Are you faster than a Hellcat?

[Marauderjack]

Two words......TRIPLE THREAT!!

[hotford]

I hold my own on the street against them...most of the dodge guys around here when taking the kitty challengers or chargers gut the interior out of them, race tune and fuel.....so to me they are just lying to themselves.....they pull up to my merc and take one...they say I don't have my race set up in the car..... well stupid neither do I!!

[Bondfreak13]

I showed him all this. He seen the YouTube links. He said he now has a totally different outlook about marauders. Lol. He ask why so many sites Trash Talk the car and say its slow. I told him at the time the marauder came out. It was all about getting good fuel mileage and 300 horsepower was considered a lot for cars from the factory. but I told him there was plans for a supercharged version. unfortunately the marauder never received it.

A lot people Trash talk it because when it came out it could get edged out by a V6 Honda Accord, and Other V6 or even 4 Cylinder cars.

However, knowing the history of the car, (thanks to this site) we know it could have been so much more.
But lets talk shop, A V8 Luxury car with 300+hp was not an easy task back in the early 2000's. Lets take a look at some of the other V8 Luxury sedans on the market for 2003.

Lexus LS430
Starting MSRP- 55k (70k+ w/options)
4.3 DOHC VVT V8
290hp / 320 TQ
Curb Weight 3955
0-60 6.5 Seconds (5-speed Auto)
1/4 mile 14.6

2003 BMW 540i
Starting MSRP 55k
4.4 DOHC VVT V8
290hp / 325 TQ
Curb Weight 3800lbs
0-60 6.1 Seconds ( 5-Speed Auto)
1/4 mile 14.4 at 96.

2003 Mercedes Benz E500
Starting MSRP 55k (70k with options)
5.0 SOHC V8
302hp @ 5600 RPM / 339 TQ @ 2700 RPM
Curb Weight 3815lbs
0-60 5.8 Seconds (5-Speed Auto)
1/4 Mile 14.1 @ 100

2003 Cadillac DTS
Starting MSRP 47k (57k W/ Options)
4.6 DOHC V8
302 hp / 295 TQ
Curb Weight 4047lbs
0-60 7.3 Seconds (4 speed Auto)
1/4 Mile 15.8 @ 92

2003 Mercury Marauder
Starting MSRP 34k (35 w/Options)
4.6 DOHC V8
302hp / 310 TQ
Curb Weight 4195
0-60 7.5 Seconds (4-Speed Auto)
1/4 Mile 15.6 @ 93

So In the V8 Category The Marauder was knocking down the More expensive Cadillac, but not the Imported cars. However, I will note, as will others on this site, that with Gears and a Tune, the Marauder will match the more Expensive Imported Luxury cars. In this sense the Marauder wasn't a bad deal. But for the folks only chasing numbers, Cars like G35 sedan, V6 Accord Sedan, Acura TL Sedan, Matched if not out performed the Marauder, often for less money. But Reading about some of the push back the Marauder Got and the Fact that in the end it was nothing more than a Parts Bin Hot Rod, They did a dang good job.

I often use the Marauder as an example for how FoMoCo typically does things, It starts off as a great idea, but then gets regulated into a half-ass version of what it was meant to be.

P.S. I know there are people on this site that know far more about the development of this car than I. Please feel free to correct me or add to this. Thanks.

[Themarauderguy]

You make some good points. looking at some of the prices of the other models being $55,000 and The Marauder being $35,000. for about 8,000 more the trilogy kit and The Marauder would have blown them all away and still been cheaper! I honestly believe had the marauder came supercharged. with the Charger HEMI RT, srt and 300 with the Hemi. Coming out. I think The Marauder would have stayed in production. I can only imagine what the marauder Market would have been like then.

[stevengerard]

I honestly believe had the marauder came supercharged. with the Charger HEMI RT, srt and 300 with the Hemi. Coming out. I think The Marauder would have stayed in production. I can only imagine what the marauder Market would have been like then.

Sales numbers had little to nothing to do with the demise of the Marauder, in the end it was that they were moving away from performance cars and becoming the family orientated car division.

I agree that with a few changes the MM is a great big old cool American Muscle car but it does not take away the fact that it still ended up being a slw dog from the factory. One can say that about numerous cars then and today - "a tune and gears really wake it up"

I have no problem telling people the MM is a great car but I needed to do a lot to it to get it to perform like I wanted. I for one think its great you can go out and buy a new Chevy or a Mopar today that performs as well as it does. Nothing wrong with that.

If I had the money and space I'd have:
My Marauder
CTS-V wagon
Mustang GT350
Challenger Scat Pac wide body or Hellcat redeye wide body
Camaro SS 1LE

[offroadkarter]

Sales numbers had little to nothing to do with the demise of the Marauder, in the end it was that they were moving away from performance cars and becoming the family orientated car division.



I agree that with a few changes the MM is a great big old cool American Muscle car but it does not take away the fact that it still ended up being a slw dog from the factory. One can say that about numerous cars then and today - "a tune and gears really wake it up"



I have no problem telling people the MM is a great car but I needed to do a lot to it to get it to perform like I wanted. I for one think its great you can go out and buy a new Chevy or a Mopar today that performs as well as it does. Nothing wrong with that.



If I had the money and space I'd have:

My Marauder

CTS-V wagon

Mustang GT350

Challenger Scat Pac wide body or Hellcat redeye wide body

Camaro SS 1LE

Sales numbers had a lot to do with the demise of the car, and the poor sales were due to poor marketing, poor pricing and poor performance.

They expected to move 15,000 of these a year at 35 grand msrp, we all know how many actually sold in 03 and 04. The Marauder team already had a road map layed out on how to improve the car had it made it into 2005 (the steve babcock files are available on this forum)

Mercury Jill wasn't the sole reason the Marauder tanked, and Mercury in the 90s and 00s didn't have a performance car image to move away from in the first place. Elena Ford wanted to shift the image from retirees to corporate working class women and that completely backfired.

Cliffs: if the marauder was supercharged and had a SVT badge on the back, it wouldn't be worth more as a parts car than as a whole car like it is today.

Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk