2003 Mercury Sable Review
The Mercury Sable provides a pleasant blend of family-car safety and mid-market value. It combines the virtues of high quality, five-star crash protection and comfortable accommodations (and those accommodations are even quieter for the 2003 model year), and adds in a healthy helping of driving fun. Especially when equipped with the optional Duratec V6, the mid-size Mercury is blessed with the kind of performance and agility expected in expensive front-drive sports sedans.
The Sable wagon is every bit as fun to drive as the sedan, and adds capacity for kids and cargo.
For 2003, the Sable sedan and wagon come in GS and LS versions.
The GS sedan starts at $20,120, or $21,180 in its GS Plus variation. The LS Premium sedan is $22,495.
The GS wagon is priced at $21,530, the GS Plus Wagon at $22,420 and the LS Premium Wagon at $23,660.
All Sables have remote-controlled exterior mirrors, carpeting, cupholders in a center console, AM/FM audio, tilt steering column, air conditioning, power door locks with child safety locks on rear doors, remote keyless entry, anti-theft systems, cruise control, speed-sensitive rack-and-pinion steering, 16-inch tires, two-speed variable intermittent windshield wipers and power windows.
The GS sedans have rear drum brakes while all other Sables have four-wheel disc brakes. All Sables have four-speed automatic transmissions.
GS sedans and wagons are powered by the 3.0-liter Vulcan V6, a capable, old cast-iron, overhead-valve workhorse rated 155 horsepower. The GS Plus Sedan adds an auto-dimming interior rearview mirror with compass, single-CD player, 60/40 split folding rear seatback, illuminated vanity mirrors on the sun visors, adjustable brake and gas pedals and six-way power driver's seat with manual lumbar adjustment.
Looks are subjective, but we like what we see in the Mercury Sable. This latest Sable is not as daringly innovative as the groundbreaking design that introduced the nameplate back in 1986, but it's better looking. Nowadays, the Mercury Sable and Ford Taurus, seem to have slowly swapped places, so that the Sable is now the conservative older sister and the Taurus the adventurous sprite. But the old girl is still pretty easy on the eyes, if now in a buttoned-down, business-suit sort of way.
Like the very best automotive designs, Sable comfortably blends beauty and function. Its total passenger space, at 102.5 cubic feet, is only 6 percent short of the interior space of the full-size Mercury Grand Marquis. Subjectively, the Sable's interior feels huge, even for a mid-size car. The sedan offers a generous cargo space of 16 cubic feet. The station wagon has 38.8 cubic feet of space with the rear seat up and a cavernous 81.3 cubic feet with the seats down.
The Mercury Sable cabin has been refined for 2003. The control for the adjustable pedals has been moved to the revised instrument panel for easier use. Interior materials have been upgraded. Cupholders have been revised. And the interior is quieter, thanks to new insulation in the floor pan and wind-blocking seals on the doors, windows and sideview mirrors. Expanding foam fills the windshield support pillars to reduce noise further.
The refined interior space is furnished with controls and instruments that are admirably straightforward and user-friendly. For 2003, the interior also gets new color schemes and seating fabrics. A new process for applying wood grain trim enhances its appearance.
Power-adjustable pedals provide up to thee inches of movement, which enhances safety by allowing shorter drivers to find a comfortable seating position without sitting dangerously close to the airbag.
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