Mileage Questions.....

[MonteCarlo31]

hello,

I just joined this board and have been looking into the marauder for a while but was waiting. I was wondering what you guys were getting mileage wise? I have the X plan pricing thing but I don't know if I can get it on this car but the allowances are awsome right now so I am looking pretty hard. Any input on owning them would be nice. I am moving from a 96 Monte Carlo so it will be a bit bigger and roomier (hate having a small back seat).


Thank you
Lenny

[Glenn]

I have had excellent gas mileage results with this car. I drive 100 miles a day to work on the interstate at 70-80 mph. I consistently get 20-22 mpg and I do not have a light foot. But, I do have some modest mods - see below. I have not had one warranty issue with this car. It has only been to the dealer for oil changes and mods installed. I am interested in my mpg after my dyno-tune on 11/15 at Team Ford. Suggestion - buy your MM from your area's Ford-Mercury Performance dealer NOT a normal dealer. You must have a Performance dealer near Tampa - look hard you will not regret it.

Glenn

[MonteCarlo31]

Glenn,
Will look around. With all the old people here in Tampa they have a lot of Marauders and NONE of them move. When I first looked they were willing to give me X plan + all the discounts and install the CD player for free if I would buy it then. They just sit on the lots here it horrable.
How do I find a performance dealer?

Lenny

[dok]

Recently drove from Charlotte to Tampa. Averaged 24 mph with interstate driving at around 75 mph.

[JGaignat]

I drive about 45 miles a day to and from work. Most of it is highway and I drive it like I rented it. I am pretty consistently getting 20+ mpg. I am usually at 80 mph on the highway. No mods. I burn 91 octane gas (the highest I can get here in Kansas). It runs like a ***** ape. I love it. Especially when I come up behind someone really fast and they move over because they think I'm a cop.

I'm too old to have this much fun with a car.

[Agent M79]

I have about a 50/50 mix of driving between 'freeway' and 'city' driving.

My vehicle lifetime mileage and my last-3-tank mileage are exactly the same right now at 17.7mpg. I am told that will get better as the engine breaks in.

Not sure what getting chipped is going to do with that tho.

[Glenn]

Lenny:

If you cannot find a real performance dealer in your area, then get the best deal you can from the old folks Mercury dealer and find yourself a Ford Performance dealer for service. That's basically what I did.

Glenn

[67435animal]

Originally posted by Glenn
Lenny:

If you cannot find a real performance dealer in your area, then get the best deal you can from the old folks Mercury dealer and find yourself a Ford Performance dealer for service. That's basically what I did.

Glenn

Glenn, I did exactly the same. I bought my car at Don Jackson in Union City and have it serviced by Team Ford in Marietta.

Mileage on my tankful yesterday was right at 20MPG and that is city/highway. I don't have a light foot all the time either (esp. when the wife is in the car).

Bob

[MonteCarlo31]

Thanks guys,

I can see the money pouring into this thing after I buy it. It's funny you mentioned too old, my girl friend thinks I am too young but I hate those small honda and all.

67435, is that your car? My friend has a original 68 (?) Vette with a 427 Alum head. It is nasty fast.

Lenny

[TripleTransAm]

Don't know how old you are but at 32 this car fits me like a glove... and I own 3 Trans Ams AND a '98 Honda Civic 4-door.

Anyone who buys this car for the mileage will be disappointed. Anyone who buys this car knowing it is a large heavy powerful (and sturdy/safe) automobile will be surprised at how good the mileage can be!

After my driver's side head was replaced, I thought my mileage dropped somewhat. Then I came to the realization that I was just having way too much fun with the car... going back to my conservative style seems to have reclaimed my previous good figures.

[MonteCarlo31]

Actually Mileage has never really been a huge question for me I just wondered how it did with the 32 V motor. We own a ML430 and GMC truck so well, we aren't sierra club members. I will be 23 in feb and after being rear ended by a firebird formula I will never buy a small car. By no means it a civic a bad car, just too small for my tasts and high speeds driven here in FL. I am hoping to pick one up back home in maryland over the winter and drive it down.

Lenny

[TripleTransAm]

Yep, 75 mph is all too easy to do on the I-4 between Lakeland and Tampa (I think I know that stretch better than my own hometown!) but too many left-lane squatters between Orlando and Lakeland for my tastes. ;)

How did your Monte Carlo do against the Formula?

