Last night, I had a little time on my hands, and I stopped by the local Ford dealer to check out a couple of their new cars. Â I had heard that Ford has upped the quality of their cars, and I wanted hard evidence that an American car company was about to produce something comparable to the Germans or Japanese. Â I was a little disappointed, perhaps due to my high expectations, but they’re obviously going in the right direction.
The 2010Â Ford Taurus SHO and Lincoln MKS are essentially the same car; the main differences coming from their styling, and driver space. Â And the prices; the Ford stickers for $42,000; the Lincoln for $52,000. Â I drove both.
The fact that I’m 6’8″ does not bode well for most cars, and these two were no exception. Â I had to recline the seat back in both cars more than I would have liked, though not so far that it was terribly uncomfortable. Â The Lincoln had more legroom, whereas the Ford’s center console got in the way of my knee. Â Unfortunately for the Ford, that would be a deal breaker; over the 10 minute test drive, my knee hurt from the contact. Â The interior styling of the Lincoln was more luxurious than that of the Ford, however the features were virtually identical–in fact, with the exception of the Park Assist, they WERE identical. Â The interior styling was better than I would have thought to find in either a Ford or Lincoln, and the quality of the components was high. Â The center screen was very nice, and the graphics were crisp, modern, and desirable. Â I was surprised that neither the Ford nor Lincoln had a pretty LCD display in the main instrument cluster, and instead had a cheapie LED matrix… Â I would expect to see that in a $10,000 car, not a $40,000 or $50,000 car.
Now for the handling… Â I was not surprised to find that both cars are a bit fluffy when it comes to handling, as I have a very strong bias against American cars. Â The steering felt disconnected, which makes only a little sense due to the speed-sensitive steering; braking was a little squishy and confidence reducing, and cornering was imprecise at best: Â While both cars are all-wheel-drive, they seemed to lack the proper suspension to handle and high-speed cornering (yes, I threw the Lincoln into a corner, one that I was confident it would handle well, and yet the roll of the car almost threw the salesman into my lap). Â The automatic transmission shifts only slightly better than my grandmother on a stick, and I was rather surprised at how rough and sudden each shift was. Â Despite these negative attributes, there’s one saving grace in both of these cars: Â The engine.
Both models have the EcoBoost engine. Â A twin-turbo, 3.5 liter V6, the EcoBoost engine produces 355 horsepower (that’s NOT a typo). Â And due to the rather low first gear, the car can really get off the line. Â While on the freeway, both cars took off like rockets–which really surprised me. Â Obviously, Ford has spent some time on this engine, and it shows. Â I can totally see both these cars being ticket bait, and it was exhilarating to experience.
If I had to buy a new car today, I would give consideration to either the Lincoln or Ford, however I would be stopped by the lack of headroom and legroom (unique to me) and the tank-like performance of both cars. Â If Ford spends a little more time working on the performance issues, as well as the interior space, I would absolutely nab one. Â The interior quality is approaching that of the Japanese, and doesn’t have a long way to go before it bests the Germans (my standard is an Audi, and I personally think it has the best automotive interior for a car under $60,000). Â The EcoBoost engine is a dream come true, and I hope that Ford continues to push that through their vehicle line.
I drove a Ford, and I’m happy to see that the Americans have a fighting chance.
