We're whipping along the two-lane Empire Grade that slithers down slopes of California's Coastal Range to reach Santa Cruz on the Pacific Ocean.

Through gaps in towering stands of redwoods that line this route we might spot a vivid blue sea in the distance below, but who can look at scenery when a driver's eyes must fixate on the next in a never-ending series of bends and swoops and serpentine kinks of this tricky road?

Of course, we're pushing our test car -- a new sedan for Mercury named Montego -- to the limit of all laws of physics in order to sample its promised agile handling traits and the taut platform of a European touring car.

And, quite frankly, we're ripping it on this course.

Yet our tester Montego, in top-notch Premier trim and equipped with an optional all-wheel-drive (AWD) traction system, seems to ask for more: More throttle, tighter turns, longer straights, and steeper grades. By the time we wind down the mountains to the coast at Santa Cruz, one driver is out of breath, out of gas and out of twisty roads to run.

However, what's gained from our Montego workout is respect for an impressive new product from Mercury that's intended as the replacement for the line's aged mid-size Sable series.

Consider Montego as a premium mid-size sedan that has the body of a mid-size model but the cabin of a big car with seats for five plus luxury gear and an enormous trunk with a capacity greater than most large sedans.

Montego shares DNA with Ford's Five Hundred sedan, as the architecture for both vehicles comes from Volvo, Sweden's automaker now under the corporate umbrella of Ford, with the variable-size P2 platform that underpins mid-size Volvos like the S80 and S60 sedans plus V70 and XC70 wagons or the XC90 SUV.

Ford has adapted the P2 platform (while changing the name for the evolved structure to D3) for use in a number of upcoming vehicles for Ford, Mercury and Lincoln. For Montego, the D3 architecture forges a stiff foundation for constructing a sedan with nimble and easy-to-handle driving characteristics.

Montego has an impressively long wheelbase of 112.9 inches.
The package stretches for 200.4 inches when measured from tip to tail, and it's 74.5 inches wide with a bowed roof rising to 61.5 inches tall.

The stylish package presents a bold face and high arching silhouette with a tall beltline and taut character lines honed from a blunted prow to the stubby tail.

Up front, the face features vertical grille bars in satin chrome tucked between huge corner headlights containing high intensity discharge (HID) lamps.

On the tail, there are equally large red light-emitting diode (LED) lamps streaked by metal crossbars.

The stance of Montego is high for a sedan and on flanks the doors run deep to make entry and exit easy for riders.

Also, seats in the cabin are elevated so passengers sit about four inches higher than in other sedans of comparable size. The concept is labeled as 'Command Seating' and compares in the upright seat position to that of a high-hiked crossover SUV.

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