A new frame, suspension and steering system for enhanced safety, ride and handling top the list of engineering advancements in the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis - the newest version of the longest-running, best-selling Mercury ever.

The Grand Marquis is America's only six-passenger, body-on-frame, rear-wheel-drive, V-8 powered premium sedan. More than 2.7 million units have been sold since 1975, when the nameplate was introduced.

The Grand Marquis is built in St. Thomas, Ontario, and is available in GS and LS trims.

Design
The design of the Mercury Grand Marquis has undergone several refinements for 2003. The exterior features a new grille and front fascia, new headlamps, parking lamps and integrated cornering lamps, new taillamp lenses, rear appliqué, decklid emblem and wheels.

Inside the vehicle, seat foams, fabrics, sew styles and head restraints have been changed to improve comfort and appearance. The cupholders are new, and the door trim has been redesigned for cleaner appearance and better ergonomics.

For 2003, there are two Grand Marquis models - the GS and LS - and several available packages, including a Convenience array for the GS. The LS is available in Premium, Ultimate and five-passenger LSE arrays. LS models - all with no-charge leather seating - account for approximately 65 percent of Grand Marquis sales.

Package
All models are well equipped and include such standard features as anti-lock brakes, 16-inch wheels and tires, an electronic AM/FM stereo with cassette tape and single compact disc player, all-speed traction control, an eight-way power driver's seat with power lumbar support, air conditioning and power windows, locks and outside mirrors.

The GS Convenience option adds power-adjustable brake and accelerator pedals, remote keyless entry, available leather seating and other features. The LS Premium adds 16-inch, nine-spoke alloy wheels, speed control, a power front passenger seat with power lumbar support, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and other features. The LS Ultimate includes the LS Premium features, as well as a wood and leather steering wheel, electronic instrumentation and rear air suspension. The LSE includes a handling package, leather seating surfaces for five passengers with a front center console and floor shifter.

In six-passenger trim, the Grand Marquis offers 109.3 cubic feet of passenger volume. The trunk of the Grand Marquis is the largest in its class, with 20.6 cubic feet of space. The trunk's low liftover height of 26.6 inches makes loading and unloading easy. A trunk organizer is available on all models.

Powertrain
The standard Grand Marquis engine is the 4.6-liter SOHC V-8 engine, which produces 224 horsepower at 4,800 rpm and 272 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm. The Grand Marquis LSE features the same engine, but it is fitted with dual exhaust that increases horsepower to 239 at 4,900 rpm and torque to 287 foot-pounds at 4,100 rpm.

All Grand Marquis models use an electronically controlled four-speed automatic overdrive transmission. A 2.73:1 axle for good fuel economy is standard. The LSE uses a 3.27:1 axle for improved performance feel off the line. All-speed traction control, which uses the ABS system and throttle intervention to manage wheelspin, is standard on all models.

Ride and Handling
The new frame is the foundation of the 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis' improved ride quality and handling precision. The hydroformed front rails, the strengthened number three crossmember and a new cast-aluminum number two crossmember combine to improve the frame's torsional rigidity by 24 percent and its resistance to vertical bending by 20 percent.

The new cast-aluminum crossmember which serves as the mounting platform for the engine mounts, steering rack and the front suspension's control arms - also provides a more precise mounting surface and better alignment tolerances than the previous welded steel crossmember.

At the same time, engineers redesigned Grand Marquis' independent short- and long-arm front suspension. Changes include a new, more robust steel upper control arm, a new aluminum lower control arm and steering knuckle and revised suspension geometry for improved tracking at highway speeds and less wheel fight during cornering and on rough roads.

For improved ride, the new Grand Marquis front suspension now features coil-over-shock springs with monotube shock absorbers. Monotube dampers were selected because they are more efficient and "tunable" than conventional twin-tube shocks because the damping pistons have more than twice the effective working area. Heat dissipation is also improved.

Engineers also replaced the previous recirculating-ball steering gear with a new rack-and-pinion system that weighs 22.5 pounds less. Its variable- ratio gear improves both maneuverability and straight-ahead controllability. The steering also incorporates a variable-assist feature. At low speeds, boost is increased to reduce efforts, particularly at parking lot speeds. As speeds increase, power-assist is reduced, which helps impart a feeling of control.

Steering turn-in is improved and body roll is reduced by a new GripperTM front stabilizer bar. The design prevents the stabilizer bar from twisting in its bushings under load, which provides a quicker, more linear response rate.

Upper and lower control arms and a lateral Watt's linkage stabilize the Grand Marquis' live-axle rear suspension, which also employs coil-over-shock springs with monotube dampers. The shock absorbers are now mounted outboard of the frame rails, which allows them to better manage the unsprung mass of the axle. This reduces the transmission of road impacts into the car's structure and helps keep the rear of the vehicle firmly planted during cornering on rough roads or washboard surfaces. Load-leveling air springs replace the coil springs on the Grand Marquis LSE and Grand Marquis Ultimate.

Improvements also have been made to the Grand Marquis' four-wheel disc anti-lock brake system. Electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD) now is used to dynamically proportion braking forces front to rear. EBD effectively raises the threshold for ABS engagement by optimizing front-to-rear brake bias. In addition, a new dual-rate brake booster with emergency assist automatically supplies full braking power even if the driver doesn't initially apply enough pedal pressure to engage the standard anti-lock braking system.

Safety and Security
Safety has long been a Grand Marquis strength. Since 1996, Grand Marquis has earned the U.S. government's highest safety rating - double five-stars - for frontal crash protection. Major contributors to this strong performance are a robust frame - improved for 2003 with hydroformed front rails - a large crumple zone and Ford Motor Company's Personal Safety SystemTM.

The Personal Safety SystemTM includes dual-stage front air bags, which are triggered by crash severity sensors. It also includes buckle-mounted safety belt pretensioners, that tighten the front outboard belts in the first milliseconds of a crash, and energy management retractors, which allow some "give" in the belts during a serious collision to reduce the risk of chest injury.

A complement to the system is BeltMinderTM, which chimes to remind drivers to buckle up.

In side crash protection, the 2002 Grand Marquis has earned double four-star ratings. Upgrades for the 2003 model build on this strong performance with new optional seat-mounted side air bags for the front outboard seats and a new steel frame crossmember. This crossmember, which ties the frame together behind the A-pillar, has been redesigned to better manage side impact crash forces by transferring energy across the frame structure into the opposite rail.

Additional safety-related enhancements include new clear lens, complex reflector halogen headlamps that are 60 percent brighter than the lamps they replace; LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) anchors that are integrated into the rear outboard seats to make securing compatible child seats easier; and a new three-point safety belt for the rear center passenger.

Standard security features include a new valet key, remote keyless entry and a door-mounted keyless entry keypad (except on GS base models), power windows and door locks and automatic on/off headlamps. All models are fitted with a glow-in-the-dark emergency trunk release handle that enables the trunk to be opened from the inside, as well as the SmartLockTM anti-lockout system, which helps prevent accidentally locking the ignition keys in the car.