I'd like to thank FoMoCo for sponsoring this test

Lincoln MKS beat Jag, Merc and - double gasp - Maser in the twisties.
Be certain to watch the whole thing

I wonder how much Ford promised to spend on ads for the next couple of years.

(p.s. looks like somebody has been watching Top Gear before he produced this video)

I really wonder what kind of person sits down and says, Hm I need a new car. You know what I'm going to buy? A Lincoln.

I mean, WTF?

i wouldnt mind a nice lincoln continental but i'm 21 and listen to west coast g-funk so i'm stupid

Personally, I love the MKS...for me, it would be the perfect sit in traffic, listen to sports radio while drinking coffee type of car.

.....essentially a good daily driver.

What a publicity stunt. If they wanted to give this "showdown" any degree of credibility they would not have done it at 12,000 feet where low density air puts the naturally aspirated cars at a disadvantage. They should have done this closer to sea level on a real track using a couple different drivers. Not suggesting that many owners of midsize luxury sedans take their cars to a track but it would have been better representation of each car's performance potential than a random mountain pass.

The closest European competitors to a $47K, all-wheel-drive, 3.5V6 twin turbo MKS would be the $54K+ BMW 535i x-drive and the Audi A6 3.0T not the rear wheel drive $64K+ 550i and certainly not the $120K rwd Maserati.

Originally Posted by Dmax

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The closest European competitors to a $47K, all-wheel-drive, 3.5V6 twin turbo MKS would be the $54K+ BMW 535i x-drive and the Audi A6 3.0T not the rear wheel drive $64K+ 550i and certainly not the $120K rwd Maserati.
Isn't that the point? It still beat one and almost matched the other (on this test). Very impressive engine specs. 355HP/350TQ out of a 3.5L that gets 17/25MPG in an AWD, and doesn't require premium gas.

2 things...

Performance Lincoln vs base model of all it's competition.

Car is ugly as hell. It that really the best they could come up with.

Originally Posted by turboman808

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2 things...

Performance Lincoln vs base model of all it's competition.

I don't know if I'd call the 550i a "base model" exactly... either way, it costs a lot less.

Car is ugly as hell. It that really the best they could come up with.

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First thing I thought as well, but not as bad as some things out there. On the 1-10 where a 1 is a Pontiac Aztek and a 10 is an E-Type, Ferrari Dino, etc. I would give it about a 4.

I think the test was advertised all over the actual motor trend magazine too. I think the "Ecoboost" badge with the tree on it needs to go away. Somehow I don't think it has the appeal as an "M" or an "AMG".

Originally Posted by j

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First thing I thought as well, but not as bad as some things out there. On the 1-10 where a 1 is a Pontiac Aztek and a 10 is an E-Type, Ferrari Dino, etc. I would give it about a 4.
That actually made me laugh. 550i is middle of the road 5 series. M5 would be the top of the line 5 series. Has 500hp V10. Would have tore up the Lincoln.

Originally Posted by j

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Isn't that the point? It still beat one and almost matched the other (on this test). Very impressive engine specs. 355HP/350TQ out of a 3.5L that gets 17/25MPG in an AWD, and doesn't require premium gas.
I didn't mean to imply the MKS is a bad car. It's not. It's a great car for the money and is technologically equal to the European competition. My problem is not with the car but with this so-called showdown. Ford purposely stacked the test in the favor of forced induction power plants, by moving the "test track" 11,900 feet above sea level. It then chose to run the MKS against the naturally aspirated V8 powered versions of European cars that would not likely be considered by typical MKS buyers, IMHO. I believe the closest European cars in price, size and drive train configuration are BMW 535xi and Audi A6 3.0T but neither were included in the "showdown". Let's say they included a Bentley Continental GT and MKS was faster through this mountain pass. Would this make potential Bentley buyers buy the MKS instead? I don't believe so and fail to see the point of including the Maserati Quattroporte for the same reason? If Ford wanted to include random 4-door sedans in their showdown they could have run the Cadillac CTS-V. It would have beat the living crap out of MKS and all other competitors, but what would that prove?