YEEE-HA! Kenny Brown's 450-horsepower Marauder S brings all the fun to the party.(News)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Byline: DUTCH MANDEL

All crossed up on the commute home in Kenny Brown's obscenely potent Mercury Marauder S, hunkered down in its black leather seats, grabbing hold of a big American steering wheel, spinning tires and grinning wildly, a thought comes from deep left center. That would-be Darwin Award finalist guy, the (unfortunately fictional) one who slapped a JATO rocket to the roof of his car, lit it off and blew himself to another state of being, should have just climbed into this Marauder for a similar-if less terminal-effect.

Man, this thing has the goods!

Indianapolis-based custom performance converter Brown is not new to the bolt-in power game. Though this is a brutal beast, there is surprising refinement to the Marauder S, a refinement lacking in other tuned rides. The details are subtle-if the word subtle can be used in the same sentence as Marauder S. The high-performance supercharger works like a dream and looks like a dream, too.

Yet a question we asked around these offices on more than one occasion was this: Who would pay $55,000 for a rompin', stompin' Mercury? Not many people jumped up with a suitable answer. It's all got to be about having something more than the next guy-and your own personal definition of ``more.'' Take a look at the other cars in this special section, and a Mercury for $55K is looking like something from the bargain bin.

At the heart of this Marauder is Ford's 4.6 four-valve V8 engine that Brown considers short on low-end torque. Okay, then, his solution is to bolt a custom Vortech centrifugal supercharger that is coupled to an air-to-water intercooler to heavy up the air. The effort delivers manifold results: It boosts power and, Brown says, it increases durability and dependability.

Rounding out the powerplant massage is an upgrade to the fuel pump and injectors, the addition of a K&N air filter for better breathing and the harmonic tuning of a turbo-style pop-off valve. Brown says the aural tuning of this device, which relieves built-up inlet pressure on deceleration, can be made to sound whisper quiet or give off ``a crowd-pleasing whoosh.''