2000 Mercury Sable By Ted West, New Car Test Drive .com

Mercury Sable has been improved in all the key areas for 2000 - appearance, mechanicals and accommodations. The new Sable presents a pleasingly muscular look, validated by upgraded powertrains, increased responsiveness and surprisingly agile road manners.

This bread-and-butter family sedan has one big trick up its sleeve--it's a pleasurable drive for even the most enthusiastic driver. And its agility doubles as an important adjunct to its comprehensive inventory of safety features. The interior spaces are spacious and pleasing, and by and large, its controls and instrumentation are contemporary, straightforward and easy to use. As Mercury's headliner, the new Sable will pamper its occupants during the period of ownership and, thanks to its higher prestige, it should command a higher return at resale time.

Mercury's Sable sedan comes in GS ($18,845) and LS ($19,945) trim levels along with the fully loaded LS Premium Sedan ($21,245). Also available are the Sable GS Wagon ($20,645) and LS Premium Wagon ($22,345).

LS standard equipment includes cloth with leather seats, a power driver's seat, a split, fold-down rear seat, power-adjustable pedals and the Vulcan V6.

The LS Premium versions come standard with the excellent 24-valve Duratec V6, plus leather seating surfaces, electronic climate control, automatic-on headlights, foglamps, a rear center elbow rest and other amenties. Anti-lock brakes are optional throughout the Sable line, while electronic traction control is available as an option on LS models. The Duratec V6 is a $695 option for the LS.