2006 Lincoln Zephyr Review

Specifications

Lincoln Heats Up in the Entry-Luxury Segment

When I say the word Lincoln, what image comes to mind? That great American patriot, Honest Abe, who rose from obscurity to defeat three more notable opponents (at the time at least), Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell, to become the 16th President of the United States, and then went on to free African Americans from slavery by signing the Emancipation Proclamation, following this up by instituting Americas first draft, leading the Union to win two major battles at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, plus on a lighter but nevertheless important note considering his devout religious sentiment, issuing a proclamation creating Thanksgiving Day, all before becoming the first assassinated head of state in U.S. history?

Some, who live in Lincoln City, Oregon, Lincoln Alabama, Lincoln, California, Lincoln, Nebraska, or Lincoln City in the U.K., might think of their home town. And others may think of that legendary American luxury car brand started by Henry Leland in 1921, auctioned off to Henry Ford in January, 1922, and up until present day having brought us notable classics such as the original 39 through 48 Continental, the gorgeous 1955 Continental, and elegantly tasteful 1961 Continental, ironically, in a later model year and convertible form, the car Americas last assassinated president (Garfield and McKinley were 2nd and 3rd), John F. Kennedy rode in back of on that fateful November day in Dallas, Texas. Could there be a car brand more entrenched into the fabric of American political history than Lincoln?

One of the most successful cars in Lincolns storied past was the Zephyr, first produced in 1936. It was streamlined, for its time, a real head-turner. But just like all Lincolns, it didnt attract admirers from being sensational. No, leave such “bling” to Cadillac buyers, as Lincoln was all about understated elegance. This remains as true today, as it was then, at least when speaking of its all-new 2006 Zephyr sedan.

It looks very good from all angles, and very distinctive considering the number of cars that share its general chassis architecture and many of its components. With this in mind, parent Ford has found a good thing and its going to make the most of it. At least thats what it seems like when looking from the outside in, at an automaker optimizing its resources to create the best possible line of products for the most affordable price range. Its doing so with the new Ford Fusion, which borrows heavily from Mazda6, a car that has long pulled many drivetrain components from Ford, and is now continuing the process with the new Lincoln Zephyr.

This component and platform sharing is hardly new, and hardly exclusive to Ford or any other domestic automakers, for that matter. Lexus creates its ES 330 from the general architecture of a Toyota Camry, Acuras TL is derived from Honda Accord roots, and the list goes on. Even Lincolns previous Continental sat on the backbone of the old Taurus, yet was a very different car on a very different mission.

The same can be said of the new Zephyr, but possibly the ties between platform-mates are even less obvious. From the outside, very few visual links can be made from Fusion to Zephyr. Instead, the Zephyr sports styling reminiscent of Lincolns of days gone by. While not retro by any sense of the imagination, there are cues, especially the horizontal shape of its traditional waterfall grille, and the rectangular taillights sandwiching a classic crease in the trunk lid, which frames the Lincoln badge, that stir up memories of the 61 Continental, for one.

Inside it is also completely unique, even when compared next to a Fusion. The cabin reminds me of the current Navigator, a vehicle that boasts one of the nicest interiors in the full-size premium sport utility segment. The majority of Zephyrs surfaces are made of extremely high quality plastic (all but the lower console edges that would rarely come in contact with anybody or anything other than a shoe), nice to the touch and finished in a leather-like grain.

The real leather is plush too. Softer and therefore richer than that in the Fusion, which only makes sense, and perforated to let the cool air out of the optional air-conditioned seats. The wood, either a standard figured maple or dark ebony, is also real, and feels like it too, while the metal-like silver finish that covers the console, center stack and other surfaces, isnt overly bright and therefore, not garish. Truly, its an elegant package that really brightened up the drab darkness of New York City on an especially wet autumn day.

Lincoln chose to introduce the newest member of the family here in Manhattan, which seems the ideal location given the high volume of Town Cars that permeate downtown city streets. Town Car. Now thats the iconic Lincoln… a resident fixture at airport limo queues and hotel roundabouts. But its not a car many retail buyers even consider, at least not those under 70. No, while the Town Car is important to Lincoln from a sales numbers point of view, and for the cachet it enjoys as North Americas premiere limousine nameplate, the Zephyr represents a new revitalized Lincoln, targeting sophisticated, 40-something up-and-comers.

