Road Tests: Long-Term Test

A year and a transmission have passed since we began our adventures in a Lincoln LS — and in spite of its apparent status as a child who can't quite measure up in the eyes of its demanding parents, it is as sought-after as our 328i when editors are clamoring for keys at the end of the day.

Energized by the crisp Santa Ana winds, the LS graciously invited our photography editor, Scott Jacobs, for a stay that lasted several weeks. The remaining week was enjoyed by associate editor Erin Mahoney. The Lincoln had the monumental task of impressing its guests, who are both import disciples. And certainly, there was fondness at the end of the month, but it was fondness mitigated by some displeasure — once again, disappointment that the LS isn't quite a BMW equivalent.

Each editor had much to say about the sport sedan identity the LS strives to purport. Jacobs prefaced his remarks by setting up the historical context:

"I normally hate most American products. Well, 'hate' is a little strong, so 'very skeptical' of them. I grew up with them, breaking down, costing us a lot of cash to fix, stranding us in the middle of nowhere or [forcing us to drive] in Death Valley with intermittent A/C. I've got a checkered history with the hometown product. But this baby has really started to change my mind about the American car. The Lincoln is something different, that's for sure.

"Its looks, though nice, are oddly familiar. It looks like a straight-edged 5 Series, or even a Mitsubishi Diamante. Both of them are striving to grab a hold of the same kind of market. I really like the looks of this car. It's vaguely European, with some American flair. This particular style is one of the best [aspects] of the LS. It doesn't have all of the gaudy chrome crap all over it. Its clean, refined looks smack of sophistication."

Mahoney, too, took note of the Lincoln's seemingly European aspirations but wouldn't ever regard it as a peer of the German offerings. "I like the Lincoln, but there's no way on earth I would ever consider this a '3 Series fighter.' It is nowhere near as fun to drive. Sure, the ride is smooth and comfortable, but road feel through the steering wheel is unimpressive and tossing the car into curves doesn't net much enjoyment."

Both drivers reveled in the gratifying surge of V8 power but found the throttle somewhat disagreeable.

"The V8 is fast — very fast," Mahoney agreed. "Power delivery is swift and copious. However, the gas pedal is difficult to modulate effectively. You step too lightly, nothing happens. Put a little more pressure on it and — VROOM! It's difficult to perfect smooth takeoffs in this vehicle."

"... The drive of the Lincoln was just right for me," Jacobs wrote. "Its big engine was a tasty treat to use. I loved the amount of power this seemingly slow beast had to offer. Don't let the size of this thing fool you. It's like a linebacker. Yeah it may be big, but man this thing can move. The passing power on the freeway was superb. Off the line it was a little hesitant, but it got moving quick."

Our research editor, Erin Riches, spent a pair of evenings in the LS and offered similar sentiments. "I hadn't driven the long-term LS for months, but after picking up a similarly equipped LS from the distributor and savoring the (almost) effortless acceleration, the vigor of the V8 and the serene cabin environment, I was looking forward to an evening or two in the long-term Lincoln again. I had some pleasant evenings and mornings with this car. Even though the transmission still isn't completely 'right' (the main symptom I noted was that sometimes when I applied the gas to accelerate from a stop, the transmission would lurch into gear so that takeoff was not smooth — I especially noticed this when I was in stop-and-go traffic), acceleration in this car still affords one authority, and even, chemical release.... I felt immensely capable of making maneuvers on the freeway, because power was always immediately available. Entering the freeway was delightfully uneventful. And the engine is quiet at cruising speeds — such that the cabin remains quiet as well."

She continued, "Of course, the suspension and the steering also make the LS desirable. Both are (extremely) communicative. The suspension, in particular, seems very tight — it never grew unsettled or loosened up on rough patches. Each bit of road information was delivered cautiously in an effort to appease the driver, but at the same time not shake up the passenger.... I do think that the suspension seems ostensibly more ride-tuned than the long-term 328i, but then, I think that's the idea. The steering makes the shorter (than a Town Car), but still wide, Lincoln manageable, and indeed, rather invigorating to drive."

Like associate editor Ed Hellwig (see our October, 2000 update), Jacobs finds the Lincoln's new transmission wanting. "A long time ago, when we first got the Lincoln, the transmission was a little wonky. Well, it's still a little wonky to me. When you start the car, it revs so high. It takes some time before it switches gears, especially when going into reverse. It just seems to hang, rev real high in neutral, then, 'clunk', it goes into gear. It just seemed a little suspect to me. This thing was fixed, right?"