[BillyGman]

Originally posted by MonteCarlo31
Thanks guys,

It's funny you mentioned too old, my girl friend thinks I am too young but I hate those small honda and all.
Lenny

Welcome to the board.......there are members here who own Marauders who range in age from teenagers, to guys who are in their mid 70's. So don't ever feel out of place about the thought of owning a Marauder at your age, because men of all ages Luv these cars, and so do many women as well. Where ever I go w/my Marauder, people of all ages stare, and ask me "Wow, what kind of car is that? That looks cool!".........and I understand your thoughts about rice burners. Don't get one of them......not only does the Marauder look better than most of them do, but since it has a V8 engine under the hood, it also sounds great when you wind it up, rather than sounding like a high performance weed wacker like the ricers' cars do.:rolleyes:

[MonteCarlo31]

TTA,
My car faired ok, it all started when the girls in front of me though it would be cool to just stop in the middle of the road for NO reason, no traffic or anything. So I stop (we were doing about 35 to 40). Not a problem because I buy good tires and upgraded brakes worth every penny. Well I stoped just short (about 3 feet) behind the focus. I thought, what about the car behind me, as I looked in my rear view wham, my head hit the seat hard. I couldn't believe how hard it was, the impact pushed me into the focus sending the focus flying down the road. I got out stunned after calling the police. The girls in the focus almost kept driving then backed up. I asked the girl (16 driving the formula) if she was ok and she said yeah. She tried to get out but the door wouldn't open. They towed her car and the focus and I drove away. Anyway, the car cost 7K to fix (bent rear frame rails and new hood bumper covers, foam between, new exhaust system, head lights and holders, frame time and other odds and ends). The formula was fixed I know that but i bet it was expensive. The focus we actually bent in the middle somehow and was totaled. The focus was a POS and the girl said that was the second time she got rearended in it. I think my car and the Trans Am faired about even. Both cars did what they were supposed to and protected the drivers. BTW the monte has a rating of good from the insurance institute for highway safety so does the formula I believe.

P.S. Yeah thats a fast part of the road. Running down to miami it seems I am always around 80 to 83 @2800 RPM. Did u live down here?

Lenny

[67435animal]

Originally posted by MonteCarlo31
67435, is that your car? My friend has a original 68 (?) Vette with a 427 Alum head. It is nasty fast.

Lenny

Lenny, yes, that is my car. The drive train is completely original with the L71, M21 and 4:11 posi rear. Its purpose in life, other than to look good, is to be nasty.

Bob

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by MonteCarlo31

P.S. Yeah thats a fast part of the road. Running down to miami it seems I am always around 80 to 83 @2800 RPM. Did u live down here?


No but I spent a LOT of time working in Polk City and Tampa, and was a regular at the Hampton Inn just off I-4 at Lakeland. Let's just say I consumed A LOT of calories on the strip of restaurants on exit 18 (I think, the Hampton was 19, I think).

One particular stint in that area, I had to work all night at the AT&T location in Polk until 6 am or so, drove all the way to Tampa airport at 85+ mph to catch a flight to Huntington WV, drove through beautiful mountain roads to work overnight in Allen Kentucky, then drove back to the airport and back to Tampa... ahh, memories of life on the road...

edit: kind of glad the Formula did okay... it's one of my reasons for owning these cars as a parent: good brakes, good handling, nice 'roll bar' around where my kid sits out back, plenty of structural metal around him...
(well, the '87 and '98 anyway, I won't ride with him in my '78, it IS a 25 year-old car).

[TAF]

Originally posted by TripleTransAm
ahh, memories of life on the road...

Sometime I HATE it...:puke:

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by TAF
Sometime I HATE it...:puke:

I can say that I "miss it" now that I'm not on the road all that often. No I don't miss the weeks away from home, but about 3 months ago I made a decision to change jobs after a year of trying something totally different from what I was used to working on for close to 10 years... with this change came the necessity for a quick succession of short trips, both to re-establish previous reputation and to please the new/old boss (long story) for giving me the chance to move.

What I realized was that I missed the comraderie that develops among the techies (both on my side and on the customer side). No way I'll get sucked into the lifestyle of being on the road, now that I'm a happily married man and even happier dad, but after a couple of short successful trips to Toronto, Quebec City, Pittsburgh (2x) in the last 2 months, I realized how much I enjoy meeting new folks. In the next 2 or 3 months, I should be hitting either the west coast or maybe Chattanooga, looking forward to these trips as long as I'm not away for more than 4-5 days.

But I know you are very often on the road, and I know it can get old, at that frequency.

[Murader03]

Originally posted by MonteCarlo31
Glenn,
How do I find a performance dealer?

Lenny

Lenny: You've got one of the best performance shops in Florida within about a 3 hour +/- drive to Orange Park. Kinda wish I lived that close, but then again, I'd be constantly broke. Get the best deal you can, take the car to Dennis and tell him what you want done. Check out the vendor section for Dennis Reinhart's shop and info. On a side note, you can also look for an SVT Dealer in your area. Some dealers are "NOT" mod friendly........