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Auto Car Design and Review
Call them revisions or call them fixes; either way, Lincoln has done a good amount of something to the 2013 MKS. This is not a remake, but instead a heavy refresh like those applied to several Ford and Lincoln products of late. (See 2011 Ford Edge/Lincoln MKZ and 2011 Ford Mustang.)
The hard part for the team making over the MKS had to be dealing with just that: hard points. In this platform’s evolution from Volvo S80 to Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego to current Taurus and MKS, it has underpinned a lot of big sedans and crossovers, few of them stylistic successes and none of them knockouts. It’s almost as if the MKS is only now exiting puberty—although its bones still don’t quite match its role in life. And so the awkwardly tight rear compartment, tallish cabin, and high beltline remain. With a structure like that, engineers and designers can do only so much.
Growing Up is Hard
And oh, that styling. We’ll let you form your own opinion, saying only that we think it’s better than it was. Everything forward of the A-pillars has been re-skinned. The new grille and hood lessen the buck-toothed look with wider upper intakes—filled with finer chrome slats that before—and smaller headlights. The hood now reaches deeper between the grilles and houses a smaller Lincoln badge. A new decklid, which is supposed to improve the car’s compromised trunk access, is flanked by Jaguar XJ–esque taillights. The 2013 MKS gets new 19- and 20-inch wheel designs. Again, they’re better, but we wouldn’t exactly call them pretty.
Inside, the biggest news is the installation of the latest MyLincoln Touch system, which places a pair of screens in the gauge cluster, a corresponding pair of directional pads with which to control them on the steering wheel, and a large touch screen in the dash. As in other MyLincolnTouch applications, knobs and buttons are replaced on the center stack by touch-sensitive nubs and sliders.
Optional multi-contour front seats use a host of air bladders to adjust to and massage the bodies in them, and a heated steering wheel is now optional. New interior wood choices (Prussian Burl and Brown Swirl Walnut) as well as new Bridge of Weir leather hues (Hazelnut and Light Dune) all sound like different ways to say brown.
Strength and Conditioning
In further dealings with those hard points, the engineers made a list of adjustments to the chassis. A new active suspension—Lincoln calls it Continuously Controlled Damping, or CCD—has three settings, all controlled through MyLincoln Touch’s Lincoln Drive Control menu. Normal is just what it sounds like, while Comfort switches to a softer damper setting and also reduces steering effort at low speeds. Compared to Normal, Sport firms up the suspenders, tunes the steering for more road feel and higher effort, increases throttle sensitivity, switches to a more aggressive transmission map that also locks out sixth gear, and increases the traction- and stability-control thresholds.
The steering rack is now solid-mounted to the front subframe and there’s a new brace across the transmission tunnel, which is intended to strengthen said subframe’s connection to the rest of the vehicle. The steering is now electric across the board (models with the 3.7-liter V-6 previously used a hydraulic system), and the ratio is quicker.
The brakes, something of a soft spot in our MKS experiences, are upgraded as well: The front discs now measure 13.9 inches (more than a 1-inch increase) and are vented, while the rears go from 13.0 to 13.6 inches in diameter and are also now vented. Ford claims its new vented front brake hats are unique in the industry. The upsized front discs will be put to use more often by way of a new brake-based “torque-vectoring” system. Like the similar setup in the Focus, it applies the binder on the inside front wheel in corners to transfer the engine’s torque to the outside, more-grip-having wheel.
An Upgraded V-6 and a Familiar Turbocharged One
Lincoln’s biggest sedan has always been on the heavy side, and we don’t expect that to change. To that end, the brand has managed to give the car a more powerful base engine that’s also more efficient. The previous 3.7-liter V-6 is replaced by the updated version from the Mustang and F-150, which features variable camshaft timing. Projected output is 300 hp and 275 lb-ft of torque (up from 273 and 270). Fuel-saving tech includes active grille shutters and a clutched alternator, which help the 3.7-liter car achieve slight fuel-economy bumps with both front- and all-wheel drive. Front-drivers return an expected 2-mpg improvement in the city and a 4-mpg bump on the highway, landing at 19/28. Four-wheelers improve 2 and 3 mpg, respectively, climbing to 18/26. The top powertrain remains a 355-hp, 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine paired exclusively with all-wheel drive and returning EPA ratings of 17/25. All 2013 MKSs continue with six-speed automatic transmissions.
No new or revised luxury automobile would be complete without a retinue of electronic nannies. In addition to the automatic high-beams, collision warning system, and adaptive cruise control of the previous car, the MKS now offers Lane Keeping Alert and Lane Keeping Aid. Alert vibrates the wheel to warn you when you’re straying from your lane, while Aid will gently steer you back into it. There’s a built-in anti-journalist feature that senses if you’re attempting to drive completely hands-free and warns the driver “to discourage misuse of the system.” This will only make us want to try the forbidden act more—for the sake of a thorough evaluation, of course. Both systems can be disabled entirely, and their sensitivity adjusted through MyLincoln Touch.
The new Driver Alert system monitors driving behavior and displays the universal sign for “you’re tired and should probably stop driving now, bozo”: the coffee cup. As an added treat, Lincoln says that “conscientious drivers curious about their state of alertness can monitor their performance any time.” To which we say, “of course they can, they’re awake.” Here’s another feature we’re anxious to try.
That chance should come soon enough, as the 2013 MKS will hit dealers in the spring of 2012. We promise to drink some coffee and drive with both hands to determine whether all of these changes really add up to something.
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