Video: 2010 Lincoln MKZ

The MKZ you'll recall is a car that first arrived on scene as the Lincoln Zephyr, a car closely related to the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan. Both of those have been thoroughly updated for 2010. Lincoln says for this year, the MKZ is quicker, quieter, and more refined on the inside than its predecessor. The most noticeable changes are up front, where there are thinner headlights and a new split grill looks a lot like the grill on Lincoln's larger MKS sedan. The tail on the other hand, hasn't really changed much. New technologies this year include a blind spot warning system, as well as a new feature Lincoln calls Cross Traffic Alert. Similar to Chrysler's Rear Cross Path system, it basically uses sensors to monitor an area perpendicular to your car, so that if you're backing out of a parking spot, basically if there's traffic coming at you, you'll stop and you won't get T-boned. Technologies on the inside include Ford's latest generation of navigation systems, with available subscription-based Sirius Travel Link. That can find things like nearby gas stations with regularly updated fuel prices. Also an available backup camera that'll go in the nav system's screen, or if you don't get a nav system, it'll actually go up here in the rear view mirror. Nice feature to have as a standalone option, so you don't have to shell out all that extra money if you don't want navigation. There's also available genuine wood trim. Obviously that's not in this car. And available Bridge of Wier leather. That's actually the stuff from the MKS. Definitely a better interior than last year's MKZ. The plastics are nicer, especially along the dashboard. They don't have quite the graininess to them that we've seen in previous MKZs. Possibly in the league of the Lexus ES right now. I'm not sure yet. We'll have to get them side by side to really see. One nice feature about being related to the Fusion is that you get a pretty generous trunk. A cool feature about the MKZ's trunk, like with the Fusion, is that there are these clever pull handles to lower the 60/40 split folding rear seat. The seat's also spring loaded. So when you pull the handles, they go down on their own. Pretty nice feature. Under the hood is the same 3.5 liter V6 that last year's MKZ had. Lincoln says the six speed automatic has been retuned for faster acceleration times. 7.1 seconds, specifically, from zero to 60. That narrows the gap a bit with the ES, which does zero to 60 in 6.8 seconds according to Lexus. The MKZ offers a sport appearance package. This show car has it. It's got 18 inch wheels in a hunkered down suspension. If you want, there's also available all wheel drive. The old MKZ never really wowed us. It wasn't the funnest car to drive, and its interior sometimes lagged behind the competition from Cadillac and Acura and Lexus. This one shows key improvements in a lot of areas. And so when it comes out in the spring, it may be time to put Lincoln back on the list. (upbeat music) <v Announcer>For additional information on this car or any other go to cars.com and our blog, Kicking Tires.