Features: Roomy comfortable interior and the huge trunk HID headlights and LED Taillights and just about everything else as well

Overall Review: Just a great car for the price.

MSRP Price Range $24,430 - $28,730
Invoice Price Range $22,532 - $26,402