Jalopnik
Exterior Design:***
Whereas the platform buddy Ford Escape never manages to look tough enough and the other derivative, the Mazda Tribute, looks like a child with some sort of neurological condition, the Mercury Mariner Hybrid appears exactly as it should. By far the best looking of the trio, the conservative looks fare well next to luxury SUV offerings from Toyota and Acura.
Interior Design:**
Compared to the previous generation, the interior of the Mariner is smart and luxurious. The stone-colored leather seats are comfortable, though more side bolstering would be nice. The rear bench is roomy enough for two passengers joining you and your wife for a night of gallery hopping, and if you ditch them, the rear seats fold forward far enough to hold just a touch over 66 square feet of trendy crap.
Acceleration:**
You would think that with two propulsion sources this thing would get going a little faster. You'd be wrong. Though acceleration is on par with the V6 model, it's a complete crapshoot on anything but a clean start, thanks to the E-CVT transmission that never manages to predict what you want.
Braking:*
The line about regenerative braking is always "stopping helps you go." More like "stopping helps you go insane." Ignoring the serious effort it takes to slow the thing down, once you do start to stop there's an annoying dull click as you let off the brakes. This isn't to say they're so bad that you'll run over anyone, but the feel is all wrong.
Ride:***
The ride is remarkably smooth for what's supposed to be an SUV. Aware that no one with sense will be taking it off road, the Mariner's suspension is tuned to absorb every pothole and hobo with nary a bump.
Handling:**
Like a girl who offers you sex out of pity, it'll do what you want it to do but in the least enjoyable and most perfunctory way possible. But unlike pity sex, you're not going to brag about driving the Mariner to your friends afterwards.
Gearbox:*
As mentioned above, the continuously variable transmission is less a gearbox and more a complicated way to suck just that much more fun out of driving.
Audio:***
Like the 2008 Ford F-350 SuperDuty, the Mariner features the six-speakers-and-a-subwoofer Audiophile system. Unlike the F-350, the Mariner is so quiet that it is possible to hear your music. Using the standard audio input jack I was able to listen to my iPod through the system as I cruised for Etruscan pottery. The only thing this system is missing is thumb controls for the audio, something a car in this price range needs badly.
Toys:****
In addition to backup sensors, touch screen navigation system and one-touch moonroof, this is a hybrid. Though it doesn't get earth-shattering gas mileage, the hyrbid system is basically one big toy and with the navigation screen you get to watch as power is routed between the engine, motor and wheels. There's also a full 110v electrical output for keeping your iPod charged.
Value:*
When all is said and done, I can't imagine putting down nearly $10,000 over the base price of $21,300 for what is still a Ford Escape. By the time you get around to making up the difference in cost you'll have already sold it or set it on fire for the insurance money.
Overall: **
The Mariner Hybrid is nothing to write home about. You could drive hundreds of miles without realizing that you've been driving at all because little about the car is so offensive or so outstanding as to deserve any notice. There's probably a market for that, but we're not in it.
Also see:
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Comments
Well it's settled then: the Mariner is a boat anchor.
"Like a girl who offers you sex out of pity, it'll do what you want it to do but in the least enjoyable and most perfunctory way possible. But unlike pity sex, you're not going to brag about driving the Mariner to your friends afterwards."
...is why I love this site so much.
Well done Hardigree. If only pay correlated with prowess.
You know, I honestly thought Mercury's were DOWNGRADED Fords until I started frequenting *cough* lurking *cough* here.
The More You Know.
"Like a girl who offers you sex out of pity, it'll do what you want it to do but in the least enjoyable and most perfunctory way possible. But unlike pity sex, you're not going to brag about driving the Mariner to your friends afterwards."
i'm starting to get confused.
this is a ford product, right? so we're supposed to drive it up toyota's ass, right?
so who's pitying whom here?
If Ford really believed in hybrids, they'd have dev'd a system for the porcine Edge. Wow, one star on value...for a hybrid! This car's for suckers...
"Stone-colored"?
Like with Jagger puke?
$31K for this?!?!?!??!?! Truck that!
@beercheck: They're not sure who's vomit it was. You can't dust vomit you know.
@Mad_Science: I'd rather brag about getting my knob
slammed in the tailgate than get caught behind the wheel.
Where does Jill Wagner come in with all this Mariner stuff? Does the Pity Sex thing play at all in that scenario?
Just askin'.
Nice review Matt.
Can you guys review the AWD/4WD systems on these cars as well as how they handle light towing applications? Granted the Merc Hybrid is nothing spectacular in either regard but if some people could see that THEIR hauling/towing/offroad needs can be accomplished with the 30K Merc versus a 40K Tahoe I think it would be a small accomplishment. Most people think small SUVs cannot haul/pull/traverse the conditions they might come across as a dd but I think those same consumers would be quite surprised what a 4000lb towing capacity actually can do. (the Merc probably has 2000lb but you get my point).
@Neener: I second that. But from my cursory research, towing has a lot more to do with the wheelbase and brakes than with the pure engine stats (for example, the V10 diesel Touareg has the same tow rating as the V6 and V8 models, even though they modified one to tow a 747 for exhibition purposes).
So for towing, I think the small chassis and short wheelbase probably trump any power output.
Well,
I can't speak for the hybrid version, but I'm driving a 2008 Ford Escape rental while my Town Car is in the shop.
