Jump to content

Lincoln Continental 12 month review


Recommended Posts

One year ago this week I replaced my 2010 MKS ecoboost with a Continental Reserve 3.0 with tech and Climate packages, 30 way seats and Revel sound system. Since then we have driven around 12,000 miles including a trip from Minneapolis to Dallas, a few shorter trips around the midwest and about 25 trips down the quarter mile at local drag strips. The car has had 2 warranty claims - one for a power seat module and another for a new instrument cluster. In both cases, dealer service was excellent and I was given a free loaner.

 

If I bought cars based on exterior styling, the Conti would not be considered. Although pleasant looking, I think they are far too bland. I am glad they avoided huge grotesque grills like Lexus or goofy droopy headlights like Cadillac but I think they should have been far more adventurous in design. My idea of exterior beauty is more along the lines of Jaguar XJ or Aston Martin Rapide styling. Personally, I think the first generation MKS was far more attractive than the Conti in spite of being too tall and having too much front overhang. The exterior fit and finish is very good on the Conti, however, with tighter and more consistent panel gaps than the MKS.

 

The interior of the Conti is extremely comfortable with lots of room and all features are extremely friendly to use. The tech all works flawlessly and I appreciate the buttons for the most used features and not needing to put fingerprints on the center screen. Interior fit and finish is excellent and materials are great except for the rear seat pass-through which is hard black plastic. (I covered mine with cloth matching the interior color.) The 30 way seats are fabulous. We drove from Dallas to Minneapolis in one day and I was not even tired. The ability to support each thigh individually, vary the lumbar and bolstering, and obtain a nice massage every couple of hours or so make a huge difference. I do think they should make the instrument cluster and center screen more configurable. The 2018 Mustang cluster is far better than the Conti. The center screen could also be larger but still integrated into the dash. Lastly, I wish they would allow customer choice of interior wood.

 

The 3.0 is a quieter engine than the first gen 3.5 ecoboost. It also provides excellent and smooth power...effortless as they say. The 6F55 transmission shifts smoothly, never hunts for gears and kicks down quickly for passing. However, it does have 2 major flaws. In stock tune, upshifts under WOT are terrible...power is cut before, during and after the shift resulting in surging and sagging instead of steady power delivery. In spite of the 3.0 making more power and torque than the 3.5 and the Conti benefiting from a 3.39 gear vs 2.77 in the MKS, the Conti is only .2 seconds quicker in the quarter mile. They put this nice engine in the car and then dumbed it down due to the transmission. The other flaw is too many RPM at cruising speeds with the 3.39 gearing. The way it is geared currently, the Conti uses more fuel on the highway than the MKS did with its 2.77 gear. I solved the terrible WOT upshifting with a tune but no other Conti owners will do that and risk the warranty. It needs the 8 speed transmission for sure.

 

The Conti rides well and is relatively quiet but I think there is room for improvement in both of those areas. Compared with our 2014 Taurus or my old MKS, the comfort setting on the Conti is slightly more compliant than either of those. The normal setting is a bit stiffer than our Taurus and the sport setting is almost harsh on our nasty Minneapolis streets. In terms of quietness, the Conti is again slightly better than our Taurus or my old MKS. It actually has a bit more tire thump over poor pavement but that is likely due to less noise overall resulting in the tire thump being more noticeable. The handling precision and steering of the Conti is MUCH better than the MKS or Taurus. The adaptive steering and dynamic torque vectoring make the Conti surprisingly nimble and even playful in the twisties.

 

I am glad I bought the Conti and I do like it. However, I doubt if I keep it as long as I did the MKS. Lincoln's current strategy of focusing on customer experience is useless to me. I am probably more of a Ford customer in spite of my last 3 cars being Lincolns. Since we will always have a 4 door sedan like our current Taurus for my wife, my next car will hopefully be either a Mustang GT or GT 500.

Edited by brucelinc
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

NIce write up and from what you and others are saying.....it is a step in the right direction, but they definitely could of done more. Personally, I like the front end, back end is bit boring but somewhat unique.

