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Continental owner's report


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I have had my Continental for about 10 days and have accumulated 800 miles. I had test driven several Continentals prior to ordering one so my ownership hasn't revealed too many surprises but my opinions have gotten more solid with ownership.

 

These cars drive much smaller than I expected and handle much better than many might think. The adaptive steering is excellent. It is VERY quick at low speeds making the car quite maneuverable in parking or U-turn situations. The steering ratio slows down at higher speeds and the car tracks beautifully even on crowned roads or in windy situations. There much less understeer than one would expect from a FWD based heavy car. It is clear that the Dynamic Torque Vectoring is doing its job. No serious customer for this car will complain about the handling.

 

As all reviewers have said, the car is very quiet. They have done a nice job with door seals and insulation. Obviously, there is some tire noise over rough concrete and broken pavement but it is quite subdued and wouldn't likely be noticeable at all if the wind and mechanical noise wasn't so well controlled. I use the comfort mode damper setting in Drive and the Normal mode in Sport. I really don't see much use for the Sport damper setting unless you really want to push it hard through the twisties. The settings do make quite a difference in ride quality. The Comfort setting will likely be great for most people. Even at high speeds over undulating pavement, there is no floatiness. In fact, former Town Car owners might even think there should be a softer setting. I find the overall ride quality to be near perfect for my tastes.

 

The 3.0 engine is a jewel. It is very quiet and refined and has MUCH more kick than I recall from my test drives. Clearly, the miles I have accumulated have improved the performance. I think it would hang with or even beat my tuned MKS through first gear. The MKS had a 2.77 gear while the Conti has a 3.39. Off the line acceleration with the Conti is exceptional. Also, overall throttle response and passing ability is excellent. Driven normally or even somewhat aggressively, the transmission is very smooth and shifts are hardly noticeable. However, under wide open throttle, the shifts are slow and lazy. It feels like someone turns off the engine just before the shift, the shift occurs, and then it surges forward again. That can be addressed with an aftermarket tune and I will definitely do it. Additional miles may improve the quickness of the shifts even without tuning.

 

While not unique to the Conti, Sync 3 clearly has some advantages over earlier versions. However, compared to the sync/nav system in my 2010 MKS, I find a few things about Sync 3 that are a bit annoying. I will get into that in another thread but overall, I would say the ergonomics and overall user friendliness of the controls are very good. A larger screen would be welcome and a few additional configurations of the gauges would be nice.

 

The 30 way seats are fabulous. My wife and I enjoyed the massaging feature on our road trip and I especially like the way you can move the top part of the seat back independently of the lower part. The various bolsters, extensions, and lumbar adjustments should accommodate about any human shape and many non-human ones! One disappointment was finding that the memory seats in my car did not work. The mirrors remember the memory setting but the seats do not. I have an appointment next week to have that fixed. I hope it is a software glitch and they don't have to remove a door panel or seat.

 

I still think the e-latch doors are awesome. The overall fit/finish of the interior and exterior are the best I have ever seen on a Ford product. I think the dash could have been a bit softer and the door pass-through from the rear seat to the trunk is cheap. Also, the cup holders in the rear armrest are not very good. If a buyer frequently has rear seat passengers, they might want the rear seat package. Either way, there is a ton of room back there.

 

Overall, I am happy with the car. I will be happier when the memory seats are fixed. After a few more miles, I will be obtaining a Livernois tune. Their first version with the 3.0 adds 53 HP at the wheels and improves shift quality. I look forward to that.

 

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I've gotta say those wheels look way better than I first thought when I saw them.

I agree. I was very skeptical of those wheels but I didn't want to go to the 20s to get a different wheel. Now I really like them. The black pockets along with a very open design that shows the black calipers add a bit of "toughness" to an otherwise very conservatively styled vehicle.

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How has your car been received by the general public? Have people commented at all?

It has been totally anonymous so far. However, on our Christmas road trip it was dirty and snow covered most of the time. Since getting it cleaned up, I really haven't had it out other than New Years Eve when it was too dark for anyone to even notice.

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I took my car in today to have the memory seats fixed. To make a long story short, the tech didn't have a clue. The scan tool indicated no issues so he was stumped. They are going to talk with Ford Engineering and get back to me when they have a possible solution. This is no where near new technology so I expected a better outcome but at least they didn't break anything else while it was in their shop.

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I took my car in today to have the memory seats fixed. To make a long story short, the tech didn't have a clue. The scan tool indicated no issues so he was stumped. They are going to talk with Ford Engineering and get back to me when they have a possible solution. This is no where near new technology so I expected a better outcome but at least they didn't break anything else while it was in their shop.

I asked a friend at the plant about this, he's stumped too. Our best guess is there's a glitch somewhere in the softwhere that was previously unknown. It's the first both of us have heard of it so it sounds like you're the unfortunate recipient of an isolated incident

 

I hope it works out in your favor, that's a real shame.

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They promised to get back to me within a couple of days. I appreciate the fact that they are researching the issue rather than just replacing switches, modules and other assorted hardware that would require door panel or seat removal. I think the memory seat module is under the seat and it wouldn't surprise me if that turns out to be the culprit but I am only guessing.

Edited by brucelinc
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Dealer replaced the DSM this morning and the memory seat now works fine. They didn't even have to unbolt the seat. The tech was able to get at the module by simply adjusting the seat to a position where he could get at it.

 

I have Livernois Motorsports & Engineering working on a tune for the Conti 3.0. Another 75 HP and a firmer shifting transmission should make my smile even wider. :)

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Good deal. Glad they didn't have to remove the seat. How long before you install the tune?

 

Livernois has to get a 3.0 Continental on their dyno. Apparently, the MKZ 3.0 is tuned slightly differently than the Conti at the factory so the tune they have developed for the Z might not be 100% compatible. Surprisingly, they told me that they will just borrow a Conti from a local dealer with whom they have a relationship. I am in no particular hurry for a tune since we are in the middle of a Minnesota winter.

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I read a quick review in Motor Trend the other day. They pointed out the Continental has a complete emphasis on luxury features with Ford achieving what they set out to do. Unlike some other so called luxury brands, which try to mix luxury with performance and missing the mark.

Edited by RichardK
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I read a quick review in Motor Trend the other day. They pointed out the Continental has a complete emphasis on luxury features with Ford achieving what they set out to do. Unlike some other so called luxury brands, which try to mix luxury with performance and missing the mark.

 

I like that they downplay the performance aspects. I consider it under-promising and over-delivering. Even Car & Driver said that engaging sport mode, "pays off with moves that approach sports sedan standards." They also recorded a 5.0 second 0-60. While NOT emphasizing performance in any way, I suspect most of Lincoln's customers will be pleasantly surprised. Much better than having high expectations and then being disappointed.

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Based on the hard copy Car & Driver report, the weight distribution is 58.9% front/41.1% rear. By comparison, the Cadillac CT6 is 52.9/47.1. The Conti roadholding was .84 g compared with .86 for the Cadillac. The Lincoln had all season Michelins and the Caddy had Pirelli P zeros. In the Continental road test, they indicated that the stability system in the Conti inhibited the skidpad results.

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