Escape is a good word for it, since that's what I want to do from it ! It's noisy (engine) and heaven help you if you have to cross the rumble strips (I do, twice a day due to construction). Sounds like hail in a tin can ! And it doesn't even have 10K miles on it yet!.
And you are sitting in a tub, since the door sils are higher then the floor. Better not be a lady in a dress or you'll do a Britney Spears!
It's does have some good points, but still, I'd rather have my Town Car or my wife's Town & Country Minivan instead.
Of course, the 4wd is a plus
Back in the '70s there were many cars that got gas mileage in the thirties and even fourties and no battery hybrid bullshit. Shit the Rabbit diesel got like 50-60 miles per!What's up, suddenly marketing "green" hybrid tech is more important than actually increasing fuel efficiency? This is how our enemies from WW2 broke into the american car market, building small affordable high mileage cars during an oil crisis. If you live in LA or NY then 36mpg in the city is great but most of these cars are used on Highway miles and mpg is drastically reduced.
I say we our own test with well maintained cars from that bygone era of the Disco vs the hybrids. Then those soccer moms can STFU. And don't tell me you can't find any well maintained cars from the 70's. You guys find all kinds of wacky shit, this would actually challenge you and be rewarding. Hell if you find a diesel rabbit I'll buy it!
Matt, after reading this I am not sure if you are trying to get a role on the new American Top Gear or join the folks at The Truth About Cars.
@tbennett017: The Jill Wagner reference just made this entre post worth the bother. Take heed, Hardigree.
Something like "The stereo system was so divine, it made me want to show Jill Wagner the Ride of the Valkyries"
"the other derivative, the Mazda Tribute, looks like a child with some sort of neurological condition"
I snorted a little when I read that.
@brandegee:
Actually, basically no hybrids offer "good value". $4 gas will help, but think LS600H and it's $40K premium.
I'm sold.... where do I get that pity sex at?
E-CVT transmission? It has a E-CVTT?
@Race7117: Comparison's not really valid.
Sure, there were plenty of > 35mpg tin boxes back in the day, but they were slow tin boxes that ensured certain death in a wreck. Also, nowhere near as clean-burning as today's compact cars.
That said, I agree that lightness and turbodiesel power are better mileage solutions than hybrid drivetrains in most cases.
@beercheck: I knew you'd all do that for me. Which is why we heart Jalop commenters.
@grzydj: yes, I used it to drive to the GOP party and ATM machine.
@Race7117: I don't think the comparison is apples to apples. A VW deisel rabbit 5 door has a curb weight of 1830lbs the Mariner has a curb weight of 3660 lbs. Hybrid technology in an 1830lb car might produce some insane numbers. And it'll probably has a top speed over the VW's 73mph.
wow you really nailed that Honda Pilot
cracking review all round, i give you 2/2.
@Mad_Science
Obviously I was being visecious, but I still think it would be cool to do our own pepsi challenge vs hybrids.......The point is we have the technology and know how to do much better with conventional internal combustion engines. look what porsche can do with the flat-6 , 26-28mpg in a safe vehicle. Corporations have figured out we don't care if things really work we just want things that have the perception of working or marketed well and that is bullshit. Hybrids are poser machine for people who want to feel superior because they are 'greener' than the rest of us and that too is bullshit.
Ford gets agressive with Mercury's Marketing
Put the Fucking Mercury on your list, BITCH!
[i111.photobucket.com]
@Neener: A Mariner instead of a Tahoe?
I agree ... but try telling that to my 100-pounds-overweight neighbor who bought a riding mower for his perfectly-flat, 5,000 square-foot yard! Hell I bet he drives to the mailbox.
Again, I agree with you. Problem is, my neighbor doesn't. :(
@Race7117: Amory Lovins built a car and proved that -- all other things being equal -- it's the size, not the weight, that improves safety.
Yup ... size matters!
You guys really seem to be trying to pitch this as some kind of yuppie-mobile, and I just don't see it. Maybe in a red state with a small-to-medium size city. In my neck of the woods, none of the local yuppies would be caught dead in something domestic, even if it were a convincing X3/RX fighter, which this is not.
@long_live_the_E36: It is very popular in my yuppie midwestern city of Chicago.
@Bento the Wertsmith: That's fucking awesome. Where is that from?
@Bento the Wertsmith: Is that from blade?
I respectfully disagree that "...the Mercury Mariner Hybrid appears exactly as it should."
There's never been a Mercury automobile on the planet that appeared exactly as it should. But then, some people have higher standards than others...
interesting. in "interior", you fail to mention the raw plastic edges and exposed metal that supports the seats. Further, flip the rear seat and be underwhelmed by the flap of carpet lying askew against sheet metal.
The horrific lack of attention to detail is what turned me away from Escape/Mariner when shopping for a small SUV before. My Liberty may be a sea of plastic inside, but the designers actually thought through how it would be used and acted accordingly.
@DonSchenck: Yeah, there will always be those people...strangely, they congest around Nascar events.
@Matt Hardigree: That is from Blade!
@Bento the Wertsmith:
Need to add that as a bumper sticker on my new Mariner
@Matt Hardigree:
"...as I cruised for Etruscan pottery."
Matt, please tell me you aren't planning to take the Etruscan stuff to "the Paint Your Own Pottery place off Lincoln Ave..." I doubt you can improve on their work...
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