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C&D Review: 2017 Lincoln Continental

9K views 79 replies 39 participants last post by  The Voice of Doom 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
2017 Lincoln Continental
Like the brand itself, a work in progress.
OCT 2016
BY AARON ROBINSON
Car & Driver

A brand named after a beloved American president—and which once supplied cars to presidents—is now looking to China for salvation. Following Buick’s proven path, Lincoln sees the Middle Kingdom and its swelling ranks of status-obsessed nouveaux riches as the ladder on which it plans to climb back to market relevance. In China, Lincoln still is associated with Kennedy and Eisenhower and American glamour. There, Lincoln carries no negative baggage from decades of neglect. In China, the new Lincoln Continental hopes to make its—pardon the Lincoln pun—mark.

In the United States, where drivers are perhaps a bit more discerning, the Continental lugs the ball and chain of Lincoln’s more recent history and will have to prove itself against some very formidable competition. In that context, the car turns out to be, like Lincoln itself, a work in progress. The thoroughly fussed-over design, with exquisitely beveled edges and lovely LED light bars in back that give a seamless neon look, makes an imposing statement from any angle. And the interior takes Lincoln to heights that were unimagined when the brand sold nothing but bacon-wrapped Fords. But the car, despite its sales having begun already, is not yet fully finished. A few rough edges indicate that Lincoln is not quite ready to beat Lexus or the German luxury triumvirate, and it even has its hands full with the hard-charging Genesis sub-brand of Hyundai.

Whether you get the base front-wheel-drive $45,485 Premier or the loaded all-wheel-drive $65,840 Black Label, this is a big machine, slightly longer both in wheelbase (117.9 inches) and between the license plates (201.4 inches) than the standard-wheelbase Lexus LS, itself a rather grand limo. Unlike the biggest Lexus (or the biggest Audi, BMW, or Mercedes-Benz), there is only one Continental wheelbase at this point, so you can have any size you want as long as it’s XL. Besides that, Lincoln gives you a choice of three transversely mounted V-6 engines—the Chinese get a fourth engine, a 2.0-liter turbo—and a choice of front- or all-wheel drive, unless you pick the most powerful twin-turbo 3.0-liter, which comes only with all-wheel drive. (The other six-cylinders are a naturally aspirated 3.7-liter and a twin-turbo 2.7-liter.)

CONTINUE AT LINK ABOVE

Images courtesy of, and credited to, caranddriver.com:


 
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#12 ·
Re: Lincoln Continental -car and driver-

I guess that is the key point. Definitely not a car for me and I'm disappointed over its fwd layout, but it is a start!

I'm surprised they launched with the six speed and didn't go with the 9 speed.

Considering you are insulted by the thought that GM makes the XTS, or the old men that drive them; I'm surprised you don't like the Continental.............

;)
 
#3 ·
Re: Lincoln Continental -car and driver-

Yeah agree w you there. At least it's a first step. It's probably a very nice car for the money at near-base levels but I can't see many takers at 75-80G....too many more enticing choices at that level.
 
#4 ·
Re: Lincoln Continental -car and driver-

I think Lincoln deserves better than worked over Ford underpinnings and such. It seems they're still searching for that sweet spot as far as identity is concerned and I am not a fan of that new front end design. I went by the local dealer the other day and saw a new MKZ with that nose and thought it was awful.
 
#7 ·
Re: Lincoln Continental -car and driver-

What's with the Backseat..... and the ride and trans tuning...... One can chose to overlook all the rest but nope, that just will not do.

You can neither Bunt your way into nor expect to win - a World Series that way...
 
#29 ·
Re: Lincoln Continental -car and driver-

I saw one on the road the other day. Looks like it suffers from XTS syndrome being all proportionally ****ed up, too tall/wide/stubby.

It's better, but not by much. Its height struck me as more limo-like and more formal than expected.
So YOU'RE the one terrorizing the locals in your clown outfit. Shame.
 
#10 ·
Re: Lincoln Continental -car and driver-

I am a few ****tails in ... but that was PAINFUL to read .... holy nested sentences and over-flourished bravado. So unnecessary.
And no real-life pictures. I am always suspicious when I read this kind of reviews. Have they seen/driven the car?
 
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#16 ·
Re: Lincoln Continental -car and driver-

The reviews are going largely as I had expected, and from my perspective that's good. I was never expecting a CD4 based vehicle to push Lincoln into the mainstream of luxury products, but only to provide evidence of progress in other areas. Interiors in Lincoln's are night and day better from just a couple years ago. While the exterior design on the whole is rather bland I find the detailing to be very very good.

I think they did as well as can be expected given the starting point. Could they have invested heavily in reworking CD4 to give it better proportions? Sure, but it wouldn't have had a major sales impact IMO. Lincoln has shown they can do first rate luxury, the next question to be answered is will D6 based product show they can do premium design and engineering.
 
#30 ·
Frank Beckman (WJR, Dee Troit radio personality) likes them!
 
#23 · (Edited)
Lincoln deserves better than that awkward, lame chassis for their flagship sedan.

