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Posted: November 15, 2009
I am a true believer in not judging a book by its cover. But I have to be honest; the exterior styling on this Lincoln MKT is just not for me. But I have a feeling that there will be a lot of people out there who love it. Lincoln is a brand that is known for luxury and this will be a vehicle that will fill that niche especially if you are looking for a sexier vehicle than a station wagon or mini van to haul the kids around in.
Despite looking like an oversized station wagon, the MKT is being marketed as a luxury cross over vehicle. It is based on the same platform as the Ford Edge, another vehicle that I am not too keen on how it looks. You would never guess that these two vehicles are related, as they look and drive completely different.
The front grille on this MKT is enormous when compared to the rest of the vehicle. Looking at it from the front it is a bit overbearing, to say the least. Even the angled rear lift gate has a bit of an overbearing stance to it as well. But ladies, you don't have to worry; power assisted trunk closing comes as standard equipment, so you will have no problems getting the big trunk closed if your hands are full of groceries.
Despite my feelings about the exterior, the interior looks gorgeous. The dash is decked out with impressive titanium-like accents. When the instrument cluster behind the steering wheel lights up, it looks… so sparkly! I cannot think of another vehicle that I would describe quite the same way. The leather is soft to the touch and looks very luxurious. All of the controls are within easy reach and are fairly simple to use. Yes, there are a lot of buttons and the touch screen is a bit much at first, but within just a few days every operation was pretty much second nature.
The driver feels incredibly comfortable. The standard, leather bucket seats have support in all the right places. Standard heated or cooled seats make this an easy vehicle to drive all year round. It is effortless to find a great driving position with the tilt and telescopic steering and the adjustable peddles.
There are so many safety features in this Lincoln that it received the top safety pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway safety. You can get the optional blind spot sensor system that will alert the driver if you have a vehicle in your blind spot, distance pacing cruise control that detects the speed of the vehicle ahead of you when you are using the cruise control.
Throw in the collision warning system that flashes a warning on the windscreen and when you get too close to a vehicle in front of you and you will know you have all the technology you need to keep your family safe. Oh yeah, I should also mention that ABS, disc brakes, all the air bags you need, stability control and traction control are all included as standard safety features.
Once I got behind the wheel of this big wagon and drove it, I was in love. You can choose from two trim levels. Both of them are AWD but my test vehicle has Ecoboost and a 3.5L twin turboV6. It puts out an extremely smooth 355hp. It feels so relaxed just driving on the road but when you put your foot down, you can really feel the power behind this engine. Especially on the highway, this big vehicle passes others with ease and total sophistication.
The Ecoboost engine has been designed to provide the performance of a V8 but with the fuel economy of a V6. By combining turbocharging and direct injection, Ford has been able to get higher performance, better fuel economy and fewer emissions! The posted fuel rating for the 3.7L engine is 13L/ 100lm in the city and on my test vehicle it is 13.1 L/100km.
You can have this configured with a bench seat in the second row or two limousine-like bucket seats. Heated rear seats are standard, but the ventilated ones are an additional option. For ease of access to the third row seats, the second row tumbles forward at the touch of a button. Planning on taking long drives with the family? You can get the Elite package that adds navigation system, THX surround-sound system with 14 speakers, LCD monitor in both rows and a hard drive that saves 10gigs for road trip music. For extra long trips, you can also get the optional refrigerator box to keep your drinks cold!
If you want a more upscale vehicle to use as family vehicle, I think that this MKT will impress. Whether you love or hate the exterior styling, the comfort, drive and interior layout of this MKT will make most people forget all about what’s on the outside.
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