2009 Lincoln MKS

STORY TOOLS
Print this	Save this	Digg this
Email this	Most popular	del.icio.us

What is it?
2009 Lincoln MKS

What's special about it?
Did you notice the front grille on the new 2009 Lincoln MKS that was unveiled at the Los Angeles auto show?

Lincoln certainly hopes so. The MKS wears the company's new corporate face, and the engineering and design staffs at Ford Motor Company worked overtime to graft it onto this new flagship of the Lincoln line, which will go on sale next summer.

Peter Horbury swooped in to take over Ford design and he subsequently pointed the way forward for Lincoln using some basic design cues from past Lincoln models. The MKS was already almost finished, so there was time only to apply the "double-wing" or "bow-wave" front grille. There was no time to incorporate any of the other iconic Lincoln brand cues that Horbury has prescribed for the brand's future.

The production MKS is identical to the MKS concept shown at the Detroit auto show a couple of years ago. But in a pleasant break with convention, the production car has a less mundane, any-car face than the concept. And this car, which will be priced at just under $38,000, has the squashed rear end of a Maserati Quattroporte instead of the horizontal-bar taillamps that Horbury imagines in the future. Maybe not a bad thing, though.

The car as a whole is more convincing as a luxury-brand ride than the Mazda6/Ford Fusion-based MKZ that preceded it. Like the smaller MKZ, the MKS is derived from proletarian hardware. In the case of the MKS, it's the Taurus that donates its innards. This so-called D-platform makes the MKS one of the few front-drivers in its class. We're not entirely sure what the MKS's class is anyway, although Horbury says that the car is designed to compete with the Cadillac CTS and not the European and Japanese. But like the Acura RL and Lexus ES 350, the MKS offers neither a V8 nor rear-wheel drive.

The MKS's V6 is derived from the now-ubiquitous 3.5-liter V6. For duty in the Lincoln, the engine is bored out to 3.7 liters to deliver 270 horsepower and 265 pound-feet of torque. That's a 7 hp improvement and a 16 lb-ft increase in torque compared to the 3.5. The only available transmission is the six-speed automatic that has been jointly developed by Ford and General Motors. According to MKS chief engineer Mike Celentino, the six-speed has a modified torque converter to improve throttle response — this being Lincoln's version of a driver's car.

Soon the MKS will be available with a turbocharged V6, as previewed in the MKR concept at last year's Detroit auto show. No V8 option is planned for the MKS. An all-wheel-drive system will be offered and it will be the hydraulic-clutch Haldex system used by Volvo and the Ford Five Hundred (before it became the Taurus).

The strut front and multilink independent rear suspensions are conventional — there are no adjustable shocks or other electro-trickery. In fact, the front suspension differs from the Taurus only in tuning and through the use of more expensive shocks and bushings. The rear suspension has been modified to increase wheel travel. This has been done as much to allow the use of (optional) 20-inch wheels as for ride comfort. It is also the configuration that will be used on the upcoming Ford Flex wagon/minivan/box thing.

Thanks to its front-drive platform and full-size girth, the MKS is roomy. The interior is more conservative than recent Lincoln efforts, which always seemed to be shot with satin-metal spray paint. The retro-rific, dual-hump dash of the Navigator and MKX is replaced by a more sober-looking piece of gear. It's handsome, particularly in the trendy high-contrast black-and-white treatment. The interior is made of as few pieces as possible to give the impression of quality, which is sensible. And cut lines are hidden where possible. According to Horbury, this is an example of designing around a potential failure.

To help justify its luxury-brand price, Lincoln will pack the MKS with all manner of electronic doodads, niceties and assorted accoutrements. They include: Ford's capless fuel-filler nozzle; standard heated rear seats; dual-panel moonroof; adaptive cruise control; push-button start; rearview camera; adaptive headlights; the Sync voice-activated communication and entertainment system; and a navigation system with Sirius real-time traffic updates.

What's Edmunds' take?
We're cautiously optimistic about this handsome-enough sedan. The Taurus-based underpinnings don't fill us with anticipation, though. — Daniel Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit