2017 Lincoln Continental

[mmcartalk]

I fully expect a 2017 Continental to have much better ride and better handling than any 60's Lincoln, not that it's saying much. The far more sophisticated suspension combined with far stiffer chassis allows a level of precise suspension tuning not available to engineers in the 60's. And less car-sickness and vomiting complaints too.

I agree on the handling. On the ride, it depends on what you mean by "better" ride. Certainly the new Continental will be firmer over bumps and have better damping....that's a given. Luxury cars in the 1960s (with the slightly stiffer torsion/leaf Chrysler, Imperial, and the FWD Olds Toronado, and Cadillac Eldorado models excepted) generally had a very soft, somewhat floating ride that all but totally masked bumps. Handling, though, with the tall-profile tires, 15" wheels, recirculating-ball steering, and 5000-lb. weights, was almost nonexistent.

Just for the record, today, IMO, the Hyundai Genesis 5.0 RWD, of all the cars I have sampled, probably has the best combination of ride and handling.....not to mention acceleration. Check one out for yourself and I think you will agree with me. That, of course, though, may be passé after the new Continental and CT6 debut.....we'll see. From a pure ride-comfort stance, the latest Mercedes S550 probably sets the standard.

 

[IS-SV]

I agree on the handling. On the ride, it depends on what you mean by "better" ride. Certainly the new Continental will be firmer over bumps and have better damping....that's a given. Luxury cars in the 1960s (with the slightly stiffer torsion/leaf Chrysler, Imperial, and the FWD Olds Toronado, and Cadillac Eldorado models excepted) generally had a very soft, somewhat floating ride that all but totally masked bumps. Handling, though, with the tall-profile tires, 15" wheels, recirculating-ball steering, and 5000-lb. weights, was almost nonexistent.

Just for the record, today, IMO, the Hyundai Genesis 5.0 RWD, of all the cars I have sampled, probably has the best combination of ride and handling.....not to mention acceleration. Check one out for yourself and I think you will agree with me. That, of course, though, may be passé after the new Continental and CT6 debut.....we'll see. From a pure ride-comfort stance, the latest Mercedes S550 probably sets the standard.

I won't waste everybody's time hear on unrelated outdated ride quality assumptions from the good old days. But in short, all that vomit-inducing vertical movement/lunging and cycling through much of suspension travel while moving over bumps at speed with antiquated 1960's suspension hardware is not even close to the composed ride quality of modern lux cars in 2016. And when a chassis has that much flex and so little rigidity, chassis tuning becomes even less precise making it difficult to achieve safe handling combined with a decent ride. Not Applicable (to topic here).

I haven't bothered to sample the Hyundai Genesis, the interior quality being no better than a loaded Camry or Accord, and the bland styling doesn't do much for me. No doubt the car is a very good value for those that actually need a car that big, I don't and therefore have used my Lexus back seat about once a year at the most. The instrumented tests/properly thorough reviews I have read show V8 is nice but not outstanding when compared to other engines. Hyundai is pushing and selling mostly V6's now because of the lack of that particular V8's fuel efficiency and price-resistance.

 

[mmcartalk]

I won't waste everybody's time hear on unrelated outdated ride quality assumptions from the good old days. But in short, all that vomit-inducing vertical movement/lunging and cycling through much of suspension travel while moving over bumps at speed with antiquated 1960's suspension hardware is not even close to the composed ride quality of modern lux cars in 2016. And when a chassis has that much flex and so little rigidity, chassis tuning becomes even less precise making it difficult to achieve safe handling combined with a decent ride. Not Applicable (to topic here).

Nothing about car talk, IMO, is a waste of time....but your opinion (and thread-topics) are noted.

I haven't bothered to sample the Hyundai Genesis, the interior quality being no better than a loaded Camry or Accord, and the bland styling doesn't do much for me. No doubt the car is a very good value for those that actually need a car that big, I don't and therefore have used my Lexus back seat about once a year at the most. The instrumented tests/properly thorough reviews I have read show V8 is nice but not outstanding when compared to other engines. Hyundai is pushing and selling mostly V6's now because of the lack of that particular V8's fuel efficiency and price-resistance.

My pastor got a new 3.8 Genesis and just loves it.

As to the 5.0, you may have a point. Hyundai's excuse for not selling the 5.0 AWD in the American market is gas-mileage.

