Mercury Mariner First Drive
Introduction
Mercury's small SUV, a twin of the Ford Escape, has standard curtain air bags and stability control, except on the hybrid. The interior is roomy and the rear bench seat is spacious. The 3.0-liter V6 provided adequate acceleration in our test of the Escape and returned 19 mpg. Noise and ride comfort are good. However the Escape's lack of tire grip negatively affects handling and braking. Interior quality still isn't impressive. We got 26 mpg overall when we tested the 2005 hybrid.