2006 Lincoln Zephyr in the Autoblog Garage: Day 5
After a week spent with what will soon be the short-lived 2006 Lincoln Zephyr, we’ve learned that beneath its tame exterior lies a uniquely attractive interior. But there’s more beneath this sedan’s sheetmetal than leather, soft-touch vinyl and aluminum trim.
The Zephyr’s mighty heavy hood hides the same 3.0L DOHC V6 producing 221hp and 204 ft-lbs. of torque that can be had in the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan.
Though the Zephyr’s chassis has proven to be an exciting performer in past acts, will the relatively small V6 and the rest of the platform’s supporting cast be enough to prevent a harsh review? Read on to find out…
As we said earlier, the Zephyr’s chassis has earned many a thumbs up in past performances. You can catch its act while driving a Ford Fusion or Mercury Milan, and the Mazda6 features a slightly shorter and thinner version of the same platform. Those cars have earned standing ovations for their portrayal of smooth riding FWD sedans able to dial in responsive handling at the drop of a hat. Whereas the Mazda6 is perhaps the most stiffly sprung player in the pack, the Lincoln Zephyr is the most damped with a discernibly softer ride than the others.
While the Zephyr’s two sides are tied together with front and rear anti-sway bars, the car does pitch and roll a bit more than the pair of Fusions we tested last year. Despite the softer settings, the Zephyr remains a very well composed car. Inducing understeer on public roads required more gumption than we cared to muster, which means the limit to this sedan’s handling are certainly higher than the law allows.
Though the Zephyr would likely trail its platform mates through the slalom cones, it would be our first choice for any extended excursion. In fact, the Lincoln’s highway ride was surprisingly serene and the combination of its finely tuned four-wheel independent suspension and strong chassis allowed for road irregularities to be absorbed with a compliance that belied its relatively short wheelbase. In fact, we’d rate the interstate experience of a Lincoln Zephyr higher than the recently reviewed 2006 Buick Lucerne, the latter’s decade old chassis being no match for the Zephyr’s modern frame despite eight inches of extra wheelbase.
In order to get the Zephyr to dance, however, one has to ask a lot of this little six cylinder. We commented on this powerplant’s lack of grunt and coarseness when called upon in our review of the Fusion SEL V6. The issue only becomes exacerbated in a car that costs thousands more than a deluxe Fusion with all the trimmings. While the Zephyr’s six-speed auto does what it can to keep your tach in the power band, this usually means keeping the revs up where this little-engine-that-could-but-not-quite-but-maybe-with-a-tailwind shows that it just can’t muster any serious motivation without conducting a symphony of thrashing that threatens to drown out the THX II sound system.
While many people decry Lincoln’s lack of stability control in the Zephyr, it really didn’t weigh much on our judgment of the vehicle. Most of the time we’re trying to figure out how to disarm stability control systems. The absence of one in the Zephyr is not Lincoln’s nod to a bygone time when our cars weren’t saddled with electronic training wheels, but more likely an admittance that Lincoln owners usually aren’t the type that need to be reeled in from the edge by a car’s computer.
As we prepare to say goodbye forever to the Zephyr (sniff, sniff) and hello to the MKZ, we can’t help but wonder why Ford didn’t choose to hold off the introduction of this sedan a single model year until it could debut with the company’s new, more powerful 3.5L V6, all-wheel drive and the new in-house derived six-speed automatic destined for the 2007 MKZ. Such a move would’ve established the MKZ out of the gate as the premium player in this pack of sedans. Instead we have the stillborn Zephyr that’s forced to share mechanicals with its more menial mates, thereby diluting its own pedigree.
It could be possible that poor timing sealed the Zephyr’s fate. Clearly the new 3.5L V6 and six-speed slushbox weren’t ready in time for the Zephyr’s launch. Perhaps Ford would’ve lost more money by operating its Hermosillo, Mexico plant at less than full capacity for a year while waiting for development of the new engine and transmission to be complete. The Zephyr’s name change to MKZ and front-end refreshening after a single model year, however, indicate a lack of direction or a long-term plan over at Lincoln. That doesn’t mean this model’s doomed, as we expect the MKZ to address most of the Zephyr’s shortcomings and build upon its strength. In the end, Lincoln will have its desperately needed sports sedan that can justify a higher price and step toe-to-toe with other entry-level luxury competitors. It just won’t be called the Zephyr.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sully 12:12PM (3/24/2006)
"The Zephyr’s mighty heavy hood hides the same 3.0L DOHC V6 producing 210 hp and 204 ft-lbs. of torque that can be had in the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan."
From Lincoln.com:
221 hp and 205 lb.-ft. of torque
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jm 12:36PM (3/24/2006)
Cue gunnar's post-spam promoting his blog...
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Bob Schindler 1:15PM (3/24/2006)
The 1939 Lincoln Zephyr That I learned to drive in was one of the best styled cars of its day and had a V-12 engine. The new Zephy is not beautiful, is not distinctive and has a ordinary and mediocre engine. So maybe it shouldn't be called a Zephr at all.