Anyhow, I agree....back to the new Continental. One thing about it that has apparently not been discussed (yet) is the possibility of the grille and headlights being used on the MKC and MKX crossover SUVs....it is already being transferred to the next MKZ mid-size sedan. Lincoln did a nice job overall on the new SUVs, but the new wing-grilles in front, though definitely better than the old toothy-grin grilles, could still use some improvement.

 

[IS-SV]

Anyhow, I agree....back to the new Continental. One thing about it that has apparently not been discussed (yet) is the possibility of the grille and headlights being used on the MKC and MKX crossover SUVs....it is already being transferred to the next MKZ mid-size sedan. Lincoln did a nice job overall on the new SUVs, but the new wing-grilles in front, though definitely better than the old toothy-grin grilles, could still use some improvement.

IMHO (and the slow sales help support my opinion), it will take more styling-wise than a new front grill to fix all the slow-selling Lincolns (meaning the only model that sells at acceptable rate is MKC). Example is new MKS (derived from Fusion model, I think it's called), slapping on new grill doesn't fix the ugly body and therefore it was ignored at recent car show here.

The weakest styling element on this new Continental to me are the taillights, looks like its from a slow selling Hyundai model or something...

 

[mmcartalk]

IMHO (and the slow sales help support my opinion), it will take more styling-wise than a new front grill to fix all the slow-selling Lincolns (meaning the only model that sells at acceptable rate is MKC). Example is new MKS (derived from Fusion model, I think it's called), slapping on new grill doesn't fix the ugly body and therefore it was ignored at recent car show here.

The weakest styling element on this new Continental to me are the taillights, looks like its from a slow selling Hyundai model or something...

The Fusion's stablemate is the MKZ, not MKS. The MKS is the present flagship sedan and Taurus-derived. I agree that the present MKZ is not very impressive, and that the Fusion is probably a better design for less money. But the addition of the new Continental's grille and interior/dash reworking at least helps it visually, in two of its weakest areas. I hope to be able to comment further after the D.C. Auto Show next week (if the cars are out on the floor, unlocked).....the show is being delayed until Monday because of a massive 2-day snowstorm/blizzard expected to start tomorrow afternoon, on what was supposed to be opening day.

 

[IS-SV]

^ Lol ! Good example of actual premium car buyers in that nobody cares/nobody knows Lincoln's alphabet soup naming convention, and therefore cars were mostly ignored at SJ show. I saw one couple look at a Lincoln but I'm not sure they were capable of driving safely anymore. I looked at MKC and noticed 50K price, not realistic to say the least.

And wow, a flagship derived from a Taurus, I have no words for that...
Yes new Continental is looking good and only real hope for Lincoln to thrive/ survive.


In the same section/hall of the show were BMW, Lexus, Cadillac and all 3 were reasonably busy midweek/midafternoon. .

 

[mmcartalk]

I saw one couple look at a Lincoln but I'm not sure they were capable of driving safely anymore. I looked at MKC and noticed 50K price, not realistic to say the least.

MKCs actually start in the low/mid 30s, but to get AWD, the larger 2.3L Ecoboost turbo, and some of the option packages, yeah, you'll be forking out over 40K, and (as you note) possibly as high as 50K. That can also be said for some of the MKC's competitors. Given Cadillac's latest trend in pricing, I would not be surprised to also see their upcoming (yet unnamed) compact crossover SUV entry in that field with those kind of price-stickers.

And wow, a flagship derived from a Taurus, I have no words for that...

Well, the Taurus-based MKS at least offered the AWD option and better handling than the full-size, body-on-frame Town Car it replaced (at some cost in ride comfort)...but, other than that, I'd agree, it is not very impressive. It drove more like a mainstream family sedan than a true luxury-car. The new Continental is, of course, also based on a FWD V6 platform. We'll have to wait and see if its driving experience is any better....I'm confident that we'll see at least some improvement.

In the same section/hall of the show were BMW, Lexus, Cadillac and all 3 were reasonably busy midweek/midafternoon. .

I'd imagine there was a fair amount of interest in the new Lexus LC (if it was displayed at that show), GS-F, RX, and Cadillac CT6.

 

[IS-SV]

LC and CT6 production versions were saved for Detroit launch, although LC concept has already been shown for years in SF (I posted pic, blue one).

GS-F and CTS-V had plenty of lookers.

(I'm getting sleepy just thinking about Lincoln's displays, lol., most at show walked by it quickly to go straight to BMW displays.)