Test Drive: Lincoln's tidy MKC not quite complete
Lincoln is hoping the 2015 Lincoln MKC small premium utility vehicle juices U.S. sales and is a big entree into China. MKC went on sale in the summer starting at $33,995..(Photo: Lincoln)
Ford Motor's premium Lincoln brand is struggling to reclaim the lofty respect it had decades ago.
To update its models lineup at a quick pace, it's had to rely on redoing Ford brand models and trying to make them as distinctive as possible.
It has some proprietary hardware under development, and Ford Motor says it's committed to the billions of dollars it'll take to truly set Lincoln apart.
But for now, it's surviving on its ability to take Ford vehicles and scrub out the Ford-ness, while infusing Lincoln-ness.
Latest: 2015 MKC, a small SUV. It's a variation of the Ford Escape. Lincoln has put enough of its own mojo into the MKC that we doubt many people would guess it's a corporate cousin.
Using the "authentic" mantra, MKC has actual wood, aluminum and leather interior trim. It is what it looks like it is, Lincoln says.
The brand's sales are up 14.5% this year through October in a market up 5.5% and the MKC is a big reason — even though it's been on sale only since May.
It's clear why it would be a hit:
• Looks distinctive. Certainly doesn't look like the Ford Escape on which it's based, though we like the Escape's styling better.
• Has a handsome interior; A lot of the reason why is that "authentic" business. And a lot is because the leather upholstery has a bit of the old-style over-stuffed look to it.
• Goes quickly. Our test vehicle had the big engine, 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder rated 285 horsepower and 305 pounds-feet of torque. Thus, not much dawdling when the gas foot goes down. The other one's a 2-liter four, 240 hp, 270 lbs.-ft., so not a weenie power plant.
• Alluring price. Starts at $33,995, including shipping, and small luxury-brand vehicles priced in the $30,000 to $40,000 range are hot right now. Poster model: Mercedes-Benz new CLA entry-level sedan. It's contributed about 21,000 incremental sales to the brand this year, which is a big number.
It's easy to run up the price of the MKC. To get one similar to the all-in tester you'd be spending $44,565.
Having noted the good stuff, and keeping in mind that Lincoln crafted fully-illustrated engineering documents to rebut Test Drive's criticisms, here's what we found annoying, disappointing:
• Handling: Understeer, making corners not much fun.
No way, Lincoln says. It was benchmarked against the BMW X3, which — we agree — is a terrific-handling SUV.
All we can say is something got lost in translation. There's no similarity at all between how the X3 drives and corners and steers, and how the MKC does those things.
• Ride: Bumpy, jarring. Impossible, in Lincoln's view.
We're pretty sure that the up-and-down motions, over the wrinkled asphalt stretch of road we use for such evaluations, would qualify as "bumpy" or "jarring" to most people.
• Mileage: Disappointing 16.1 mpg in suburban driving.
Can't be so, says Lincoln, which examined the test vehicle and said it showed 19.1 mpg. But that was after the fleet folks had driven it back to their offices on the highway.
• Phone connectivity: OK, but we expect to be wowed by voice and display functions in a luxury vehicle.
We think it's reasonable to demand in a premium model that you can have your phone in the car, not cabled, and use voice command to do everything on any phone, any operating system, from calling people, to finding maps, to playing music, to reading texts and replying. And to show all this on the vehicle's screen, where you can control the phone via touch if you don't care for voice.
Nobody has that, Lincoln says. Everybody should, Test Drive replies.
It might seem as if we're down on the MKC. But no. It's a very good machine and probably will continue to sell well.
But the pace of feature creep is too fast not to hit the market with future systems instead of merely current.
And the ride and handling demands of luxury buyers will, in some cases, exceed what the MKC can deliver.
Perhaps, from Lincoln's view, the best thing about the MKC is that nobody's likely to dismiss it as just a jazzed-up Ford.
2015 Lincoln MKC details:
•What? Compact SUV derived from Ford Escape. Four-door, five-passenger hatchback with front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD).
•When? On sale since May.
•Where? Made at Louisville, Ky.
•How much? Base prices range from $33,995 with shipping to $44,565.
•What makes it go? 2-liter four-cylinder rated 240 horsepower at 5,500 rpm, 270 pounds-feet of torque at 3,000, or 2.3-liter four rated 285 hp at 5,500,. 305 lbs.-ft. at 2,750. Six-speed automatic on both engines.
•How big? Slightly smaller outside and in than BMW X3 or Acura RDX, with which Lincoln compares it. MKC has 97.9 cu. ft. of passenger space, 25.2 cu. ft of cargo space behind second row, 53.1 cu. ft. when second row's folded. Weighs 3,791 to 3,963 lbs.
• How thirsty? 2-liter, FWD rated 20 mpg in the city, 29 highway, 23 combined. 2-liter AWD: 19/26/22. 2.3-liter AWD 18/26/21.
Test vehicle, 2.3-liter AWD, registered 16.1 mpg (6.21 gallons per 100 miles) in frisky suburban driving. Burns regular. Tanks holds 15.5 gal.
•Overall: Tidy package with attractive price, styling but some ride, handling disappointments.
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