Accelerate Mpls

Hey, remember the Lincoln Mark LT? It was a really nice Ford F-150 with a Lincoln badge and different grille. It didn’t sell well. Seems as if people didn’t want a Lincoln pickup truck.

So, how do you sell a high-dollar pickup truck with all the luxury amenities you can stuff into it? Ditch the Lincoln badge and label it the Platinum F-150. So the question is, is the F-150 Platinum the platinum standard? Let’s find out. Read More…

Like so many people, I wonder what Lincoln is all about these days. Most models seem like gussied up Fords. It has gotten to the point where I wonder if Lincoln can really compete with the imports. Can it even compete with the domestics?

Read More…

I just realized that for some reason I was sitting on this video. Not sure why but here it is. A short video overview of the 2011 Lincoln MKT AWD Ecoboost.

If you asked me about Lincoln around five years ago, I would have said “Town Car what?”  Yes, the Navigator hit it big during the large SUV boom and the LS was an interesting car, but Lincoln has not revisited those old glory days in a while. And when I say a while, I am talking long before I was born.

Now,they are in the midst of what I would almost call a rebirth – or a reboot, if you will.  They are trying to build a brand identity and bring the team together.  So how does the MKT play a role in that?  Is this what Lincoln should be?  Lets find out.

Exterior

As I mentioned above, Lincoln is rebuilding brand identity.  There is no question the exterior of the MKT is polarizing.  Some will like it, some will not – few will be indifferent to it.  When the MKT first rolled up, I was on the fence but leaning towards liking it.  After spending a week with it, (are you sitting down for this?) in my opinion this is exactly how a Lincoln should look.  The front is bold, with a strong crease running up from the Lincoln emblem on the front clip into the hood.

The large (read huge) dual-winged grille sits on both sides of the Lincoln emblem, and two sculpted character lines run from the front fenders into the side of the MKT.  There is also slight sculpting down near the bottom of the doors to bring the sides in a bit.  I even like the window line dip on the side near the rear.  The rear features large light pipes that make up a big rear light.  It looks terrific and really unique at night.  For me the exterior is a huge win.

Interior

The interior in the MKT again makes a strong statement.  The perforated leather is thick and feels of good quality.  The seats are road trip comfy and are both heated and cooled (a great feature).  The touch screen navigation/climate control/infotainment/etc system worked quite well and never appeared washed out by sunlight.  Physical buttons get you around to the function screens you want quickly, and you then manage the details via the touch screen.  It was an easy system to learn and operate quickly, although it does lock you out of certain navigation functions while driving.

The THX sound system simply rocked! Everyone seems to agree this is one of the finer sound systems in the industry offered by an OEM.  With HD radio and Sirius satellite radio available, you have some great choices on board.  Lets also not forget about the Microsoft Sync system, which paired with my iPhone 3Gs seamlessly and operated easily.

The rear had the flowing center console option with a small fridge/freezer in between the rear buckets.  The third row was power-operated and folded flat when not in use.  The interior materials were first class all around.  Everything was soft touch with a nice finish, while all plasticsl felt of high quality.

Powertrain and Driving Impressions

This MKT was equipped with the (awesome) 3.5 liter EcoBoost engine, which pumps out 355 horsepower and 350 pound feet of torque to all four wheels.  The power goes through a one-choice six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters.  The bottom line?  This thing is a rocket ship for its size.  Seriously, it is just silly! The torque curve is flat from 800 rpm to 5250 rpm.  That is nearly the entire power band.  That is thanks to the twin-turbo direct-injection set up on the V-6.  Essentially the concept is V-6 fuel economy with V-8 power.  Bravo!  The transmission actually played nice and I had no gripes with the programming.

The MKT Ecoboost rode on 20″ wheels and it can actually handle better then you would expect a vehicle of its size to handle.  The steering is light but not overly so.  The adaptive cruise control worked terrific on the highway all the way up north and the active park assist worked as advertised (though a little creepy the first time you do use it, and the second).

The EcoBoost engine is completely worth the $3,005 price.  The MKT with all-wheel drive and EcoBoost is rated at 16/21.  During my week with MKT, I averaged 17.2 in a mix of city and suburb highway driving.  That was without really trying to achieve the best mileage possible.  On the open road loaded down with four adults and the rear packed with gear, I averaged 21.2 with the cruise control set at 77 mph.  Neither of those numbers are bad at all.  I would call those good considering the MKT has three rows and weighs quite a bit.

Gripes? Well, the A-pillars are quite large.  I am not sure what it is with this recent trend, but it is almost a safety hazard on some vehicles.  Also that touch screen system I mentioned earlier – it had a melt down.  I am talking a 13-year old girl tantrum melt down.

I started the MKT after leaving it in the sun for four hours.  It was approximately 92 degrees outside.  Upon entering the car, I went to input a destination into the navigation system.  The entire screen/system froze up.  After restarting the vehicle and realizing that was not going to fix it, I had no choice but to drive using my iPhone as my navigation.  I was going to be late for a meeting.  About five minutes into the drive the screen changed to a inform me a system fault has been detected and I would have limited functionality of the screen.  Terrific.

