oldcajun

I picked up a new MKC yesterday afternoon as part of Lincoln's date night promotion. No sales pitch, just a review of how to operate the car. I got a $100 gift card to pay for dinner tonight. Lincoln even made the reservations.

I didn't have much time to drive the MKC yesterday thanks to a thunderstorm, but so far I'm impressed. It is red tintcoat with an off-white interior. Very nice leather seats and soft touch materials anywhere you might touch. Lots of room in the front seat, but the back is a bit cramped.

It has the 2.3 liter Ecoboost engine and AWD so it is very quick. More power and a lot more torque than my 2010 RX350 had and I believe it is a little lighter. It is very quiet inside except under heavy acceleration where you can clearly hear the engine.

The lower part of the center stack is angled back and up so that the controls are close to the driver and easily visible. They seem to have fixed "My Lincoln Touch" since I had no problems with it. The Navigation is touch screen and the graphics are very good. The push button transmission works fine as soon as I stopped reaching down for a shift lever.

I've got 2 more days to drive it before return on Monday morning so I'll add more impressions.
Steve

TripleL

Sounds like a nice program. Please continue to keep us posted.

mmarshall

Enjoy it. I recently reviewed one.........IMO, the best new Lincoln product in years. :thumb up:

You've already noticed its one Achilles heel, though. The lack of a V6, and the substitution of two different turbo-4s, means more engine noise than in your RX350. Lincoln, though it did many things right with the MKC, did screw up by not offering an optional V6.

doge

Not really.. It's not the simple. As you know the mkc is based of the escape. The escape is a global car that was designed to be a 4 cylinder only. They would really have to shoe horn one in there and that would have been a packaging nightmare.

mmarshall

Yes, I'm well-aware of the MKC's origins. And though the MKC is based off the Escape platform, its underhood dimensions are not necessary a carbon-copy. Slight changes to fender/grille height, for example, can significantly increase underhood space.

The real solution, IMO, is to do what Lexus and Infiniti do.........offer small 2.5L V6s that fit in compact-sized vehicles.

Toys4RJill

Even though they don't compete in the same segment, how does the interior compare to that of your RX350?

whoster

Lincoln is actually making this only accessible to future potential customers, depending on the "car you currently own", it may or may not approve you for this program.

So let's say for example I put down "Toyota Rav-4" in the cars I own, there will be an apologetic message, but if I change the car I currently drive to say, an RX350--it'll go through. They're really gunning for the luxury CUV market.

doge

Ford doesn't have a small displacement v6, as far as im aware the 3.5 is the smallest na offering. it doesnt make too much sense to develop a engine for one car.

oldcajun

Spent a good part of today driving the MKC and playing with all the toys this one has. The drive control lets you set ride/handling to one of 3 levels, comfort, normal, and sport. In comfort, it rides better than a RX and is a bit quieter. In sport it is comparable to the RX but still quieter. The front seats are "air conditioned" and worked quite well.

This is the first car I've driven that had factory remote start. All the others including Lexus used an aftermarket system that used special sequence of the keys on the standard key fob.

There is a trip computer on the main dash panel with more readouts than on the ES350. There is also a trip odometer that is controlled by buttons on the steering wheel.

I took it out to my favorite winding mountain road. With the suspension set to sport and the transmission selector in "S" it was actually fun to drive. The paddle shifters on the wheel work great and the transmission responds nicely. The 2.3 engine pulls really strong at all speeds. It does growl a bit, but it is not offensive. This is the smoothest 4 cyl. I have ever driven. They must have worked hard on the engine mounts.

The more I look at it the better it looks. Not radical like the NX but enough interesting lines to make it more attractive than the Q5 and a world better looking than the GLX.

I'm really looking forward to a chance to drive an NX to compare,

Arwcw

mmarshall

I agree, but that wasn't what I was referring to.....(for just one vehicle). There are a number of vehicles in the Ford line-up that could use a small V6.....of which the Escape and MKC are only a part of.

mmarshall

Agreed on the NX comparison. I'm planning a full-review on an NX when possible. But, just from what I've seen of it in pictures and the way it's styled, it's got its work cut out for it going up against the MKC. Lincoln, after several poor attempts in the last several years (and the dumping of a perennial favorite...the Town Car), seems to have finally gotten something right.....even without a V6.

Have you had a chance to see the MKC's Tahitian Pearl Color......a gorgeous purple? That color, fortunately, made it from the show-display model to general production.

Toys4RJill

I agree, there really is no point making a V6.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Congrats oldcajun! Awesome vehicle and I wish you many fun miles!

2015 F-150 has an optional 2.7L V6 EcoBoost

325hp and 375lbft

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

oldcajun - just wanted to say a BIG THANKS for sharing your experiences. it's very interesting, informative, and helpful.

glad you like the car, it's obviously a big play by lincoln to become relevant again.

one point - i'm not surprised you're finding it quieter than an rx350. having recently spent quite a bit of time in a friend's new '14 (including taking it for a drive myself), i was surprised how much road noise is transmitted into the cabin.

look forward to more posts and feedback you can share!

oldcajun

Last day playing with the MKC as it goes back to the dealer tomorrow morning. I took it out onto the Interstate to see how it would be for long road trips. I floored the accelerator on the on-ramp and before I got to time to merge it was at 85 mph and still accelerating well. Mid-range torque on this engine is great. It is quiet and smooth at 80 mph and not bothered by winds gusting to 20 mph. I could easily do a long trip in this car. It feels very solid with not squeaks or rattles and minimal wind noise.

I found the window sticker in the glove compartment. It has all the available options and lists for $49000. That sounds like a lot, but the toys added a lot to that price. I tried building competing cars to see if the price was in the ball park. I see the Q5 as its closest competitor but had difficulty building a comparable Q5. A loaded 4 cyl was $48k but a lot of the content on the MKC was not available on that model. It also was much less powerful as well. To get the same equipment on the Q5 required the V-6 model which was $58K, but likely much faster than the MKC. A GLX350 totals about $57K and it is still ugly. A loaded RX350 runs $52K but lacks much of the high tech goodies on the MKC. It is much roomier, but is slower, louder, rougher, and has inferior interior luxury.

It appears to me that the NX will be a close competitor, but if it is not quite a bit lighter, the 2.0t will be down on performance compared to the 2.3 in the MKC.

It is obvious that I really like the MKC. Unfortunately, it is just too small in the back seat. I need the front seat all the way back to be comfortable, and an adult male could not sit behind me. That makes it a deal breaker for me.

I understand that the next MKX will use much of the technology from the MKC as well as similar styling. It is about RX350 size so it should fit my needs. Mike will be glad to hear that an optional engine wil be the 2.7 V-6 Ecoboost that make 325 hp and about 350 ft lb torque.

Steve