2009 Lincoln MKS AWD Quick Test
Fans of Traditional, Smooth-Riding American Luxury, Your Ship Has (Finally) Come In
What: Lincoln's all-new, all-wheel-drive flagship sedan.
What's new:Essentially a reskinned, rebadged Volvo S80 with new rear suspension and a larger V-6 powertrain from the Ford Taurus.
What's hot:Stylish sheetmetal, fully independent rear suspension, SelectShift automatic transmission, and SYNC system.
What's not:Distant, disconnected handling, pretty but functionally inept and cheap-feeling interior, ridiculously high price.
Base price:$40,355. As tested: $46,070. Both include $800 destination and delivery.
As flagships go, the new 2009 Lincoln MKS has taken a long time to find its way into port. The MKS not only replaces the long-running Town Car, it changes the formula along the way. For the first time in its 90-year history, Lincoln's top-step sedan is based on a front-drive architecture.
Derived from the front-drive Volvo S80 platform, the MKS uses a V-6 engine initially developed for the Ford Taurus nee Five Hundred and Mercury Sable, but bumped up to 3.7L. The all-wheel-drive system and six-speed automatic transmission are essentially carryover from the Taurus as well, with one significant difference: Lincoln product planners allow drivers to manually select gears via SelectShift. Slide the gear selector to the right from the Drive setting, and you can select gears as God and BMW and Mazda intended -- forward for downshifts, back for upshifts.
Ford's executive design director for the Americas, Peter Horbury, is ultimately responsible for the styling of the MKS. For inspiration, his crew mined Lincoln's rich history, pulling out several signature cues and applying them to varying degrees across the Lincoln line.
To be sure, the MKS is a dramatic, thoroughly modern departure from the old Town Car. On the outside, Lincoln's striking flagship now looks as though it was designed this century and can easily go toe-to-toe with competition from Asian and European brands. Too bad the same cannot be said about the interior. For all the nice leather surfaces (from the same company that supplied the Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship) and real wood and aluminum trim, the Lincoln's cabin fails to impress. These fancy coverings can't hide the cheap and ill-conceived features, like the split armrest. For this upmarket segment, there is little innovation to be found -- no neat cubbies or storage areas; in fact, there is little space for any of the modern devices we all seem to carry. The wasted space ahead of the shifter is particularly egregious; where one would expect at least a cubby for an iPod or BlackBerry, you get a black plastic panel emblazoned with a chrome LINCOLN reminder. Confusing when you examine the rich technology package Lincoln touts in the MKS, including Microsoft's SYNC system, a next-gen navigation system with satellite radio traffic updates, and a THX II 5.1 surround sound audio system.
On the road, the Lincoln performs a lot like the current Ford Taurus. The seating position is high and upright, some might say commandingly so. In a straight line, this Lincoln does as all have done since 1917, wafting along with stately grace, begrudging the cabin clatter from only the deepest of potholes and most obstreperous roadway imperfections. With a 7.0-sec flat 0-to-60-mph time and 15.2-sec quarter mile (at 91.8 mph), the MKS is surprisingly quick given the 4300-lb curb weight and sedate feel off the line.
This serenity is broken with a quick turn of the steering wheel, however. This softly sprung Lincoln clearly prefers steady-state boulevard cruising to any sorts of rapid direction changes. Though not as soft as Lincolns of the past, the MKS is plagued with numb steering and a chassis that likes to slouch as it turns. On the skidpad, the MKS manages to hold 0.81 g and cruise around our figure eight in 28.2 sec at an average of 0.59 g. The new independent rear suspension may improve handling numbers over the Taurus, but it hasn't done much for the feel. As speeds and corners increase, grace and any remnants of handling clarity go away completely. What's left is a benign murkiness as to where the wheels are in relation to the steering wheel and what exactly they're doing.
From 60 mph, the MKS stops in just under 129 ft, not awful considering its rather hefty curb weight. This extra mass is actually helpful while matting the brake pedal; though the car noses forward dramatically, it tracks evenly with no side-to-side sensations.
With a competitive set that includes the Acura RL, Lexus GS 300 AWD, Saab 9-5x, Cadillac STS, and its own Ford stablemate -- the Volvo S80 -- it's clear Lincoln's flagship faces challengers from all sides and all around the world. For those interested in traditional smooth-riding American luxury, your ship has come in, and it's called the 2009 Lincoln MKS.
Like many of my coworkers, my love for cars was cemented at a young age, thanks in part to Hot Wheels, car magazines, and every car poster I could afford when the book fair set up shop in my elementary school library. While most kids went straight for Where’s Waldo? and Goosebumps, I was torn between the poster of the Lamborghini Countach and the ’32 Ford hot rod with airbrushed flames on the cowling. In high school, I worked at Bergstrom's Antique Autos, a historic garage in Port Townsend, Washington. Surrounded by nearly a century of automotive history, I immersed myself in cleaning, sorting, and selling car parts and memorabilia. I also spent countless hours flipping through vintage car magazines and can comfortably say that I've looked through every Motor Trend, Car & Driver, Hot Rod, and Sports Car Graphic up until the early 1980s. Around the same time, I picked up photography—naturally, with cars as my main subject. Despite my high school photography teacher's advice to branch out, I stuck to my passion and attended every car show I could find. This led me to the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, where I earned a bachelor’s degree with a focus on automotive photography. I began my career at Motor Trend as a photography intern. After freelancing for a few years, I joined the Motor Trend team full-time in late 2010. My passion for cars and photography continues to fuel my work, and I hope it shines through in every shot.
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