The interior is roomy enough for a 6-foot, 4-inch passenger to sit behind a 6-foot, 4-inch driver, with real headroom. The rear door panels are scooped out for more elbow room. The rear armrest packs two cupholders, for a total of six.

Storage cubbyholes are all over the place, two in the console, one quite large one at the top center of the dash with a latching lid, two more in each front door pocket hollowed out to take a Big Gulp cup, and one in the bottom center of the dashboard, all of which add up to convenience and ease. The quality of design and materials for a car in this price class was generally quite high, satisfying to touch and look at.

The premium eight-speaker sound system played our favorite compilation CDs exactly as they sound at home on our high-end equipment, minus a bit of bass.

We thought there was too much glare off the main instrument cover, likewise with the radio face and the otherwise lovely analog clock.

Driving Impressions

The Mercury Milan Premier's 221-horsepower V6 engine and Japanese Aisin six-speed automatic transmission give the driver the kind of power we all like when it comes to getting across the intersection or getting out of a tight spot, but there's not a lot of reserve after that, and there's not a lot of satisfaction in driving it hard.

The engine feels a bit choked and a bit underpowered, and doesn't sound like a powerful engine when prodded. A full-throttle kickdown maneuver will also get the front end to pitch, too quickly and too high for our taste, leaving the front tires scrambling for traction and direction for an annoying split second.

We found the steering to have a fairly hefty feel and effort at the wheel, but it was a bit too disconnected from the road surface for our taste, a minimum-effort, minimum-feel tuning, but most people will probably not notice much difference either way. High-speed handling showed predictable, normal and usual levels of understeer.

The ride, over the universally awful streets of Detroit, was quite good, with lots of compliance to soak up bumps, not too much body roll, and quiet, smooth operation.

The brakes, on the other hand, were strong and direct, without a lot of wasted pedal travel before deceleration starts to happen, and low effort-to-stop ratio.

Summary

The Mercury Milan is a thoroughly nice family car given the confines of its very friendly price. From the waterfall grille up front to the brushed metallic trim all over the interior, this is a Ford platform upgraded to Mercury status, with more standard equipment and more soul than the Ford version. The Milan's main competitors are the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonata, Pontiac G6 and Chevrolet Malibu. Mercury is attacking with attractive pricing and an attractive leasing strategy to attract young and first-time Mercury buyers.

NewCarTestDrive.com correspondent Jim McCraw is based in Dearborn, Michigan.

Model Line Overview

Model lineup:Mercury Milan ($18,995), Milan Premier ($21,995)

Engines:160-hp 2.3-liter inline-4; 221-hp 3.0-liter V6

Transmissions:5-speed manual; 5-speed automatic; 6-speed automatic

Safety equipment (standard):frontal airbags

Safety equipment (optional):curtain airbags, side-impact airbags; ABS, EBD

Basic warranty:3 years/36,000 miles

Assembled in:Hermosillo, Mexico