Distance: 456km
Date: June 29-July 1, 2024
Location: Yukon, Alaska
Up front: The faux leather seats are comfortable with two-way lumbar support on the driver’s side only. The large portrait centre screen looks like it’s useful for GPS, but the lower third is occupied by climate controls and there’s no way to customize this. If the climate controls are always there, they should just be physical buttons.
The dashboard information can be customized with the little arrow buttons on the steering wheel, and it even allows you to do so while driving, which it shouldn’t for safety reasons. Too bad half the information isn’t useful. I don’t need to know my speed, range, or fuel level in the little screen because that information is already on static display.
A wireless charging pad is available in the centre console, but there’s no wireless Apple CarPlay, so your phone will be plugged in all the time anyway.
In the back: It’s not a long car, but it is very wide. Second row passengers will appreciate the extra width when seated three abreast. The seats can recline with a manual level or be mechanically folded down from the boot with a release button, but the button won’t raise the seats back up.
Storage is ample for its class but the sloping rear hatch hampers the ability to stack items the back. The 12V socket in the boot is useful, as are the tie-down loops. However, the loops are not attached to the car’s frame and cannot take heavy loads. A space saver spare tire is hidden under the false floor.
Driving: Being the little brother of the Lincoln MKX but with a smaller engine, the car feels insulated from the road. Road and engine noise is minimal on the highway and the suspension feels refined. The four-cylinder twin turbo engine is sufficient for most applications save towing.
Although it’s marketed as an SUV, the front-wheel bias of the all-wheel drive system makes I reluctant to move on dirt tracks and gravel roads. The “intelligent” AWD system will deliver power to the rear wheels in some situations, but I would prefer it to be balanced all the time so it doesn’t understeer on twisty mountain roads.
The eight-speed automatic transmission gives it good fuel economy, but the Lincoln’s six-speed allows for manual gearshifts, which come in handy on the Rocky Mountains. I wasn’t able to engine brake for long downhill stretches of the Klondike highway and felt brake fade at the tail end of descents. If safety was a priority, manual gearshifts should be standard equipment like seatbelts. I can do without lane keeping assist, but I want my gearshifts back.
