From the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, Cars.com's Mike Hanley takes a look at the 2010 Lincoln MKT. It competes with the Acura MDX and Audi Q7.
Transcript
(upbeat music) Hi, I'm Mike Hanley with cars.com and I'm here at the Detroit auto show with Lincoln's new MKT luxury crossover. It's a three row SUV that competes with models like the Acura MDX and Audi Q seven among others.
And it features a number of interesting technology features along with the quite refined interior cabin. And it goes on sale this summer. The MKT was shown last year at the Detroit auto show in concept form and the production model keeps the general look of that vehicle. You can see here, it has the same Lincoln corporate grill with this toothy design. It's quite large, but it overall works pretty well with the proportions of this large vehicle. The MKT is related to the Ford Flex, but it has a completely different design on the outside. You can see it, especially towards the back of the vehicle. Now where the Flex has more of a boxy design, especially in the back, Lincoln's really made the MKT sleeker with this forward SWEP D pillar. Now it makes for a stylish look on the outside, but on the inside, especially in the third row, it compromises some comfort, which I'll talk about in a minute. Lincoln's really given the interior, the MKT, a premium appearance, and that's good because the competitors in this segment also have premium upscale cabinets. So Lincoln with the new MKT is keeping pace because you can see here on the dash, has a nice soft touch design with actual stitching, really impressive wood grain trim. And overall it's a pretty luxurious space for this class. The MKT is going to be available with two V6 engines. There's a standard 3.7 liter V6 that's rated at 268 horsepower. And then there's also the Eco Boost engine option, which is a 3.5 liter twin turbo V6, it makes 355 horsepower. And both of those engines team with six speed, automatic transmissions. And you can see here that there's shift pedals on the steering wheel. So you can control gear changes from them if you'd like. Like the Flex, the MKT has a spacious second row that offers good comfort for even taller passengers. I'm about six feet, one inches tall. The back rest reclines and the lever is nicely located low on the side of the seat rather than up high, so you don't have to twist around to recline the backrest. So here in the third row of the MKT, space is about similar to what you'd get in a Flex. But as you can see, I can barely sit upright and that's different than in the Flex where the Flex has much better third row headroom. That's kind of a function of the exterior styling of this car. So if you're going to be a taller passenger, you don't want to be back here in the third row. So as you can see, Lincoln's come up with a pretty distinctive crossover in this class. And when you throw in the available technology features and also the high performance engine that's available, it looks like it's going to be a pretty competitive entry in the luxury crossover class. For additional information on this car or any other go to cars.com and our blog, Kicking Tires.
