New Car Review of the 2004 Mercury Marauder Full-Size Sedan.

Description: Full-Size Sedan
Base MSRP Range: $34,075
Invoice Price Range: $31,107

This monochromatic sedan is called Marauder as the reincarnation of Mercury's muscle car out of 1963.

Ornamentation is minimal, save for a bead of chrome ringing side windows and five-spoke aluminum wheels glinting in chrome. Another bright point: Exhaust pipes with stainless steel Megs tips.

Marauder's dual-cam 4.6-liter aluminum V8 gushes to 302 hp. The engine sucks air through a low-restriction air intake with aluminum upper and lower manifolds. Fuel spurts into the engine through a dual-bore throttle body and high-flow injectors. Marauder for 2004 supports a new heavy-duty four-speed automatic transmission that generates more low-end torque.

A four-door passenger compartment has seats for five, with two up front on buckets and three on a rear bench. Seats are clad in luxurious leather tinted to a two-tone color scheme. The instrument panel contains large analog gauges with bright white faces and red needles. Front section of the center console holds two more round AutoMeter gauges -- oil pressure and voltmeter.

Tires are 18-inch ultra-high-performance Goodrich g-Force T/As. Rear treads (P245/55WR18) tip slightly higher than front (P235/50WR18) so Marauder strikes the pose of a muscle car.