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Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis

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What is this discussion about? Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, Exterior, Sedan

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#1792 of 3244 03 Frame and Steering by james130 Jan 31, 2003 (1:36 pm)
andre1969 re:your request for comments on the above.I have had a new 03 GM for 6 months and approx 6600 miles now.Redesigned frame and new rack and pinion steering superb.Car feels,stucturely,very stong.No twisting or bending evident. Steering nicely weighted,and precise.Holds its course very well.Handling excellent.(you can almost see the guys in the BMWs trying to keep up on the long fast curves saying to themselves "I did'nt think American cars could go round corners like that").Lets not discuss the ride!! Well, alright then. Its hard,even by European standards,but don't be put off by that.Do try one for yourself,for an extended period,and if you can live with the ride,the other fine qualities of the re-design are very rewarding.Kind regards.
#1793 of 3244 Drove an '03 LS premium 600 miles round... by drmp Feb 02, 2003 (11:02 pm)
and have mixed feelings about it. Originally thought this is my next car (currently driving a '99 Passport).   Excellent living-room sized seats with 8-way power plus lumbar on the front, adjustable pedals, very good road noise isolation, hugs the road nicely, soft on the bumps.   However, there are other things that left me scratching my head. The engine which has more torque and power felt rather weak. My 4x4 passport which is heavier can jump off the line with ease and with no sign of srain. The steering becomes numb and rubbery at about 80 mph and I had a hard time keeping the car inside my lane. In contrast, I can point and shot with pinpoint accuracy in my passport at 80 mph. And I thought their biggest improvement was the steering.
#1794 of 3244 A few things I can think of... by andre1969 Feb 03, 2003 (5:44 am)
As for the acceleration, at least, well the LS Premium, according to Edmund's at least, has 224 hp 4800 rpm and 272 ft-lb of torque 4000 rpm. Well, Crown Vics and Grand Marquises have had around that much torque for probably as long as they've been putting 302's in them. In 1990, for example, the old 302 put out 270 ft-lb of torque, but it did it at 2000 rpm.   That LS Premium might have been stuck with fairly tall gearing, which would have kept it from taking off very fast off from a standstill. One one hand, you have peak torque coming on fairly high, which means the engine has to rev to get there, but then you have tall gearing keeping the engine revs down.   I dunno about the steering though. Maybe they still take out the road feel on purpose, because they think that's what the typical big Ford/Merc buyer wants?
#1795 of 3244 Acceleration and steering by drmp Feb 03, 2003 (1:01 pm)
My passport has only 205 hp5400 and 215lb-ft3200 but it is quicker off the line and quicker at any speeds despite the heavy 4x4 body.   I can also easily nudge the car a couple of inches left or right at high speed to avoid a pothole or other wandering sleepy drivers. I can't do it in the GM.   Because of these, i have a second thought about the GM.
#1796 of 3244 Quicker off the line ? , GM ?! by cfocfo Feb 03, 2003 (1:35 pm)
I guess it doesn't matter what the car is, even a Grand Marquis, there will always seem to be a "quicker off the line discussion", LOL.   Drmp, have you checked out the Marauder ?
#1797 of 3244 Does anybody know... by andre1969 Feb 03, 2003 (2:56 pm)
...about what 0-60 is for the current Grand Marquis? Say, the base model with the 224 hp engine?   The closest reference I can think of is the Michigan State Police test of a police-spec Crown Vic. I think it did 0-60 in about 9.3 seconds, which was in range with the police spec Impala and Intrepid. Keep in mind though, police cars tend to be built more for top speed, and the heavier-duty components add weight and offset power increases. They also test them with two officers on board.   One thing though, a car like a Grand Marquis probably isn't going to feel all that quick off the line, especially with standard tall gearing. I've just noticed that big cars in general don't feel like they're going all that fast, until you look down at the speedo and say "DAY-UMM!!" With smaller cars with engines that rev more, they feel like they're going fast, even when they're not!   About the only personal experience I have with GM acceleration is this...a buddy of mine has a '95 GS with the 195 hp V-8 and 2.73:1 gearing. I raced him one night in my '89 Gran Fury ex-police car, and he couldn't keep up. 20 less horsepower, 1 less tranny gear, but 2.94:1 rear gearing and about 400-500 lb less weight.   I'm sure with an extra 30 hp on tap though, the newest ones should be noticeably quicker.
#1798 of 3244 That may explain why by drmp Feb 03, 2003 (4:33 pm)
My Passport may have been geared for quick launch. Two independent sources (one of which is motortrend) clocked the passport at 8.3 sec 0-60 mph. I've also driven my SUV to 100 mph however, as expect it has a poor fuel economy due to the boxy shape of my SUV. The GM is quiter at speed and you can easily go over 80 mph without noticing.
#1799 of 3244 Mud Guards for Grand Marquis by cfocfo Feb 04, 2003 (8:48 pm)
Anyone have any info on installing mud guards on a 2003 GM ? Also, isn't there an CV or GM.net type site for info like that ?   Thx

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