Scott Burgess

2010 Lincoln MKT has luxury, power to spare

At 115 mph, the Michigan countryside blurs into horizontal lines of greens and browns; that is, if you look directly out the driver's window. My advice: Look straight ahead.

Going that fast means you can see the forest, but not any of the trees, as they womppast in a flurry of sound and color.

Now, I wasn't driving on just any Michigan road. I was testing the 2010 Lincoln MKT's new powertrain at Ford's Michigan Proving Grounds in Romeo. Part of the facility includes a super smooth, 5-mile oval track with banked corners -- which makes driving here a thrilling experience. You feel like you're defying gravity every time you lean through a corner.

The MKT could have gone faster, but high winds that day kept speeds down. This luxury crossover's big body tended to act like a barn door in the heavy crosswinds. In fairness, even a slippery sedan jostled in the winds.

The new powertrain under the hood of the MKT is every bit as incredible as Lincoln's owner, Ford Motor Co., makes it out to be. The 3.5-liter direct injection turbocharged V-6 tosses around V-8 kind of numbers; in fact, they're better than many V-8s. The MKT flies with 355 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque available at 1,500 rpm. (The base model MKT will have a 3.7-liter V-6 under its hood, but I never drove that model.)

Known as EcoBoost by Ford, the engine should just come with the name BiggerBoost. But Ford loves the "eco" prefix. For example, it also offers "Eco-driving tips," an "EcoGuide" and "Eco-friendly seat fabrics." So it's no surprise this beefcake V-6 would arrive with the word "eco" attached to it. More power to Ford, I say. Anyone who can get people to think 355 horses under the hood is green is OK in my book. And really, there is an argument to be made that it is.

The MKT is a very fun ride, whether driving on the big oval, slamming through a road course, hitting big sweepers at 70 mph and pushing the machine to the edge of control, or just commuting to work. In a comparison test with the Audi Q7, the Audi felt about the same until I realized I had been driving 10 mph faster in the MKT.

The MKT with a twin-turbocharged V-6 only comes in all-wheel drive and includes a specially tuned suspension and beefed up six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. The paddle shifters take a little getting used to, and my personal preference is to have them mounted on the steering column, not the steering wheel. But they work well, and the transmission responds instantly to your commands.

Additionally, the MKT needs all that power to perform because it weighs in at nearly 5,000 pounds. Two-and-a-half tons is a lot of sheet metal to pull around. That makes it all the more surprising that the MKT felt so nimble.

Lap of luxury

Now the test models I drove were not complete inside, so I'll forgo evaluating the interior. Lincoln did not put any holds on my comments, but if it's not something a consumer can buy, it's not something worth criticizing. Suffice to say, the final versions of the MKT will come with more than enough luxury appointments to choke an Englishman.

There are the performance technologies such as adaptive cruise control, collision warning brake system, active park assist, adaptive headlamps, rain-sensing wipers, blind spot detection and cross traffic alert, which warns you if someone is coming as you back out of a parking space.

They all are designed to make your trip that much more trouble- and worry-free.

Then there are the luxury amenities: hands-free cell phone connectivity through Ford's Sync system, panoramic sun roof and the THX certified 5.1 Surround Audio System with 14 speakers. If luxury was solely calculated by how much stuff a vehicle includes, the MKT would be at the top of the list.

Nonetheless, Lincoln promises a dramatic interior with everything, including a fridge.

Profile lacking

At first take, however, the exterior was not as dramatic. While the Ford Flex, which provides the underpinnings for the MKT, has a unique look, the MKT resembles much of the curvy competition.

The big body -- big enough to hold up to seven passengers -- and the sloping roofline draw similarities to the likes of the Lexus RX and Acura RDX. Even the 2010 Cadillac SRX has a similar profile.

The MKT has distinctive features, such as its big grille and the way a single line is drawn along the vehicle's face that includes the headlamps, grille and turn indicators.

But the profile looks incomplete, and the vehicle is a little too long (even though it needs to be that way to include the third row and modicum of space back there).

That said, the Flex was not a vehicle that struck me as pretty when it arrived. But over time, its look has grown on me. The more I see it, the more I like it. I don't know if the MKT offers enough personality to do the same thing. I'm looking forward to more time in it to find out.

Sburgess@detnews.com (313) 223-3217