Bergey's Lincoln

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• Interior / Walk Around  »
• Driving Impressions  »
• Summary

Walk Around

The MKZ clearly borrows Lincoln design cues from other vehicles in the brand, sharing the strong split-wing grille, high compound headlamps and prominent placement of the Lincoln star on the front quarter panels. In the MKZ, the grille is slightly narrower, and the lines somewhat more fluid than the more rigidly defined, cast-in-concrete bodywork of its big brother, the MKS. The front grille, in particular, is designed to create a distinct presence in the company of other cars; a high belt line adds a look of substance and heft.

There is judicious use of chrome on the door handles, fog lamp bezels, moldings, mirrors and exhaust tips. Window glass is solar tinted. LED tail lamps are wide and broad, extending across the rear deck and into the quarter panels, adding further emphasis to a wide stance. All-season radial tires on nine-spoke, 17-inch wheels are visually proportionate to the wheel wells and wheelbase.

The end result is a strong Lincoln family resemblance both coming and going, and a car that appears modern, technically endowed, and well planted.

Ford and Lincoln have begun to introduce capless refueling systems under the brand name EasyFuel. We've found it works well and creates one less thing to lose: the fuel cap.

Interior

2010 Lincoln MKZ

The Lincoln MKZ interior has a conservative design sensibility, conveying the virtues of simplicity. There is a distinct lack of clutter for a car with a complete suite of convenience features and technology.

Seating might be the best part of the interior. The seats are generously wide, allowing easy entry and exit, both up front and to the rear seating area. They are 10-way adjustable, with power lumbar, and have heated/cooled seating surfaces as standard equipment. There is legroom to burn for our average-size frame, both front and rear, and likely enough for those well over 6 feet to be easily accommodated. Armrests are wide and well placed, and functional grab handles are located at every door.

Quality materials are evident. The wood is real wood, the aluminum is real aluminum, and the leather is real leather. Plastic, what there is of it, has been well textured and does not suggest that it will appear cheap two years down the line. Controls and buttons are low relief, within easy reach, and remarkably intuitive. The navigation screen, at 8 inches, could be a little bigger but it's well located at the top of the center stack and the software makes use of the entire screen.

Instrumentation, consistent with the rest of the interior, includes speedometer and tach, a message center, with low oil pressure indicator. A universal garage door opener is standard.

There is also a voice-activated hands-free in-car communication and entertainment system developed by Ford and Microsoft. The system integrates Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones and digital media players for hands-free phone and music selection. It also enables further communications, such as 911 Assist and Vehicle Health Report, which are provided with no monthly fees.

The standard audio system, with nine speakers and CD/MP3 play capability, will be perfectly suitable for most drivers, especially considering how quiet the MKZ is inside. However, there is a 10-speaker THX II surround sound system that has a 10-gigabite hard drive, enough for 2400 MP3 tracks, and plays DVDs with home-theater sound depth. We can attest to the fact that it can play music or movies at very high volume without distorting, and that the sound in the back seat is just as good as the sound up front.

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