Yeah, thats me! Well, minus the sophisticated part. Still, its price point is somewhere around what Id pay for a new vehicle, and being that comfort is slowly taking over speed on my list of core automotive values, the Zephyr hits the mark. It is oh, so comfortable, thanks to 10-way power actuated front seats, a fully adjustable steering column and an already well sorted seating position, at least for my 58″ frame.

Theres ample room in back too, with only very tall passengers finding headroom at a premium. I was able to stretch out comfortably, of course, and found the seatbacks sculpted nicely, complete with bucket-like insets to keep the back and therefore body in place during assertive driving, and sufficient lumbar support for long, comfortable trips.

Ergonomically its almost perfect, except for the headlight switch on the lower left dash and windshield wipers on the left stalk, modulated by rotating an outer switch rather than by pushing the left stalk up and down as is most common nowadays. Of course, this will seem perfect if youre used to the (mostly) domestic vehicles that have long perpetuated this setup. For the rest of us, while awkward at first, I imagine the odd control placement would become second nature in a matter of weeks.

And as long as Im talking smalltime foibles, the Zephyr features a rather old-school digital keyboard next to the drivers door handle. Whats up with that? I remember these were pretty cool about 20 years ago, but the current en vogue luxury item is fob sensing keyless entry, a system that also doesnt require a key to start the engine. Lexus offers it, BMW, and pretty well every other mainstream premium brand, with even some entry-level automakers like Toyota and Suzuki sporting the high-end convenience feature. Instead, Lincoln delivers a massive keypad that bulges out from the doors skin about half an inch, and by so doing complicates the cars otherwise clean and attractive shoulder lines. No doubt, marketing focus groups of current Lincoln owners didnt want to give it up.

Petty personal preference issues aside, the Zephyr plays no favorites when it comes to features, meaning, it comes almost fully loaded from the get-go, with only six optional goodies, and those chosen because not all clients want to include them in their car. For instance, a 221-horsepower Duratec 30 3.0-liter V6 with intake variable cam timing (i-VCT) comes standard, mated to a top-tier six-speed automatic transmission. Planted to the ground are standard 17-inch machined wheels on P225/50 V-rated tires. Added to the assortment of standard features already mentioned, such as 10-way power, leather-covered, heated, two-position memory seats, real wood accents, etc, there are split folding rear seatbacks, auto-dimming driver side and passenger side outboard mirrors, dual zone climate control, steering wheel controls for cruise and audio functions, the latter which control a standard six-disc, dash-mounted CD changer, and the list goes on. Four of the six options are stand alone, including a glass sunroof, chrome wheels, xenon headlamps and the aforementioned air-conditioned seats. The THX II audiophile stereo comes stand alone, or if the navigation system is wanted, automatically bundled together.

This top-line audio system is simply amazing, with 600 watts of pure, undefiled power, ten speakers, a processor that inputs bandwidth, peak audio levels and coverage uniformity, for a nice full surround-sound, but just the same I spent more time toying with the DVD-based nav system during my journey around New York. First of all, Im a big lover of navigation systems when traveling. Just set the destination and let the car guide you along the way. So, for the most part this system, equipped with a large 6.5-inch wide color screen, did its job well, a little annoying due to fairly poor sound quality (it actually sounded tinny, like it was distorting) plus an irritating and unnecessary chime that preceded each verbal direction. Kudos to Lincoln, mind you, for being advanced enough to include verbally announced street names along with exit numbers, etc. It only went haywire once, during a jaunt down the 95, where it told us to make the first U-turn possible while showing our car on the map traveling through the woods. We were staring at it, perplexed, when all of a sudden the little red arrow hopped an inch to the right on the screen, and voila, we were on the 95. Fortunately we sustained no neck injuries, being that the experience was purely virtual, but it left us spinning as to what actually had happened. Otherwise the system worked fine all day, taking us on a tour of Manhattan, down Broadway, which turns into 7th and then Varick, around the block to Church and then Ground Zero, back up Hudson, to 8th and past the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings again to Broadway, and finally back to our hotel at Lincoln Center (how apropos).