Mahoney and Riches wrote separately that braking performance was troublesome for an entry-level luxury vehicle. "...The brake pedal is imprecise," Mahoney observed. "It feels as if there are a few inches of pedal travel before the calipers even take hold. To be fair, once they do, braking action is acceptably progressive. Still, when I'm driving a vehicle that can get up to speed so rapidly and with so little effort, I want brakes that begin to perform as soon as my foot starts to depress that pedal."

Once she negotiated the dead travel, Riches was still occasionally unable to brake the LS smoothly: "... It seemed that the pedal needed firm pressure, and when I supplied this pressure, I sometimes felt that it yielded more actual braking than I wanted."

Everyone spoke favorably about the seating accommodations. "Every time I sat in the LS, I was able to really relax and enjoy this cruising vessel," Jacobs wrote, "I actually looked forward to my time in this car, which is really a first for me and American cars in a long time. The Lincoln is large enough to carry five adults very comfortably. It also has the cargo capacity to carry all of their junk too. That trunk is massive!"

"Backseat riders gushed about the amount of leg and headroom," Mahoney said, "The front seats are also incredibly comfortable, due to myriad power adjustments, including lumbar support. The LS certainly makes a wonderful conveyance for long-distance drives."

Besides the flexibility of the power adjustments, Riches appreciated the telescoping steering wheel and the seats' predisposition toward "Euro firmness rather than American gush."

Drivers were again inconvenienced by the dearth of storage areas in the cabin. "The phone in the center console is an inefficient use of space," Mahoney wrote, "and then you've got the CD changer taking up the glove box. All that's left are the side door bins and the too-shallow cupholders. That got to be pretty infuriating.

"A strange thing happened when I was driving the LS one night," she continued. "Somehow, my boyfriend managed to turn on the speaker phone. We couldn't get the radio to turn on and all we could hear was an open phone line. We turned it off by opening the center console cubby and turning the phone off on the handset itself, but we still have no idea how it got turned on in the first place."

At best, the Lincoln's interior aesthetics afford occupants a quasi-luxury environment, according to Jacobs. "Its interior is basically a watered down version of the S-Type. Yes, it does have that nice flowing look to it, but its true American blocky style interior shows through. Especially around the stereo. Those blocky buttons give it away every time."

Though Riches also noted such compromises in the center stack design, she observed that the arrangement of climate controls (proudly) alluded to the ergonomic chaos in many European vehicles.

"The center stack is definitely from the Ford parts bin, which means that the stereo controls are user-friendly, if not distinguished. However, because the LS offers dual automatic climate control, it of course doesn't employ the easy-to-use dials that you might find in a Focus or a Taurus. Instead, you are treated to a large spread of buttons, which is consistent with Lincoln's desire to take on BMW. At least, the LS has an 'off' button for the climate controls so that you don't have to tap, tap, tap to turn off the fan (as you do in BMWs). I did notice that the temperature control buttons toggle in increments of one degree, as in BMWs. I find that such small increments are a hassle for complex systems like this, in which you already have to take your eyes off the traffic in front of you in order to adjust them. I prefer, for instance, the setups in Saabs — the buttons are larger and you can only adjust the temperature in increments of two degrees, which I find easier to handle."

The arrival of November rains somewhat dampened Jacobs' visit with the LS. "The windshield wipers swing up to the left, not to the right like some other cars. This left a trailing line from the far right wiper that consistently blocked my line of vision while driving. It came to be quite distracting. I'm not sure if this is due to design, or perhaps that the wiper needs to be replaced. In my experiences in previous cars, the left wiper would clear an entire side clean each time, and the line that occurs from the other wiper would be on the left side of the window, thus, out of my view."

Riches observed that rear visibility was slightly compromised by the ovular shape of the rearview mirror, which "cuts the corners" off of the rear glass. Real LS owners probably would adjust to the "misshapen" view, though. Finally, she would rather designers had included grab handles on the interior door panels. The front doors open to a width of nearly 90 degrees, and it seems that Riches "found it difficult to rein in the door a couple of times."

As the month ends, we suppose that this Lincoln LS still doesn't fulfill all of the expectations the Edmunds.com editors have thrust upon it, yet a V8-equipped, rear-wheel-drive sport sedan isn't such an undesirable entity to have in one's charge.

Current Odometer: 18,268
Best Fuel Economy: 19.4 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 11.9 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 16.7 mpg
Body Repair Costs: None
Maintenance Costs: None
Problems: Transmission still doesn't engage immediately when shifting between "reverse" and "drive."