It also informed me I should head to my dealership.  Luckily for me, my appointment was at a client that happened to be an auto repair shop.  They pulled codes and found the yaw control sensor and something to do with the cruise control sensors had both faulted.  After resetting the sensors, we could not get the system to malfunction again.  I will note that Ford reached out immediately to try and resolve the problem, without me prompting them or making contact, Seeing as I only had the vehicle for a week and cannot fully determine what happened or how it was caused, I am saying it was a fluke. However, it did happen and I wanted to note that incident.

The MKT I was in was pretty much fully loaded.  The total sticker price rang in at $56,980,which included $7,780 in options.  The bottom line is this segment (like many of the luxury segments now) is packed with great options.  I would put the MKT right next to the Audi Q7 TDI (along with other competitors) and say drive both.

They are very different vehicles both in personality and execution.  The Lincoln MKT is most definitely a winner.  You would be missing out if you did not consider it when purchasing a vehicle in this segment.  I truly believe this is what a Lincoln should be.

Full Disclosure- The review vehicle was provided by Ford

Episode 31 starts with introducing this weeks guest Jeremy Sally from Cheers and Gears.  Moving into the garage we talk about the 2011 Lincoln MKT I was in for the 4th of July weekend, along with the 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport I was in the past week. We then move along to the major news of the week segment.  This week included-

• New 2011 Nissan Quest Minivan Images (Link)
• Wall Street Journal believes Kia isn’t long for the U.S. (Link)
• Mitsubishi plans on selling electric car for under $30,000 (Link)
• California ends HOV lane access for Prius and other hybrids
• 19 year old steals bus and crashes it (Link)

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The question many people ask me is if there is a replacement for displacement.  I have had this discussion at length multiple times recently. With all the new CAFE requirements and the public’s demand for better fuel economy, some people are worried about fun cars.

While it is true things need to change to achieve better gas mileage numbers, that does not mean the fun will end.  New technologies are making different things possible for this new age.  The use of direct injection and forced induction will likely play a large role in the future of the combustion engine  Many automakers are already downsizing their engines and starting to implement these technologies.

Ford is utilizing twin-turbo charging in combination with direct injection to create more power from smaller displacement engines.  They are calling this technology EcoBoost.  Using two turbos spooling up at different times, it reduces the old problem of turbo lag.  Achieving maximum torque under 2000 rpm’s is one benefit from using this set up.  Even better is that the torque curve is flat!  Ford is getting 365 horsepower and 355 pound feet of torque out of a EcoBoost V-6 displacing only 3.5 liters!  The engine could undoubtedly handle more boost and produce much higher numbers than that, but long term durability would be called into question at some point. Some theorize that the 3.5 liter EcoBoost could have an output of 450+ hp and 450+ ft-lb.

2010 Audi S4 Supercharged 3.0 liter V6

I mentioned earlier that many companies are downsizing the displacement of their engines.  Ford’s EcoBoost powerplant is just the beginning.  In the 2010 Audi S4, a supercharged V6 is used.  This replaces the 4.2 liter V8 found in the previous generation S4.  Many worried about the hp and torque ratings of the car when the smaller displacement engine was announced.  The fact is, the 2010 S4 with its supercharged V6 has more torque and only slightly less hp than the V-8.  The gas mileage has improved greatly and the driving dynamics are still intact.  The only real loss was the deep burble from the throaty V-8.  Problem was, that V-8 was thirsty.

Mercedes has also announced they will start downsizing their engines and will begin to offer more forced induction on future models.  Mercedes’ performance arm AMG will be following suit with downsizing and forced induction as well.  BMW has already started this with the latest M models, which utilize twin-turbo V8′s instead of naturally aspirated V10′s.

2009 Chevrolet Corvette LS3 6.2L V8

All this talk about forced induction is great.  Downsizing is definitely going to play a role in the future.  However, that is not to say you can’t get decent gas mileage out of a big, naturally-aspirated engine.  A base model Chevrolet Corvette is rated at 26 mpg on the highway.  That is 26 mpg from a 6.2 liter V-8, producing 430 hp!  That isn’t terrible – in fact that is down right great!  No direct injection, no turbos, no superchargers – just good old American muscle.  The 2010 Ford Mustang 5.0 V8 achieves 25 mpg on the highway.  Again, naturally aspirated, with no forced induction.

Back to the original question, is there a replacement for displacement?  It really can be answered either way.  Yes, you can get the power of a naturally aspirated V-10 out of a blown V-8, or V8 power from a technology-infused blown V-6.  And now, we are just starting to see V-6 power from inline 4′s with direction injection and turbos.  What you do lose when you try replacing displacement is the sound and feel of the engine.  A turbo V-6 just doesn’t have the same rumble when you start it up.  Everyone’s opinion will differ on this topic.  In the end, mine is that you can replace the power of a larger displacement motor and even get some better characteristics, but in the end you can not replace the feel and experience of a larger, naturally-aspirated engine.  It will always be different, but not necessarily worse.