They have been and will remain a Buick, Acura, or Volvo competitor until they actually start trying to compete with Mercedes and the like. It just seems like Ford is not doing what it takes here. It's more frustrating to see that than actually have them try and fail.
 
#42 ·
I'm curious, do you think the basis for Mercedes and the like products grows on trees? Or that they can be developed overnight? I suspect Ford is doing what it takes, it's just that four years into their rebuild much of what is being done hasn't reached production yet. GM didn't decide to compete with BMW and the like, snap their fingers and produce the ATS/CTS/CT6, it took years just to get the Alpha/Omega platforms ready, then develop products upon them.

Your frustration with Lincoln is misplaced IMO. You shouldn't be frustrated with current product being what it is, because the option for it to be something else was missed many years before this product was even conceived. Ford can be rightly lambasted for being very short sighted with Lincoln, of course that would require us to ignore the fact that Ford owned Jaguar/Land Rover/Volvo/Aston Martin back when they should have been working on Lincoln. The aluminum platform used by Jaguar began development under Ford's ownership so it should be clear, whether we like it or not, Ford viewed Jaguar as their premium brand and short of the great recession Lincoln would likely have been left to fade away. The GM/Ford transmission partnership goes back further than the decision to keep Lincoln and we still don't have either transmission in a production vehicle, yet Ford was supposed to engineer a world class platform and fully develop an S-Class competitor in less time?

The **** is what it is for many reasons, at this point we have to either judge them by the progress they make going forward, or continue to beat the dead horse that was Ford's Lincoln strategy going back more than a decade. While I agree Ford deserves a lot of flack for how they've handled not just Lincoln, but all the premium brands they once owned (outside of Aston which I feel the did an exceptional job with), I still find the lack of perspective with regard to what they're currently doing and what they could reasonably have been expected to do in that time frame baffling.
 
#26 ·
I saw one in person the other day and thought it was beautiful. The color was an absolutely gorgeous shade of burgundy (close to the color of my Accord) and the larger wheels really set the car off. I need to check one out up close and see how I really feel about it. Quite frankly I think Lincoln is doing a fine job of moving more upmarket and I feel the new design language looks great. To be fair Cadillac still has some work to do so let's not all trash Lincoln for doing their thing. Not to mention they are doing pretty damn well for themselves considering Ford hasn't invested nearly as much money into Lincoln as GM has into Cadillac.

Just saying.
 
#50 ·
It's not just sales numbers for this car that we have to look at, but rather if the sales numbers the Continental puts up are larger than the amount their current large sedan drops.

One of the more impressive things about the CT6 to date has been the fact that it's sales numbers have been larger than the XTS' losses YOY. In fact I believe last
Month the XTS was actually UP YOY.
 
#54 ·
You're missing something.
Explorer has effectively swallowed up all traces of MKS production and sales,
declines in both Taurus and MKS have meant increased production space for Explorer.

Continental is on a shared corporate platform and replaces lost Fusion production overflow
at Flat Rock, it should sell in both higher numbers and greater ATP compared to the MKS.
 
#51 ·
Lincolns past large sedan, the MKS, is dead. It is not being made anymore and is off of Lincolns site. Thus, you cannot gauge the Continentals sales to the drop in MKS sales.

If Lincoln sells 2000 Continentals a month, they would be ecstatic. The MKS was averaging under 1000 a month.

Actual non platform snob comments on the Continental are very positive. People love that the Continental is back. They connect with the name. One of the first delivered on FIN was to a 39-year-old who came out of a Jag. He loves his Black Label Continental. The C&D review is probably the most negative out there so far. Noone else has said that the car rode rough. As a matter of fact, everyone else has said the exact opposite. There are things in this review that make no sense. It would seem that, like the MKZ, that C&D has no clue that there are other suspension settings. There isn't just D and S. It makes one wonder just how much some see only what they want to see. Of course, after the last MKZ review by C&D, I am amazingly surprised that they gave such a positive review for the Continental. They didn't even spend the vast majority of their write up complaining about the Fusion platform or the tires. Amazing in and of itself.
 
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#57 ·
Good gawd, again with the CT6 !?

They are different cars for different market segments. The CT6 is considerably more expensive. The Continental is aligned in type and price with the XTS. That's the only fair comparison with any Cadillac.
 
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#60 ·
I like the Conti both inside and out. I don't think Lincoln is out there to be a BMW killer, it wants to build a traditional American luxury sedan, and I'd say the Conti does a great job at that. C&D will always call out any car that doesn't appeal to their style of driving, they are an enthusiast magazine and that's been baked into their DNA as long as I've been a subscriber (since 1987)

We need Lincoln to do well. I'd be very happy to see both them and Cadillac to succeed. I hope they find plenty of buyers who want a smooth, powerful luxury car with a great interior.
 
#64 ·
Interestingly, they named the 1989 Continental as one of their 10-best cars. And, it sounds like that car's mission was not terribly dissimilar to the current car.

CD said:

"With the Continental, Ford’s engineers have accomplished something we never quite believed we’d see in a full-size American luxury car: they have combined a pillowy ride with surprisingly capable handling."

"As the big American car of the future, the sensibly sized, luxuriously fitted, and well-engineered Continental was a transportation offer we just couldn’t refuse."
 
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