fridge. It’s almost like the
four-seat executive
sedans and Range
Rovers. Every 6 seater
MKT, with or without the
fridge, gains heated and
cooled second-row seats,
a feature that many cars
do not have either
available or standard
(even the likes of the
Maserati Quattroporte
and Porsche
Panamera). Unfortunatel
y, massaging seats are
not available. While
some of you readers may
laugh at that, think about
the kind of marketing
power Lincoln would
have from that. But that’s
just a thought. The
available DVD headrests
are okay. The monitors
are tiny, and the
resolution is not that
great. Luckily for Lincoln,
they do not have to feel
too embarrassed, as the
2015 Cadillac Escalade
ESV Platinum, at around
US$90K, has the same
kind of cheap system. So
in this case, just go
aftermarket. Going to the
first row, there are
numerous bits to note.
There are plenty of
buttons on the center
stack. However, it’s not
Acura-busy. It would
have been nice if the
buttons did not require
somewhat having to take
your eyes off of the
road. Oh, and what’s the
whole idea with the
hazard button? Moving
along, the car comes
standard with the Sync
system. Of course, if you
have that, you might as
well get the navigation
option. It’s all a very
good package. Bear in
mind, this is not the
MyLincoln Touch
System. The voice
control is easily activated
by a button on the
steering wheel. The
recognition is pretty good
(even with accents!), and
while not everything can
be controlled by it, just
about all the basics (Call
this, change station,
navigate to, and more)
can be controlled by the
system. It essentially
eliminates the need to
look at the screen and/or
buttons in most cases.
A few other interior
tidbits: The ambient
lighting can look really
cool at night. The heated
and cooled seats (first
and second rows) are not
amazing, but they are
nice. All windows are
auto down & up. There
are two memory settings
for the driver (three after
the 2013 refresh), but
none for the front
passenger.
Road
When shopping for an
MKT, many will advise to
go for the
Ecoboost. There are two
reasons for that. One: It’s
powerful. The Ecoboost
engine is Ford’s famous
3.5L, good for 355 HP
and 350 lb-ft of torque
(more than the 4.2L V8 in
my family’s Audi
A8). Two: The car is
heavy. While this exact
car’s weight is
unknown, it is safe to say
that loading just a driver
in the car takes the
weight over 5000 pounds
(2268 kg). Fortunately,
that does not mean that
the MKT is similar to a
gargantuan
Escalade. The Ecoboost
engine also comes with
electric-assist
steering. Maybe that
helps keep the handling
somewhat nimble for a
vehicle of these
dimensions. As a matter
of fact, I would say that
the handling is
impressive. There is
some noticeable body
roll, but not too much. A
spirited drive on the
famous Tail of the
Dragon could very well
be possible (should I plan
a large MKT meet for
that? ). A torque number
of 350 is quite
impressive, and it
translates onto the
road. From research
online, 0-60 MPH comes
between 6.3 seconds
(Edmunds.com) to 5.9
seconds
(autorooster.com). Unfort
unately, the car falls short
in fuel economy. This