Mark this down next to Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and the rest of the fallen brands (Oldsmobile and a long list we will not go over). Today Ford announced that Mercury is dead. They will wind down by the end of the fourth quarter this year. Remember how Mercury was going to bring back the Tracer based off the new 2012 Ford Focus? Yea that is not going to happen. More attention will be focused on Lincoln and that division will get seven all new or severely refreshed cars. Ecoboost will spread throughout the Lincoln lineup including the next generation Navigator. That essentially just confirmed there will be a next generation Navigator. Ford went on to say that Lincoln will become a technology powerhouse, with more features and better fuel economy than the competition. It also confirmed that a C segment car based off the 2012 Focus will come to Lincoln now. I actually believe that something can be made of Lincoln is Ford really works at it. Ford will have to either really do something and put its weight behind Lincoln like they say, or else it too will probably have to be on the chopping block at some point. Time will tell.

2012 Ford Focus Sedan

The Focus has been a staple in the Ford line up since 1998. Originally available as both a sedan and a hatch, the car was versatile and overall a great value. Things have changed in recent years and the Focus is currently only available in sedan form. Further along those lines of change, the car is no longer the game changer it once was. Ford is looking to change all that with this next generation Focus.

2012 Ford Focus Sedan

The new Focus will be the car that truly launches and embodies the “ONE Ford” strategy. That is one car sold globally. Focus will share over 80% of its parts with the European version. Even further, the European model and U.S. model will launch at the same time. Production will start simultaneously in Europe and North America in late 2010 with sales beginning in early 2011. The platform will be used for 10 global C-class cars. This will amount to almost two million units in annual production by 2012.

2012 Focus 5 Door Hatchback

Arriving both in sedan and hatchback form the Focus will target exceptional fuel economy while advancing the level of technology and quality in a C-segment vehicle. The Focus will feature kinetic design language recently seen on the new Fiesta. “The all-new Focus is at the center of convergence for automotive trends,” said J Mays, Ford group vice president of Design and chief creative officer. “We’ve designed it with an acute understanding of global customers, yet it’s tailored for each individual region. Focus combines the best from Europe, North America and Asia to deliver a level of emotional driving enjoyment never before experienced in a car this size.”

2012 Ford Focus 5 Door Hatchback

Ford is promising new levels of agility and responsiveness being brought to the C-segment with the new Focus. Utilizing multilink rear suspension and semi-isolated front and rear subframes, Ford is saying this will help achieve the desired driving characteristics. Complimenting all this is a all new electric power steering system. This system has been tuned for responsiveness at highway speeds while still remaining light for parking lot speeds.

2012 Ford Focus Sedan

The global powertrain line up in the new Focus will have everything from an EcoBoost four cylinder to a Duratorq TDCi common rail diesel. The North American Focus will launch with a all new DOHC 2.0 liter gasoline engine featuring both DI (Direct Injection) and Ti-VCT (Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing). This 2.0 liter is estimated to put out 155 hp and 145 ft-lb through a six speed PowerShift transmission. PowerShift is Ford’s new dual clutch transmission that is also being used in the new 2011 Fiesta. The new 2.0 liter will be E85 capable unlike most engines with DI.

PowerShift 6 speed transmission

2012 Focus Interior

The PowerShift dual dry clutch transmission is sealed. The transmission is said to be maintenance free. The removal of pumps and hoses not only saves weight but helps achieve better fuel economy. Additionally, the new Focus will feature a Hill Start Assist function. This system is sensor based and will activate when an incline is greater then 3 percent. The system will “hold” the brakes for an “instant” (2.5 seconds) which will prevent rollback when stopping or starting on an incline.

The innovative MyFord system announced last week at CES will be available on the new Focus. This will compliment the latest generation Microsoft SYNC system which includes a sophisticated voice control system, bluetooth, and satellite navigation.

2012 Focus Interior

“When the new Focus launches in late 2010, it will be among the global leaders in fuel economy and CO₂ emissions,” said Kuzak. “We will continue to pioneer new technologies beyond launch, including a true zero-emission model launching in North America in 2011. Throughout its life cycle, Focus in all forms, in all regions, will demonstrate the Ford commitment to deliver unsurpassed fuel economy on a truly global scale.”

High strength steel is used heavily in the next generation Focus especially in the body shell. The high strength steel comprises 55 percent of the body shell. More then 26 percent of the vehicles overall structure is ultra high strength steel and Boron Steel. This is more then any other Ford product to date. This helps with safety and weight. Due to the extensive use of these materials, the next generation Focus has 25 percent greater torsion rigidity.

“We believe the new Ford Focus will provide consumers with an unmatched driving experience, together with an unrivaled ownership experience,” said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president, Global Marketing. “The Focus brand always has been very special to Ford, and this new global model shows our commitment to developing another generation of exciting and appealing cars.”

The Focus promising to be a lot of things. On paper it sounds great. It even has room for growth with future engines like a sport EcoBoost model in North America perhaps, or possibly a SVT version. The fact remains, we as Americans have been asking for the Focus that Europe has had for years. It seems we will be receiving a car that is in large part just that.  The new Focus should have Honda and Toyota up at night.