427435
09-17-2004, 08:54 PM
A little history, first. I picked up my MM exactly 3 months ago on June 17th. I use it to commute 130 miles (round trip) on a divided 4-lane highway (not freeway) that has some hills, frost heaves, and repaired tar strips. The posted speed limit is 65.
I thought I would post my experiences for anyone that's reading this board while trying to decide to buy one of the left-overs.
The ride has gotten a lot better after about 3000 miles---either the "stickchen" of the shocks and bushings has improved or lowing the tire pressure from 34 psi (as delivered) to 28 psi has made a difference (or they both did). Anyway, it's a very, very comfortable car to commute in. Good ride and a feeling of confidence if I need to take evasive action (lots of at-grade crossings).
The seats are especially comfortable and the power lumbar is great. The only ergonomic problem is that the top of the steering wheel cuts off the top of the speedometer (and blocks some of the idiot lights) when it is lowered into the position that I prefer.
The brakes are great---smooth and powerful but with good modulation.
The power is quite good (a little short of great). You can, however, show your tail lights to a lot of cars if you want to---especially if you're already at 60 mph. The kickdown is quick and acceleration to triple digits is a little unreal for a car of this size. All in all, I'm quite satisfied as I don't do much stop & go, signal light driving where some V-6 ricer with a good launch might get me. On the other hand, if I need to accelerate to get around a "left lane hog" :burn: , it does it right now.
The mileage is just over 20 mpg (20.1 to be exact) and the cruise is usually set at 73 mph. This is what I expected for highway use---3-4 mpg below the EPA rating of 23 mpg (which is what I've always gotten with my cars since the ratings were put on them). I don't know how some of you can get mid to upper 20's at these speeds unless you've got Ivan tail winds behind you!!!
Due to previous posts about rapid tire wear, I've been watching and checking them with a depth gauge. At 3500 miles (with the delivered 34 psi), the centers were about 1/64 thinner than the shoulders on all 4 tires. The shoulders were all about the same (the alignment must be pretty good). I dropped the air pressure to 28 psi at all corners (at 3500 miles) and tonight the centers on the back are still about 1/64 thinner than the shoulders---indicating that 28 should be about right. The fronts are close to even all the way across---which means they've worn a little faster in the middle than on the shoulders the last 5000 miles. I raised their pressure to 30 psi. The actual tread depth is at 8/32 on the fronts and on the shoulders of the rears. The rear centers are at between 7/32 and 8/32. The original depth should have been 10/32 (I didn't measure them new), so I will need new tires at 30,000 to 35,000 miles if the wear rate continues the same way it has been going.
By the way, I drove home in pouring rain, the other night, with standing puddles in places, and the tires didn't show any aquaplanning tendencies at all. I'm still not sure what to do for winter tires. I think I'm just going to wait and see how it goes the first time it snows. Four hundred pounds of water softener salt in the trunk and all-speed traction control may be enough!!
The radio/disk player is better than previous factory sound systems, I've had, and there's very little wind or road noise.
There's a nice exhaust sound on start-up, and under full throttle, but none at cruise---just the way I prefer for my commute. Down-shifting happens easier and quicker, than on other automatics I've had, but isn't hard and abrupt when just "tooling" around. The torque converter also seems a little "looser" than other automatics I've driven. Again, just about right for what I'm using it to do.
Which does bring me back to something I said when I posted after the first 3000 miles (or something close). This car isn't a king-of-the-road muscle car like the 60's muscle cars----cars that took another muscle car (or maybe a Vette) to beat. There are lot's of cars that can beat an MM in a stoplight contest today. What this car really is, is a really great "grand-touring" car for less than $30,000. My 2 cents, anyway.
Also, I've had no reason to take it back to a dealer for warranty work.
So, if you're sitting on the fence, trying to figure out whether or not to take advantage of the left-over pricing, this is really a great car to take on a quick drive (long or short) with plenty of space for 4 (and their luggage)!! :up: :up:
I thought I would post my experiences for anyone that's reading this board while trying to decide to buy one of the left-overs.
The ride has gotten a lot better after about 3000 miles---either the "stickchen" of the shocks and bushings has improved or lowing the tire pressure from 34 psi (as delivered) to 28 psi has made a difference (or they both did). Anyway, it's a very, very comfortable car to commute in. Good ride and a feeling of confidence if I need to take evasive action (lots of at-grade crossings).
The seats are especially comfortable and the power lumbar is great. The only ergonomic problem is that the top of the steering wheel cuts off the top of the speedometer (and blocks some of the idiot lights) when it is lowered into the position that I prefer.
The brakes are great---smooth and powerful but with good modulation.
The power is quite good (a little short of great). You can, however, show your tail lights to a lot of cars if you want to---especially if you're already at 60 mph. The kickdown is quick and acceleration to triple digits is a little unreal for a car of this size. All in all, I'm quite satisfied as I don't do much stop & go, signal light driving where some V-6 ricer with a good launch might get me. On the other hand, if I need to accelerate to get around a "left lane hog" :burn: , it does it right now.
The mileage is just over 20 mpg (20.1 to be exact) and the cruise is usually set at 73 mph. This is what I expected for highway use---3-4 mpg below the EPA rating of 23 mpg (which is what I've always gotten with my cars since the ratings were put on them). I don't know how some of you can get mid to upper 20's at these speeds unless you've got Ivan tail winds behind you!!!
Due to previous posts about rapid tire wear, I've been watching and checking them with a depth gauge. At 3500 miles (with the delivered 34 psi), the centers were about 1/64 thinner than the shoulders on all 4 tires. The shoulders were all about the same (the alignment must be pretty good). I dropped the air pressure to 28 psi at all corners (at 3500 miles) and tonight the centers on the back are still about 1/64 thinner than the shoulders---indicating that 28 should be about right. The fronts are close to even all the way across---which means they've worn a little faster in the middle than on the shoulders the last 5000 miles. I raised their pressure to 30 psi. The actual tread depth is at 8/32 on the fronts and on the shoulders of the rears. The rear centers are at between 7/32 and 8/32. The original depth should have been 10/32 (I didn't measure them new), so I will need new tires at 30,000 to 35,000 miles if the wear rate continues the same way it has been going.
By the way, I drove home in pouring rain, the other night, with standing puddles in places, and the tires didn't show any aquaplanning tendencies at all. I'm still not sure what to do for winter tires. I think I'm just going to wait and see how it goes the first time it snows. Four hundred pounds of water softener salt in the trunk and all-speed traction control may be enough!!
The radio/disk player is better than previous factory sound systems, I've had, and there's very little wind or road noise.
There's a nice exhaust sound on start-up, and under full throttle, but none at cruise---just the way I prefer for my commute. Down-shifting happens easier and quicker, than on other automatics I've had, but isn't hard and abrupt when just "tooling" around. The torque converter also seems a little "looser" than other automatics I've driven. Again, just about right for what I'm using it to do.
Which does bring me back to something I said when I posted after the first 3000 miles (or something close). This car isn't a king-of-the-road muscle car like the 60's muscle cars----cars that took another muscle car (or maybe a Vette) to beat. There are lot's of cars that can beat an MM in a stoplight contest today. What this car really is, is a really great "grand-touring" car for less than $30,000. My 2 cents, anyway.
Also, I've had no reason to take it back to a dealer for warranty work.
So, if you're sitting on the fence, trying to figure out whether or not to take advantage of the left-over pricing, this is really a great car to take on a quick drive (long or short) with plenty of space for 4 (and their luggage)!! :up: :up: