When I first heard the Lincoln MKZ was getting a twin-turbocharged 3.0 V6 for its mid-cycle refresh in 2017, I was intrigued. Naturally, I assumed it would be offered exclusively with all-wheel-drive but, as I read on through the press material, I was gobsmacked to find it was also being offered with front-wheel-drive. Sure, Lincoln detuned the 3.0 by 50 horses. Nevertheless, can we talk about how batshit insane it is that there’s a front-wheel-drive, mid-size sedan with 350 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque?
I’d like to see some discussion about it. There’s certainly been no reviews of this bizarre powertrain combination. Every few months, I scour the internet trying to find a professional or a detailed consumer review on the FWD 3.0T to satiate my rampant curiosity. And yet, I’ve found nothing that will tell me just how wild the torque steer must surely be.
The closest thing I could find was a review of another overpowered Lincoln: the front-wheel-drive version of the mechanically related MKX 2.7 twin-turbo. Car & Driver had this to say:
At anything beyond half throttle, the MKX just can’t get a grip. The comfort-oriented suspension allows serious rear-axle squat under acceleration, pitching the nose up and unloading the front wheels, resulting in fruitless wheelspin. If there are pavement irregularities or a whiff of steering input when the power comes in, the driver needs both hands on the wheel to keep pointed straight. Stability control actually seems to worsen this effect, applying the brake to one front wheel, then the other, generating a seesaw response. We’re talking about steering-wheel-yanking torque steer like you haven’t seen since a 1980s Saab Turbo. Much of the 2.7T’s extra power goes to waste when it can’t route excess torque to the rear wheels. We tested during dry conditions in California and can’t imagine how rambunctious it might be in the wet or in snow.
Ouch. And that’s in a car around 300 pounds heavier and one that’s down 15 hp and 20 ft-lbs. How quickly must a MKZ 3.0T FWD destroy its front tires? And what would possess Lincoln to offer twin-turbocharged front-wheel-drive models, especially when high-performance Lincolns in recent history (MKS and MKT EcoBoost models) have been AWD-only?
There have been front-wheel-drive vehicles approaching this level of performance in the past but they have typically been designed from the get-go to be able to handle it, like the first-generation Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado, or the final generation of Cadillac Seville. Rarely has a front-wheel-drive vehicle received a high-performance powertrain halfway through its model cycle, especially a car that has no sporting aspirations whatsoever. Lincoln, your MKZ may be whisper quiet but I’m not sure front tire-smoking shenanigans and (presumably) unwieldy amounts of torque steer fit the mantra of “quiet luxury”. Such antics are rather unbecoming of an otherwise quite appealing premium sedan.
I can’t readily head to a Lincoln dealership and harangue a salesperson for a test drive so somebody will have to fill in the blanks for me: how do 350 horses and 400 pound-feet of torque feel in a front-wheel-drive MKZ? Is it all I had feared hoped it would be?
Everything old is new again.
I was recently reading some in-period, big-block muscle car reviews. They were shipped from the factory on bias-ply tires that were (give-or-take) the same size as the tires on my ’08 Prius.
Much more than half throttle, and the back ends just went sideways until the tires caught traction.
I’ve driven my father-in-laws 2018 Terrain with 2.0T and selectable AWD. In FWD mode on bone dry pavement I was trying to get away from a stoplight and leapfrog in front of the vehicle in the lane next to me. Torque steer was silly and I’m sure that one of the wheels even hopped just a little bit. In AWD, no torque steer as power was directed rearward. I told my wife: “Forget snow or ice, I wouldn’t drive this thing in the rain without the AWD engaged.”
I would not even think about a turbo 6 without AWD.
Looks like a Camry for wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much more money.
A V6 Camry would be more than enough power for all of my “Real World” driving conditions.
I often ponder the high mileage reliability of these various turbos and AWD cars. (Engine, transaxle, suspension parts…)
Why pay Big Bucks for a car (as well as financing interst charges and higher insurance rates) that will not by 99.5% long term reliable?
I cannot vouch for the turbo charged engine (which I will avoid on my next purchase), but the FORD 4 wheel drive system is very reliable.
I put 220k miles on a 4 wheel drive 2005 Ford Escape in upstate New York with the snow, slush, and salt. The only additional maintenance was changing the rear end differential fluid. The big issue was that the Tin Worm showed up at the 200k mark and spread fast.
I was so pleased with the car, that I bought a 2012 Escape as a replacement
I wonder if this MKZ and your proven, “Old School” Ford truck chassis SUV uses the same chassis, suspension and AWD components?
Unless they do, I cannot see a valid & accurate comparison between the two.
The Ford Escape is not and has never been an “old school truck chassis SUV.” It’s a FWD-based AWD unibody car design.
With that said, I don’t know if there are any common components between the 2001-12 Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute/Mercury Mariner AWD system and the system used in the Fusion/MKZ (I would assume not). I can also vouch for the overall durability of the Tribute, but that probably means little for the Fusion/MKZ.
The PTU, Power Transfer Unit was shared between the Escape and Fusion until 2012 anyway, not sure if there were any changes to the PTU used on the 2013 and up but I bet they are also shared.
The rear diff/coupling used on the early Escapes was a mechanical slip then grip, or mechanically lockable unit. The later Escapes used an electronic gas and go diff/coupling and it too was shared between the Escape and Fusion until 2012, again not sure about the 2013 and up units but my money is betting that they still share the same stuff.
My apologies, DrZhivago138; I was thinking of the older Ford SUV’s.
Thanks for the correction.
Pleased to read that you are happy with your new Escape. My sister had an older, 2001 model Escape, that was quite the POS from the day it was delivered.
There are none of these near me, but in my area (snowy NE Ohio), Lincoln sells few FWD vehicles of any stripe.
A quick nationwide search reveals about 68 of these, mostly in southern states. Not unicorn status, for sure, but still pretty rare. https://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresults.action/?cylCntId=28108&drvTrnId=27101&mdId=21404&mkId=20025&page=1&perPage=50&prMx=100000&rd=99999&searchSource=GN_REFINEMENT&showMore=true&sort=relevance&stkTypId=28880&yrId=35797618&yrId=36362520&zc=44212
Since AWD adds $2,890 (on top of the $2,750 for the 3.0T), you are looking at close to $46K for your AWD 3.0T MKZ, before adding any options. They likely made AWD optional so that they could display a lower base price ($42,920, conveniently just under $43K) with the realization that few people would actually get a model so equipped.
It does seem like an odd combination, as anyone unwilling to pony up for AWD would likely be unwilling to pay extra for the V6, and just stick with the base 2.0T with front wheel drive.
What is curious is that the Ford Taurus Sport, which offers the less powerful 2.7T V6 engine, is AWD only.
There are 5 FWD V6 2018 models one in Fresno two in Sacramento and the rest in the SF Bay Area. That’s a min 120 mile drive one way for me and I’m not that keen to to check them out. I did notice that there are more FWD MXZ than AWD here.
Tom, did you mean a Fusion Sport?
P.S. What does it mean “You’re posting comments too quickly. Slow down”?
Why are all sedans trying to look like coupes these days? I hate the sloping roof lines and gunslit windows on most of today’s cars. Also, who really needs 300 + hp in modern traffic anyways? That’s pretty ridiculous too.
Because swoopy coupes look better! The rear passengers can suck it anyways. Besides what kind of man are you that doesn’t think more power is the answer to every car problem. OK as a Lotus owner I’d rather have weight taken out than power added, but I’m a nut.
Because if you really want to carry back seat passengers in any modicum of comfort, you’ll get a high-roofed CUV.
The fact that these 3.0L engines are still in the MKZ, even with AWD, is kind of insane. I guess Ford wanted all the 2.7 engines going to the F-150? The 2.0 turbo is plenty fast for the type of people who will buy the MKZ. I have a couple of theories as to why these cars exist:
1. Ford thought people outside the snow belt would want a performance Lincoln but wouldn’t want to spend the extra money on AWD.
2. Lincoln wanted the MKZ to be more distinguished from the Fusion and insisted that it not get the 2.7L that comes with the Fusion Sport.
3. Lincoln just wanted to create a “F@$k you” statement to the competition that says “we created this vehicle out of spare parts we had laying around, and it can still embarrass most of your cars for a fraction of the price.”
Check out Car and Driver’s review of an MKZ with the 3.0 as it lends some credibility to theory number 3:
“In sum, these are summer-only sports-car tires fitted to a car tuned for all-season touring rubber. In fact, the placard in the doorjamb of our test car gave away the fact that it started life without these tires—the placard listed a different tire size than those fitted to the car—which Lincoln reps no doubt swapped in hope of improving test numbers. That said, the high-performance footwear is undeniably sticky.”
The desire to create a small luxury sedan with proper performance credentials is ever present for automakers not named BMW or Mercedes. That is why this MKZ exists. I cannot explain the FWD variant though. A Lincoln dealer would have to be pretty high to order one, and I’m guessing they don’t unless some weirdo demands it. I just did an Autotrader search for 2017-2019 3.0 FWD models nationwide and that yielded 129 results, so yeah, they’re very rare. And it looks like only one of those 129 is in the snow belt, which makes sense:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=494469889&zip=12524&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D12524%26listingTypes%3DCERTIFIED%252CNEW%252CUSED%26startYear%3D2017%26sortBy%3DdistanceASC%26incremental%3Dall%26engineCodes%3D6CLDR%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2019%26modelCodeList%3DMKZ%26makeCodeList%3DLINC%26searchRadius%3D0%26driveGroup%3DFWD&listingTypes=CERTIFIED%2CNEW%2CUSED&startYear=2017&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=MKZ&makeCodeList=LINC&searchRadius=0&makeCode1=LINC&modelCode1=MKZ
$28,000 for 400 torque? Quite a bargain if you can get the tires to stop spinning. In 20 years these things are going to run over countless Cars and Coffee spectators.
I hope it is reason number 3. 😎
That car is a lemon buyback. Better steer clear of it.
I’m certain part of to having something different from the Fusion but being able to offer that lower starting price for those that don’t think they need AWD because the live in the sun belt not the snow belt. I doubt much of it was due to #3 or else they would be doing at least some sort of marketing of it, though in general I don’t see them marketing specific models, just the overall Lincoln line up.
Nice car in the link, and I was tempted until I discovered it’s a manufacturer buy-back vehicle. But even then, similar ones with unblemished titles seem to top out in the low- to mid-30s.
I like the direction in which Lincoln is headed, but I don’t see myself ever buying one (or practically any vehicle, for that matter) brand new. The first-year depreciation would make me sick, were I the one footing the bill. At the same time, I’m not one to criticize others who lease or purchase these new, since they subsidize my eventual lower cost per mile.
In Canada there are no FWD 3.0 TT Lincolns. AWD only. Even 2.0 T comes with AWD. The only FWD MkZ is a Hybrid with Atkinson cycle 2.0 normally aspirated.
3.0 TT was created for a Continental, but I’m guessing to amortize the cost, Lincoln started offering it on a MkZ as well. Maybe it will become available in a Nautilus, instead of 2.7 T.
I think it’s going to end up in the Aviator and the new Explorer instead of the Nautilus.
No the Explorer is not getting the 2.7 EcoBoost, it is getting a 3.0 EcoBoost with a yet to be announced HP and TQ rating. The base engine will be a 3.3 NA V-6. Not sure about the Aviator.
Thus far the 3.0 TT has been a Lincoln exclusive, just as GM has limited certain engines to Cadillac only.
So, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t time to hand it down to Ford and come up with the next latest and greatest for Lincoln. Right now, at least if you have a FIN or a willing Fleet dept manager you can order a 2020 Explorer with the 3.0 EcoBoost.
Yes and for a time the only way to get the 6.2 ltr V8 in the Suburban was to be a fleet buyer.
The GM thing was because they couldn’t/didn’t want the CAFE hit if they were allowed to sell in volume.
Ford is reducing power train combinations not increasing them so while the tune might be slightly different on the retail versions they aren’t about to do two different EcoBoost 6cyls in the Explorer.
I do expect the base Aviator will have the 3.0T or 3.3H at the same price and another up level engine that won’t be shared with the Explorer.
Why do people pay more for a luxury car? When “less than luxury” cars can do the job in comfort transporting folks from point a to point b? I often ask myself that question, being current and ex owner of Mercedes, Lexus, Bimmers, Caddies, Tesla, Alfas, Jensen …. my answers could always sum up to: “I just wanna”.
In case of this Lincoln, or all current Lincolns, my feeling is I just don’t wanna. Because driving one will make me feel silly, and look silly.
This MKZ looks OK, forgettable but OK, nothing wrong with it, but most couldn’t pick it out from a parking lot full of similar sized cars, nothing to talk about ‘your car’ at cocktail parties, no one will give you or your Lincoln that longing look, and you have to share service at Ford dealership.
The anti Lincoln? or anti Lincoln MKZ? Tesla 3, the newly crowned best selling luxury car in the country. This one does look weird but not forgettable, could certainly pick it our from a parking lot, tonnes to talk about ‘your car’ at cocktail parties, gets lots of looks, and yes, Tesla owns their own dealership, not shared.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/04/tech/tesla-model-3-luxury-car/index.html
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To put the Model 3’s success in perspective, Tesla sold more Model 3s than GM sold Cadillacs or Buicks — of any model. The Model 3 also outsold all Honda Acuras and Ford’s Lincolns and Tesla sold more Model 3s than Lexus, BMW, Mercedes and Audi sold cars (when including SUVs, the big four luxury makers each outsold the Model 3).
+++
Lincoln is a dying brand, should have been dead years ago.
Well I certainly got a lot of comments about my MKZ with non car people stating they like the looks and those are people I know quite well who aren’t going to say that just to be nice.
For me there were a couple of things available in the Z that weren’t available in the Fusion that I just wanted to have because I could, and the higher quality leather on the steering wheel and seats.
As far as the model 3 I wouldn’t consider it a luxury car, even if the pricing puts it in that crowd. Also I’m not so sure about those numbers. That may be what they have produced but deliveries of actual completed cars is another story.
Here is a local parking lot full of cars. Of note this is at a closed Sears that did have a very large tire and service facility and many of these cars reportedly have check lists of needed repairs written on the windshield.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niBjmGG0g1E&w=560&h=315%5D
Tesla has said they are in delivery hell and that there aren’t enough transporters to get the cars to customers but I’m seeing lots of reports that parking lots like the one near me are all accross the country. I do know they are making it up I5 on trucks from seeing a number of loaded transporters on my recent trip to Oregon and the number of them I see going into the local dealer auction yard near where I work. The final mile should be the easy part, hire local tow companies with flat bed trucks to take them directly to the customer’s home if needed or just call that former Sears service center a delivery center.
Not sure if I classified as a car guy, because on one hand I have owned over 50 cars since the first in ’75 and worked on restoring; On the other hand, I couldn’t care less about stuff most ‘car guys’ care about. I am, however, in the category of people these luxury brands aimed for: Having a long history of buying such brands and will probably continue to do so.
All I can say is that in this ‘unreal’ community that I have in, where over 96% of demographic are white, most are over 60, and drive one of luxury brands. Lincoln is dead, extremely rare, most folks would be uncomfortable to be seen in one. Lincoln’s sales figures reflects that.
Well the MKZ impresses in the under 30 crowd I know and that is among people who grew up with BMWs, Mercedes and Audis. My current client’s family has had long string of BMWs of all flavors and he noted how much nicer my MKZ was than the 3s and 5s they had.
Fact is the over 60 crowd is not where Lincoln wants or needs to be.
A truly insane combination and an example of some of the things that Ford is working on fixing, too many combinations of power trains for something with that sales volume. I’m surprised it didn’t get cut for 2019 and make buyers take the AWD if they want the bit power.
Personally there was a part of me that was very interested in the AWD version of the 3.0T but the fact is there is so little opportunity to unleash anywhere near all of that power safely I didn’t even go and test drive anything but the power train I did buy the 2.0H. I wish it was available in AWD and don’t understand why Ford has never offered AWD with the Hybrid Fusions and especially the MKZ. They did it in the Escape that used the same Hybrid system as the concurent Fusion and MKZ. They had all the pieces in the parts bin since the PTO was shared with the ICE only Escapes, Fusions and MKZ and the diff/coupling is also shared. I really don’t think it would have required any unique parts and it would have the distinction of being the only Hybrid sedans with AWD. I know based on my experience with an Escape Hybrid AWD that I’d have gone that route on the MKZ if it was available.
As far as whether the car was designed to take this kind of power from the start, I wouldn’t assume that just because it wasn’t offered from the launch of this body style doesn’t mean they didn’t design it with the intention of handling that kind of power when they got done with the engine to produce that level of power and a transmission to handle that much torque.
Here’s a video of the 3.0T FWD on a 0-60 run. Appears to be losing traction quite a bit.
https://youtu.be/ll4WF4-i2Hs
Though the reviewer seemed to like the car a lot, going so far as to call it the “sleeper of the year”!
Oh wow, you can clearly see the car get away from him at 2:56. And he does mentioned he had difficulty getting used to the throttle during his week with it.
My business partner has this MKZ, same powertrain, it’s even blue. I’ve driven it (normal to fairly quickly) and it felt pretty good, rapid and comfortable. It really covers ground. Of course, I didn’t do any full throttle burnouts, but I did get on the throttle progressively, so I didn’t try to create the torque steer issues mentioned. In the real world, who would? It’s a really nice car.
A Lincoln used to be a RWD car. The only new Lincoln I ever bought was an ’86 Mark VII LSC – RWD and coupe which dates me and dates the car. I have given no thought to Lincoln since the attractive Mark VIII LSC – also RWD and coupe.
I don’t care for FWD or for sedans and I have not cared about any Lincoln for a very long time. But I could buy a new one tomorrow if I wanted to. Lincoln and Ford don’t care about a potential customer like me.
I’m sure they’re losing a lot of sleep over that lost sale. 😛
Likely not but then again he DID buy a new Lincoln in 1986, and is likely one of not too many of us to ever buy a new Lincoln off the lot (T. Halter is the only other one I know of, I’m sure there are a few others). Then he was attracted to the next version of the same thing a half dozen years later but didn’t bite for whatever reason. Then apparently moved on to something else and never looked back. That’s a problem for any manufacturer, just churning through the one-timers isn’t a business plan.
Maybe the current Continental should have been RWD, maybe the last one before that should have been as well, maybe it should have spawned a coupe (Mk IX and X?). Gotta keep people in the fold somehow. The current moves to SUVs are good, I suppose but may be too little, too late.
Offering this car as FWD is folly. While maybe that keeps the price down, it’ll likely annoy any driver/owner and push them away. If it needs AWD or RWD to work well, then it should have that as standard.
Well I did drift away, Jim. After that Lincoln LSC and not buying the next generation one because I found something I liked better, I’ve had two new and three used Mercedes RWD coupes and three new Mustang RWD coupes. So, yeah, someone wants a big, RWD coupe. Maybe just me.
They really should, cause they have VERY LOUSY sales. To the point that Lincoln had no business being a brand.
This MKZ model is news to me… thanks for bringing it to our attention Will!
I can only imagine the amount of torque steer in this MKZ. Recalls cars such as the 1995-2002 Lincoln Continental, Oldsmobile Aurora V8, Buick Lucerne V8, and Cadillac DTS. While those were all V8s, output was similarly more than the front-wheel drive platform could handle effectively.
I’m skeptical.
Why does Lincoln offer this powertrain? In three words: Hot. Rod. Lincoln. You don’t need AWD on the Grapevine Hill. Well, except the two or three times a year it snows. And then they shut it down anyway. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Rod_Lincoln
Sticky Mickey Thompsons in the front and littles in the back and drive 1\4 mile at a time. A wildly irresponsible Lincoln dealer might even sponsor these shenanigans.
” How quickly must a MKZ 3.0T FWD destroy its front tires?”
not at all, I highly doubt people who buy these kinds of vehicles spend much of their time rocketing away from a stop.
the linked reviews just show how out of touch most automotive “journalists” are with the typical car buyer.
You are correct. We, the community on CC and other car enthusiast sites are usually pretty sadly out of touch with what the average buyer values when buying a car.
Luxury car buyers, by and large, do not give a damn about anything but the badge on the trunk and the sticker price. As many are leased, they care more about optioning to a price point, with performance being the least valued. You could sell a S class with a 1.4 turbo if the lease was $399 per month. Conversely, if they are being purchased, then many want the most engine available, even if they will never come close to redlining it. How many M versions or AMGs are being driven by 60-year-old ladies who lunch and have never had it over 70 on the freeway? Since it costs the most, it must be the best…
My guess is that this would be a good candidate for the bigger motor in a car that leases at a lower price point. Ford was not risking much in putting a few out on the market to test interest.
Shapes under shiny grey paint, badge, price.
That ridiculous torque will probably be pretty handy on the Penna Tpke blasting past strings of three to six tractor trailers. The only way that I could see owning one is if I had a seven figure salary simply for impromptu jaunts out of town when I don’t feel like dealing with the inconvenience of the airport.
It can’t be worse than the Volvo V60 diesel we had as a work pool car, can it?
William, I guess you’ll have to buy one and let us know. The cost would be tax deductible, probably.
I just purchased a 2018 used Lincoln MKZ to replace to my totaled 17 Ford Fusion Sport 2.7T AWD.
I oved it so much I bought a 18 3.0TT Lincoln MKZ AWD, this car is a sleeper like the FFs, and really quick. I’ve never seen in Pennsylvania another 3.0T I’ve seen plenty of 2.0T’s and Hybrids.
They are nice cares if you take care of them. I just love the grill on both cars. The Lincoln I love now with no ford sedans I may keep this for a long time. I thought the 2.7L Ford Fusion sport was fast until I bought the 3.0. Lincoln.
I’m in PA and I got one lol. I actually don’t see to many 2017+ Lincoln MKZs at all, but I do see some 2.0 from time to time. I think Washington Ford has a monopoly on the 3.0.
To William Stopford, the journalist that wrote this article about the Lincoln MKZ 3.0T FWD. I happen to a 2017 model and you’re welcome to test it yourself if you’re ever in the area. I’m not going to make any comments, to avoid all the flack you can get on any forum. Feel free to contact me anytime. Anyone else that has a sensible question or comment is welcome also.
I’m in PA and I got one lol. I actually don’t see to many 2017+ Lincoln MKZs at all, but I do see some 2.0 from time to time. I think Washington Ford has a monopoly on the 3.0.