Here’s one thing I just don’t get. Anywhere else in the free world, the letters MK before something are an abbreviation for the word “mark.” So, this ought to be the Mark S sedan. But for some reason the word mavens at Lincoln call it the MKS. It’s dumb, but I can live with it, because whatever you call it, this is one very nice car. All that, and it has twin-turbos!
Sharing a platform with the Taurus, but not much else, the MKS is the latest bid to make Lincoln truly competitive with Cadillac, and the Japanese and European luxury brands. It isn’t quite there yet, but it now officially made us forget that supertanker of a sedan, the Town Car.
Unlike the old town Car, which could land F-18’s on its hood, the MKS is a relatively compact, crisply shaped four door, and the good news carries over to the interior. In fact, all those snotty German makes, meaning mainly BMW, could learn a thing or two about dash design from this black beauty. Everything is clear, legible, and unlike the insanely unusable BMW I-Drive system, very driver friendly.
Behind the fairly garish grill resides the thing that lifts this car above the humdrum. A 3.5-liter V6 with twin turbochargers gives you V8 power at 355 horsepower and a 0-60 time of 5.5 seconds. It’s called Ecoboost, and it won’t peel back your eyelids, but will allow you to hold your head up high when snooty neighbors brag about their Bimmers and Benz’s. The truth is, they probably can’t catch you anyway.
One reason for that is all-wheel-drive on the upscale MKS, that keeps the car planted and mostly flat through the twisties, and again, makes you forget the old Town Car, which rolled like the USS Nimitz in a typhoon.
All this fun comes with a mileage rating of 17 city, 24 highway, and a base price of nearly $50,000. It’s a great machine, but that is too stout, and no doubt, there will be some wheeling and dealing going on at Lincoln stores come deal time. Even if you pay full list though, it will still take a team of surgeons several days to remove the grin from your face.