2009 Lincoln MKS

The 2009 Lincoln MKS base is priced at $38,465, but when equipped with AWD and some of the more popular options, will cost $45-46,000. There's a reasonable value premise here, especially if you place priority upon technology and infotainment features above a max-performance driving experience. Lincoln's challenge will be to get Lexus / Acura / Volvo / Cadillac buyers to consider it. But if they can draw folks in to give it a look -- "put bums in seats" as Jaguar North America's Mike Dale used to say -- then a certain number of them will find the 2009 Lincoln MKS's value and technology messages compelling. Not a world beater, the MKS is none-the-less fully class competitive. And it demonstrates that Ford no longer intends to let Lincoln simply twist in the wind with tepid, badge-engineered products.

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 2009 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 Lincoln 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.

Lincoln's new MKS not only replaces the long-running Town Car, it turns its flagship formula back to front. For the first time in its 90-year history, Lincoln's top-step sedan is based on front-drive architecture-borrowed from the Volvo S80.

Visually, the 2009 Lincoln MKS is an equally dramatic, thoroughly modern departure from the Town Car. Too bad the same cannot be said about the interior. Some testers have been impressed by the Microsoft SYNC system, throne-like rear seats, and extensive use of leather, chrome, and real-wood trim. Others find it dated, with little innovation or useable storage space.

So, with the MKS, Lincoln is thumbing its nose at the luxury-car tide that has moved inexorably toward rear-wheel drive. Determined to make the most of the family-sedan platform they were given, Lincoln engineers fashioned an entirely new, control-arm rear suspension, partly to accommodate optional twenty-inch wheels. They also attached both front and rear suspensions to fully isolated subframes. And, of course, they specified an optional all-wheel-drive system, a feature that no midprice luxury sedan can do without these days.

The 2009 Lincoln MKS is good, but hardly groundbreaking, to drive. On a ribbon of blacktop that undulated through Virginia horse country, the Lincoln MKS exhibited decent body control and bump suppression, precise if not overly communicative steering, and smooth shifting from the six-speed automatic, which can be operated manually via the gearshift lever. The brakes work fine, but the pedal goes soft when you really stomp on it during hard driving. The 2009 MKS cabin is whisper-quiet, and our test vehicle with twenty-inch wheels rode well, although it became slightly unsettled over freeway expansion joints. Eighteen and nineteen-inch footwear also is available.

The standard engine is a 3.7-liter derivation of the 3.5-liter V-6 that is widely used across the Ford and Lincoln lineups. For now, at least, the 3.7-liter is exclusive to the Lincoln MKS, where it makes 273 horsepower and 265 lb-ft of torque on regular fuel. If you run on premium fuel, you can eke out a couple more horsepower and a bit more torque, but it hardly seems worth it. Those thirsty for V-8-style power will have to wait until next spring, when the MKS will be the first recipient of Ford's new, twin-turbo, direct-injection, 3.5-liter V-6 engine, which Lincoln promises will deliver the "performance of a V-8 with the fuel efficiency of a V-6." With 340 hp and 340 lb-ft of torque but an estimated 23 mpg on the freeway, it will be the first offering under Ford's new "EcoBoost" powertrain program. Adaptive cruise control is optional.

The 2009 Lincoln MKS sedan joins the Lincoln lineup this summer. The MKS shares many under-the-skin parts with the Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable, but the Lincoln gets its own unique exterior and interior design. The MKS was previewed at the 2006 Detroit auto show by a concept car of the same name, and the production model is essentially the same, except that its front grille is divided into two parts, a styling feature that Ford designer Peter Horbury relates back to the 1941 Lincoln Continental. Unlike that long-ago Lincoln, the 2009 Lincoln MKS rolls on standard 18-inch wheels, with 19s and 20s also available.

The first thing I noticed when I sat in the 2009 Lincoln MKS is the brilliant satellite navigation system interface. The screen is clear, the system reacts quickly to your inputs, and the Sirius Travel Link feature is quite clever. It was nice to check the weather radar on my way to work this morning, and the fuel price listing is kind of cool. I also like how the radio portion of the system displays album art and that the Lincoln MKS has a better form of SYNC compared with Ford's early systems.

The rest of the 2009 MKS is less impressive. The steering offers little feel, and the engine doesn't sound very impressive. Additionally, the interior doesn't feel that well screwed together. There were multiple rattles in our low-mileage test vehicle, and the center console and shifter both feel pretty low rent. It is interesting that Lincoln set up their manual shifting control in what I feel is the correct way - pull back for upshifts and push forward for downshifts - but it's too bad the rest of the vehicle doesn't live up to that sporty setup.