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Michael Karesh 1:42PM (3/24/2006)
Until Gunnar does chime in, jm, do you have any actual insights to offer? I'm not sure how a post that merely criticizes someone for promoting their blog is any better use of the space.
As for the car, this review seems to agree with my own. Serene ride, needs more serene engine. And the company could use a clearly, more consistent strategy.
My review: http://www.epinions.com/content_208166555268
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jm 2:07PM (3/24/2006)
Yes Micheal my comment includes insight into how people degrade the comments section of this blog with frequently unrelevent advertising links that only distract from the subject matter at hand. This may be simmilar to how you advertise your epinions reviews in nearly all your comments in hopes to collect cash from their eroyalties system. In this way you are exploiting the comments sections for your own personal gain and decieving readers into viewing your ads when they try to view article discussions.
Post/Comment spamming is a common practice that hurts many websites. My aim ridiculing Gunnar was to discourage continued spamming from people such as yourself and imporve the quality of the comments section.
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Rick M 2:11PM (3/24/2006)
sorry, even with the new engine, this car should never have been sold under the Lincoln banner. Except for its pretty face, the car is rent-o-rama material. Boo Ford.
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Mike 2:53PM (3/24/2006)
haha.. Michael (#4) you're just annoyed because you do the same thing as gunnar. jm really has a point there, you have to admit.
and yeah, they REALLY should've waited another year to bring this car out as an MKZ. what where they thinking?
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Brian 3:30PM (3/24/2006)
"Until Gunnar does chime in, jm, do you have any actual insights to offer? I'm not sure how a post that merely criticizes someone for promoting their blog is any better use of the space."
If people quit pimping their blogs [remember, your name also includes the link, so no need to do it again] then the posts complaining about his pimping will go away too.
Anyway, to get back on topic, I not a big Zephyr fan. The front end is just strange looking and the backend is ruined ruined due to the huge tail lights.
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Smoove D 11:09PM (3/24/2006)
Maybe there is hope for Ford. Even though they are a year late, upgrading the drivetrain in the MKZ to distinguish it from it's Ford and Mercury siblings is a good idea and one the clowns managing GM would do well to copy instead of adding ventiports to a G6 and calling it a Lucerne.
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Jake 11:27AM (3/25/2006)
The G6 and Lucerne are not built on the same platform! The Lucerne is based on the Cadillac Deville/DTS platform.
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Smoove D 3:39PM (3/26/2006)
My bad. I guess the Lucerne just looks like a rebadged G6.
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Mark 7:33AM (4/06/2006)
I just leased the car and love it! For practical driving, the cars just fine. As for the motor, I am not disappointed. In fact, I rarely have to push the petal more than 1/3 of the way to get to 60. With traction control, the car rides similar to an AWD Vehicle and next years extra horsepower will add extra cost to the car. My car has every option other than Navigation and my lease price was $28,500. The fully loaded Fusion was nice, but the seats were rock hard and externally, that cars not as nice.
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ANTHONY MICHAELS 10:19AM (4/10/2006)
Ford has tripped on itself again. The Zephyr we drove was nicely appointed. We are not wild of the name as I still remember the Ford Zephyr-a folly on Ford's attempt to upscale a Ford Fairmont. We took the Zephyr on a test drive and could not wait to get back to the dealer lot. Sorry, this one will not do. NIx Zephyr in our search.
The Lincoln Zephyr did offer a wider and somewhat more cozy seating experience than the Lincoln LS. That is where any reasonable comparison ends. The LS is quite some car, and after having had 2 LS's and possibly a third, we are debating weather to await the new Lincoln MKS (Lincoln also has this MKZ and MKS thing wrong--if they want "MARK S or Z then they should use "Mk" S or Z, not MKS or MKS.
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moefuzz 1:27AM (4/11/2006)
Why put an underpowered econo-box engine in a preimium car??
Throw some HP at it.
Does Ford think that all the Lincoln Buyers are 60 year old ladies that never break 50 mph??
Throw some HP at this car! What is wrong with Ford?
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Allen Evans 3:04PM (6/05/2006)
The Licoln Zephyr MKZ is light years ahead of the old LS by all American standards. There is a group of people out there, most in their 50's,& 60's and they do not need or care to have 300HP car to go down I-10. Anything faster than 70mph in the USA is just plain dumb and unsafe. I am accustomed to hords of drivers riding eachs others butt down the Interstates and local highways acting like its a race to get to work. Most of these morons are driving puckup trucks, SUVs and cheap Toyotas. What the majority of drivers want is comfort and safety and style, but they think its more important to think they are going to get there faster and safer in H2 or a BMW. The TRUTH is however, that you cannpt pass cars that have drivers who are thinking the same thing. So the piss each other off and road rage ensues. Wars are fought and idiot prevail on the American highway of the 21st century. I am already planning to buy a MKZ in '07 to use for 100 mile a day comuting and making impressions on the Lexus and BMW nay-sayers.
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Virginia Snowden 7:32PM (3/12/2007)
Interested to find out the local Lincoln dealers
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