Roomy sedan with all-wheel drive.

Introduction

The Mercury Montego is a big sedan with a roomy, luxurious cabin, premium features and trim, and a smooth, comfortable ride. While technically a midsize car, it's on the large side of that scale and boasts a a high seating position and lots of legroom for both front and rear passengers. 

The Montego is powered by a 203-hp V6. Front-wheel drive is standard. All-wheel drive is available for improved traction and handling in adverse conditions. The Montego was carefully engineered to protect occupants in the event of an accident. Safety engineers from Volvo worked directly on the Montego, drawing on the Swedish automaker's 50 years of advanced safety engineering. 

The Montego offers one of the roomiest interiors in its class. Inspired by the ubiquitous sport utility vehicle, the Montego gives the driver a relatively high seating position and, consequently, excellent outward vision. 

Its all-aluminum V6 engine features drive-by-wire electronic throttle control and is complemented by a six-speed automatic transmission that shifts smoothly and always seems to choose the right gear for the driving situation. The all-wheel-drive models come with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) that's smooth and responsive and enhances fuel efficiency. 

The steering and suspension are European in feel, offering quick response and minimal lean in corners. The brakes are excellent, responding quickly when the pedal is pressed and slowing the car quickly when necessary. Anti-lock brakes are standard on all Montegos, and all-speed traction control is standard on all but the base, front-drive model, where it's a no-cost option. 

Montego excels in passive safety as well. Its basic structure was designed by Volvo, a company that built its reputation on safety before safety was fashionable. Add to that Ford Motor Company's Personal Safety System, which means that the inflation rate for the dual-stage front airbags is managed by a crash severity sensor and a weight sensor for the front-seat passenger. Side-impact and canopy-style airbags are optional. Thus equipped, Montego has earned top five-star ratings in frontal and side-impact crash testing by the federal government, and was named a best pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for frontal crash performance. 

Lineup

The 2006 Mercury Montego is powered by a 3.0-liter V6 engine with 24 valves. Two trim levels are available, Luxury and Premier. 

Front-wheel drive (FWD) and all-wheel drive (AWD) are available for both trim levels. A six-speed automatic transmission comes on front-drive models. A continuously variable automatic transmission, or CVT is used on the all-wheel-drive models; AWD models also get a suspension upgrade that includes self-leveling rear shock absorbers. 

Luxury FWD ($24,430) and AWD ($26,280) come 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; leather-wrapped tilt steering wheel with remote audio controls and cruise control, 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, and fog lamps. All-speed traction control is standard with AWD and optional (at no cost) with FWD. Cloth upholstery is standard; leather is optional ($895). Power-adjustable pedals are available on late-2006 models. 

Premier FWD ($26,880) and AWD ($28,730) feature leather upholstery, heated front seats, a power passenger seat, a memory function for the power seats, mirrors and adjustable pedals, a leather-wrapped shift knob, overhead console with Homelink, wood grain interior appliques, remote perimeter lighting, a 6CD changer and subwoofer, a trunk cargo net, and 18-inch 15-spoke alloy wheels. Traction control is standard with both FWD and AWD. A new navigation system is available for 2006 Premier models. 

Options include a power glass sunroof ($895); rear park assist ($250); a rear-seat DVD entertainment system (new for 2006), and a Safety Package combining side-impact and side-curtain air bags with a rollover sensor ($595). We strongly recommend the curtain air bags as they can help reduce the chance of head injuries to your passengers. 

Walkaround

The Mercury Montego was introduced as an all-new model for 2005. Mercury styling cues, such as the waterfall-style grille and LED tail lamps with metal crossbars, do a good job of distinguishing the Montego from the Ford Five Hundred, which shares its structure and most hardware. The Mercury manages to look at once more crisp and more heavy, while the Ford looks softer and lighter. 

Otherwise, the Montego shares its general appearance with the Five Hundred. Their proportions of metal to glass are similar to that of Audi sedans, and the overall shape is not unlike that of the Volkswagen Passat. The Montego is tall for a modern sedan, a design influenced by SUVs. 

High-intensity discharge headlamps are standard, as are large and bright tail lamps. The Luxury model comes with 17-inch alloy wheels while the Premium gets 18-inch alloy wheels, not just for looks but also for better brake cooling. 

Safety was a top priority in Montego's design. Features that you can't see include energy-channeling frame structures engineered by Ford and Volvo that help absorb crash forces before they reach the passenger compartment, a strong crossmember in the roof, and an energy-absorbing cross-car tube that provides exceptional side-impact protection. In AWD models, even the central driveshaft collapses to protect Montego's occupants by absorbing crash energy. The Montego was designed to meet tough future standards for rear-end impacts. 

Interior

Inside is where the Mercury Montego shines, in several ways. It's among the roomiest of family sedans with 108.3 cubic feet of interior room. The back seats are notably roomy and lead the category in headroom and knee room. Mercury says that the Montego has more interior space than competitive vehicles that are up to seven inches longer. 

Its trunk, at 21.2 cubic feet, is also the largest in its 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 get nearly 50 inches of storage length down the right side of the car. 

Montego's interior design was influenced by SUVs. The beefy steering wheel looks like it came from an auto-show dream truck, with more buttons than ever for added convenience, easier operation of the cruise control, and more audio functions. Satin-aluminum cuffs accent the spokes on all 2006 models, making the wheel look more substantial. Other SUV design cues include the overhead console and the big brow shading the instruments. All the graphics are large, white on black, and very easy to read. 

There's enough brushed aluminum trim to tell you you're in a Mercury. The Luxury model comes with a straight-grain wood trim, while the Premium gets burled wood trim. Three interior color schemes are available: two-tone grey, two-tone tan, and black. 

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 Montego is pleasantly high off the ground, affording excellent driver visibility. The seats sit about four inches higher than the seats in the discontinued Sable. Visually, they are a bit of a throwback, blocky and plain in appearance. But they are also large, plush and supportive. The rear seats are set up higher still so that rear-seat passengers can see out without craning. 

Driving Impression

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 that's 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. It's a big car, however, and doesn't 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. 

Summary

The Mercury Montego is a five-passenger family sedan that's roomy and luxurious. It benefits from safety features and engineering developed by Volvo and all-wheel drive is available for bad weather and low-traction conditions. Both transmissions work well. The CVT that comes with AWD models is a vast improvement over earlier designs because of its electronic controls. 

NewCarTestDrive.com correspondent Jim McCraw filed this report from Dearborn, Michigan. 

Model Lineup

Mercury Montego Luxury ($24,430); Luxury AWD ($26,280); Premier ($26,880); Premier AWD ($28,730). 

Assembled In

Chicago, Illinois. 

Options As Tested

Leather trim (no charge); Moonroof ($895); Safety Package ($595) includes second-row Safety Canopy w/rollover sensor and side-impact airbags; traction control.