When last you heard from me, I was excited about test-driving a Lincoln MKT. But then I fell silent. This is because right after I gave back the car, I went to Disneyland, and then participated in that annual ritual of Back-to-School where September completely crumbles away; plus I went to New York for a Project Runway event, and endured an entire string of those ever-annoying minimum days for Parent-Teacher conferences. So yes, life has been extraordinarily hectic. My delay in reporting back on my test drive is not for lack of enthusiasm.
Let's recap: I enjoyed seeing the MKT while at a special Ford Event in Chicago. I was therefore excited to borrow one for a couple days.
Before the car arrived, I saw a man in a turquoise Mustang drive up my court. He waved his arms around, beckoning towards my house. I knew my car must be on its way. Indeed, the driver of the MKT took it easy as he approached my driveway. It is an older road, and vehicles line both sides. I understand the driver's hesitation completely.
He parked in the middle of the court, hopped out, and gave me the keys. Then he and the Mustang-man drove away.
OMG, they just gave me a fancy car.
I opened it up, and looked around. I sat in it. I turned it on. I smelled that excellent new-car smell. I walked around it several times. I pulled it into my driveway, hesitantly, hoping I wouldn't do something wrong. I locked it, and locked it again just to make sure.
It looked very clean and very new next to my dirty van. Amazing, for once that van was shiny-new, too. Once.
I left the house a little bit early for school pick-up. I didn't want to feel rushed. As I approached one intersection, I was nervous because I pass a high-school with lots of new drivers who think their video game proficiency translates to real-world driving excellence. The high school also brings confident teenage pedestrians who leap out unexpectedly to cross the street. I didn't really want to test out the MKT's safety features firsthand.
As I approached the signal beyond the high school, I noticed that the blind-spot mirror didn't register oncoming traffic. I had wondered about this when learning about the feature in Chicago, but later learned that traffic must be approaching from the back of the car to the front of the car, not the other way around. (So if I pass someone on the freeway, that car won't appear in the blind-spot mirror because it is the wrong direction, whereas if a car passes me, it will appear.)
Another aspect of this mirror that I had wondered about prior to the test drive is whether it would sense traffic two lanes away (which would mean it would nearly always be on, given typical traffic patterns.) Thankfully, it does not. The trick about the mirror is that it is a very specific range. The driver must always check oncoming traffic both to the rear and to the front, because the mirror signal only takes care of the blind spot. As with other safety features, these warning lights are to enhance safety but should not take away from the driver's vigilance.
That said, both the backing-up assist and the active-park assist require a great deal of trust in the vehicle. I found visibility to the rear difficult for me, so I needed to rely on the rear-camera and the warning beep. Thankfully, the rear camera is phenomenal. I saw everything, even little kids walking right behind me at school pickup. The parallel-park assist is nothing short of a miracle. I still had fear that I'd hit another car, but ended up perfectly parked. But back to the story of that first drive...
After I successfully navigated the teenagers, I came across a construction site. No! Please don't cover this brand-new Lincoln MKT in tar! I tried to avoid as much yuckiness as possible, carefully driving over the area so as not to spray up too much debris.
The next obstacle was the very-busy-school intersection where I typically take a U-turn. Would the rather wide heavy Lincoln MKT be able to complete the narrow U-turn? Yes! I was surprised and relieved. The next day I tested the MKT's maneuverability again, this time by parking in a spot that I was fearful of attempting - but I did it (or the car did it, no problem!) Similarly, backing out of that congested parking lot made me nervous, but with the rear camera and warning beeps of oncoming traffic, I successfully pulled out. Again, back to the story...
I was celebrating my successful U-turn, but then a very large truck approached me from the right. This truck had been in front of me in the left-turn lane. He turned left. But what I didn't realize was that he turned left, and then doubled-back into the right-turn lane of the perpendicular street so that he could re-enter traffic going the opposite direction. In other words, he completed a U-turn, but a wide one, encircling a cement barrier. My first impression was that he was turning left. My second impression was that he might be parking in a location off by the right-turn lane (since it was a utility vehicle and there were other parked trucks in that vicinity working on a problem.) But no, he unexpectedly re-entered traffic. By the time I figured out what he was doing, I didn't want to slam on the brakes, so didn't let him in. He honked and gave me the finger.
My heart was racing. It would have been scary in my own car, but to have a "close call" with a borrowed vehicle was really frightening.
But I didn't wreck the Lincoln MKT.
| My written and photographic impressions of the Lincoln MKT:
- Why a Lincoln MKT? - Don't Wreck the Lincoln MKT! - My Family's First Impressions of the Lincoln MKT - The Father Test - My Dad's Take on the Lincoln MKT - Is the Lincoln MKT Kid-Friendly? - My Lincoln MKT Test-Drive Recap - My Lincoln MKT Flickr Set |
Disclaimer: Ford lent me a 2010 Lincoln MKT to use for a few days. I am not receiving any compensation other than the use of the vehicle and possible promotion of my posts on The Ford Story website. The opinions stated above are my own. The Ford Facts stated above are taken either from the Lincoln website or from the "welcome kit" I received upon agreement of the review test-drive. If I have misinterpreted the materials, I will immediately correct at Ford's request; otherwise, this content is my own. I should also note that as this vehicle is so new, it does not yet have an owner's manual. Therefore, I may raise questions that might be covered very well in the eventual manual. Similarly, my discovery of new features may only tell part of the story that the manual will explain in more detail.