After a nice meal and some esoteric jazz ramblings at Dizzys on the Columbus Circle, the former named after the great late, great trumpet player, Dizzy Gillespie, who died in 1993, and who I was fortunate enough to see play in front of my dinner table in the early 80s, I walked back to the Mandarin, past Central Park, to my 48th floor view of the Hudson - part of the Lincoln experience.

As beautifully appointed and calming as this room is, I felt equally pampered (well almost) in the Zephyr. Its ride is sublime, overcoming New Yorks finest pavement irregularities with aplomb, while handling, although no road course was provided, seems adequately suited to executing sharp corners with ease, performing quick lane changes or, avoiding potential accidents.

Getting technical, the Zephyrs fully-independent undercarriage includes short and long arms (SLA) with rearward facing control arms and a stabilizer bar, plus nitrogen filled, gas charged, hydraulic coil over shocks up front, and a multilink system with more or less the same hardware attached in the rear. The steering system? Power rack and pinion, of course.

While all this sounds top-level, I should mention that stability control is not even on the menu, which I think is a major oversight, especially when traction control, four-channel antilock brakes (ABS) and electronic brake force distribution (EBD) are provided standard, the building blocks necessary to incorporate an effective anti-skid system. While the Zephyr remained stable during the torrential downpour I experienced during my test drive, if it were to become unsettled in wet and or otherwise slippery situations, there would be no electronic safety net ready to pull driver and passengers out of harms way - something to consider. While all-wheel drive wont help in this situation, unless piloted by an exceptionally talented race driver with gobs of power at his/her disposal, the Zephyr will come so equipped in model year 2007; optional of course.

Safety considerations aside, and the Zephyr features a long list of standard passive safety features expected in this class, its hushed ride quality is complemented by a muted driving environment. Its quiet in there, thanks to an underbody shield, unique engine cover, extra insulation under the hood, added to the firewall, behind the instrument panel, under the floorboards, within the doors and pillars, in the rear bulkhead and flip-folding rear seatbacks, plus inside the trunk walls. Additionally, 0.2 inch (4.8 mm) side glass, which is 25 percent thicker than in the Fusion, adds to the serenity.

Such attention to detail, along with the many other enhancements the Zephyr offers over the majority of entry-level midsize models, including its Fusion cousin, make it a true luxury car capable of taking on any in its price range, and many above. Not seeking to dethrone BMWs 3-Series, a job premium-rival Lexus is attempting with its superb new IS, the Zephyr takes aim at that Japanese luxury divisions ES 330, as well as Cadillacs low-end CTS. The compact to midsize luxury segment is growing at a rapid rate, but few in this category bias their cars toward luxury over sport, leaving the comfort-oriented niche almost wide open. Therefore Lincoln has allocated a bullish 2,200 examples for the Canadian market, which is a far cry more units sold than V6-powered LS sedans - a model that has now been dropped due to the new Zephyr.

No doubt the Zephyrs better than average expected fuel economy of 20 mpg city and 28 highway, helped along by a smallish displacement engine mated to a transmission that offers an extra gear, or two, compared to the majority of competitors, plus its relatively light 3,406 pound curb weight, will help win over fans, while its ULEV II (California) and Tier II, Bin 5 (U.S. Federal) tailpipe ratings, plus LEV II (California) evaporative emissions, translate into cleaner air than any previous Duratec 30 engine.

So, it seems likely that Lincoln can achieve top-3 in the segment next year, if it does a good job getting the word out. And from the look of the few TV ads I saw, one (the red carpet ad) of which was extremely slick, and a bevy of radio, print and new media initiatives, plus a grass roots “word of mouth” campaign to include weeklong product placements with influential individuals, that will shortly start in major centers around the country, it has a decent chance of achieving top ranking status.

As far as this journalist is concerned, the Zephyr has already achieved milestone marker status in Lincolns long timeline. Never, since domestic producers have been challenged and often beaten by German and Asian competitors, has a Lincolns build quality and design execution measured equally to the imports. It can be argued that the Zephyr does, bypassing the Cadillac CTS by a long shot, at least when comparing interiors, and in some ways even eclipsing Lexus revered ES 330. Thats big news, and poses an interesting scenario for future Lincoln models, heating up their respective categories like Cadillac, and Chrysler, for that matter, have in recent years. The domestics are back!