I've played with the switchgear on a rental one a few months ago and found some of it lacking. For example, the button for the center console to me just felt crappy and the inside was designed like it was a Fusion.

Motor Trend just nailed a review of this vehicle versus some stiff competition.

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/genesis/g90/2018/bmw-740e-vs-lexus-ls-500-vs-genesis-g90-33t-vs-lincoln-continental-30/

 

I think the one thing I'm excited about is the fact that the Navigator, from what I've read, has brought it all together.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Couple more comments: I love the electronic power cinch doors. I think the Black Label model like MT had in their test is very overpriced. I am probably biased but I think the Reserve is a better value and more competitive. Also, their acceleration results were slow. I suspect they had regular fuel in it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

C & D does adjust their acceleration numbers to sea level regardless of where they test. I don't know if MT does that or not. In an earlier MT test, they published a 13.7 quarter mile time.

 

In the specs listed on the MT test, they indicated that regular fuel was recommended for the Continental. I suspect that is what was used although the 400 HP and torque is with 93 octane. The other cars tested require premium.

 

My own Conti ran 13.56 when stock in 2500 density altitude. That would adjust to 13.4 or a little quicker at sea level.

Edited by brucelinc
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

C & D does adjust their acceleration numbers to sea level regardless of where they test. I don't know if MT does that or not. In an earlier MT test, they published a 13.7 quarter mile time.

In the specs listed on the MT test, they indicated that regular fuel was recommended for the Continental. I suspect that is what was used although the 400 HP and torque is with 93 octane. The other cars tested require premium.

My own Conti ran 13.56 when stock in 2500 density altitude. That would adjust to 13.4 or a little quicker at sea level.

Yes..I did notice all the foreign luxury competitors required premium fuel.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It seemed that MT didn't quite understand the 3 modes...that it was a revelation to them that comfort mode improves ride quality. Sport mode stiffens the dampers, changes throttle sensitivity, adjusts shift points, and alters the active noise cancellation to allow more engine noise to be heard. It also improves acceleration by slightly firming shifts and making the transmission shift at higher rpm.

 

I use sport mode for drag racing but otherwise prefer comfort for normal driving. The throttle is not jumpy in that mode and accelerating gently and smoothly is easy, in spite of what MT says.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

We are 10 months into our 2017 Continental. 30 way seats and Tech pakages.Lovin it.

 

Yes, the seats are fantastic. The car is quite roomy and very comfortable. I had mine for sale for about a month but only 2 people inquired about it. It seems that neither of them were very serious. Under the circumstances, I am OK with that. I will probably keep mine for a good long while. I have no idea if there will be any Lincoln sedans or coupes in the future and I certainly would NEVER consider a minivan, Crossover, SUV or station wagon as a replacement. The Lincoln really makes a nice stablemate with my Mustang. The Lincoln for comfortable road trips and the Mustang for fun.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Yes, the seats are fantastic. The car is quite roomy and very comfortable. I had mine for sale for about a month but only 2 people inquired about it. It seems that neither of them were very serious. Under the circumstances, I am OK with that. I will probably keep mine for a good long while. I have no idea if there will be any Lincoln sedans or coupes in the future and I certainly would NEVER consider a minivan, Crossover, SUV or station wagon as a replacement. The Lincoln really makes a nice stablemate with my Mustang. The Lincoln for comfortable road trips and the Mustang for fun.

My realistic ideal ford garage selection would be a continental, a raptor and a mustang GT. (Maybe a GT convertible) That way I pretty much have a different vehicle for different uses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My realistic ideal ford garage selection would be a continental, a raptor and a mustang GT. (Maybe a GT convertible) That way I pretty much have a different vehicle for different uses.

That would be a good garage! I would even be satisfied with a new Ranger instead of a Raptor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That would be a good garage! I would even be satisfied with a new Ranger instead of a Raptor.

I just love a full-size truck. Im so accustomed to them that Im not sure a midsize truck could do it for me. Of course the jury is still out on the ranger until I drive one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...