Mercury Sable Gets Full Makeover

Fri., Feb. 11, 2000

It’s makeover time at Mercury, where the mid-size Sable gets new sheet metal, a 10-hp bump in power on base models and a new network of safety features Mercury calls the Personal Safety System.

The Sable platform is essentially unchanged, but the base 3-liter OHV V-6 now puts out 153 hp, while the uplevel DOHC version makes 200 hp.

But the real changes are outside, where the Sable gets a strong, new look for 2000 with new front and rear fascias and crisply stylish new side panels. One of the benefits of the redesigned body is an increase in interior room, particularly in the rear seat where occupants gain useable headroom.

The new Personal Safety System adapts airbag deployment strategy depending on the severity of the impact, whether or not seatbelts are in use and the position of the driver’s seat.

New dual-state airbags help reduce the risk associated with airbag inflation. Other features of the system include front crash severity sensor, front safety belt usage sensor, driver seat position sensor, front-seat safety belt pretensioners and front-seat safety belt energy management retractors.

Optional side-impact airbags offer head and thorax protection and an industry-first inside trunk release allows anyone locked inside the trunk a way out. The trunk opening is an inch wider and liftover height is reduced 1.5 inches to facilitate loading heavy objects.

Sable also gets Ford’s power-adjustable foot-pedals, a feature that helps drivers of varying sizes get comfortable.

The revised interior features a new instrument control panel, redesigned for more intuitive operation, and a full-length floor console on five-passenger models with a larger armrest that houses the optional six-disc CD changer. A new two-tone dash reduces glare and the headlamps are 20 percent brighter, with 100 percent greater bulb-life.

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