1998 Mercury Grand Marquis Fullsize Car Review & Performance

The so-called Panther platform on which the Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis are built, along with the

Lincoln Town Car, has been around since 1990. After seven years on cruise control, Ford Motor Company has given the Panther

cars a substantial number of upgrades for the 1998 model year.

The Grand Marquis has been restyled with a more vertical grille treatment, a different grille texture, jeweled headlamp

treatments and new taillamps. It will share showrooms with the Lincoln Navigator, Town Car and Continental.

Underneath the car is a completely new frame that allowed the Grand Marquis to earn a five-star rating for crash

standards front and rear. While the center of the frame is quite similar to the old car's, the front and rear extensions

have been upgraded and strengthened, and the front and rear suspensions have been improved for a smoother, more

vibration-free ride. The traditional recirculating ball steering system has been upgraded with premium bearings and

materials to improve steering feel and response; a power steering fluid cooler has been made standard.

The Grand Marquis is still a big car, with a base curb weight over 3900 pounds, a 114-inch wheelbase and an overall

length of 212 inches. So no matter how good the steering and the tires and suspension are, it still takes some skill and

effort to negotiate a supermarket parking lot.

The 1998 package includes upgrades to suspension, steering, tires and wheels, brakes, battery, security, interior, powertrain, and styling, in short, just about every area of the car.

The list of standard equipment on a Grand Marquis rivals that of its sibling, the Lincoln Town Car. There are still two

flavors, the GS and the LS. Dual-exhaust is restricted to the LS version, which also comes with more standard equipment:

floor mats, cruise control, power door locks, illuminated keyless entry system, chrome wheel covers, a light group, and a

bodyside tape stripe.

Ford's old Preferred Equipment Packages, or PEPs, are gone, replaced with three simplified option groups: premium,

ultimate, and performance. The $1000 premium package adds alloy wheels, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, electronic

climate control, a power passenger seat and an auto-dimming mirror with compass. To that, the $2400 ultimate package adds:

anti-lock brakes, traction control, electronic instrumentation, and a premium sound system. The $855 handling package,

which we recommend, includes a completely retuned suspension with rear air shocks, a big rear stabilizer bar, a 3.27:1

axle ratio, the dual-exhaust engine, 16-inch alloy wheels and Goodyear high-performance tires. Our test car had the

ultimate package, but not the handling package.

The interior offers enough real estate to package all the controls and instruments in a logical, intuitive, and spacious

manner. The seats are huge, thick and comfortable as the family rocker. Nothing seems out of place and nothing about the entire interior is cramped. For 95th percentile drivers like me (6'3" and 215 pounds), there is enough room for long legs, broad shoulders and gangly arms, but there is also enough latitude in seat adjustment to accommodate more petite family members. Rear seat roominess and comfort are at the top of the class, and trunk capacity is rated at almost 21 cubic feet. Fit and finish inside the car are superb, and the materials chosen are excellent.

The engine that powers the Grand Marquis is a 4.6-liter single overhead-cam V8 that was introduced with these cars in

1990, and it has turned out to be one of the best engines Ford Motor Company has ever built in terms of quality and

durability. It, too, has been upgraded for 1997, and now makes 200 horsepower with single exhaust and 220 hp with the

optional dual exhaust system, a 10-hp increase over previous calibrations. The engine now has coil-on-plug ignition which

is simpler and more reliable.

Likewise, the 4-speed automatic overdrive transmission designed to mate with the 4.6-liter V8 has been shaped up and

smoothed out for 1998, with 50 percent quicker, smoother, and more positive shifts, and no maintenance required for the

life of the car. With this combination, the Grand Marquis is rated a Class 1 tow vehicle, to tow 2000 pounds

continuously.

And, whether you tow a small trailer or boat and trailer, you might consider that ABS and traction control come as a

single package in 1998, and that traction control has been upgraded from low-speed-only to all-speed, which makes it a

great deal more flexible in many weather conditions. The system can be switched off with a switch hidden in the glovebox.

Wheels have been increased from 15-inch to 16-inch. Steel wheels are standard, aluminum alloy wheels are optional.

Special alloy wheels come with the handling package. Standard tires are P225/60R-16 all-season radials that ride better

and bite better than the smaller tires used last year. Brakes, too, have been enlarged and upgraded, with larger, thicker

rotors and dual-piston calipers on the front discs for better, longer brake performance.

For 1998, the Grand Marquis rear suspension has been altered substantially to get that quiet, smooth and unperturbed

ride. The rear trailing arms, which used to point inward toward the driveshaft, have been reshaped and remounted between

the frame and the rear axle assembly to provide control of the axle's up and down motions. At the same time, the rear axle assembly has been fitted with a Watts linkage, a simple mechanical link between the center of the frame and the axle assembly that locates the axle laterally. Mercury's Precision Trac suspension system with coil springs and relocated shock absorbers controls the ride. With one set of bars for vertical motions and the Watts link for lateral motions, the car is much less susceptible to wallow and is not as affected by crosswinds as it was before. This was clearly the best-handling big Merc we've ever driven, a pleasure on a winding road.