Lincoln MKZ - 'push button transmission' - say what Jack?

[Acura604]

2013 MKZ


Ordinarily a conventional lever on the floor or steering column comes to mind when thinking about the design of a gear shifter. But the new Lincoln MKZ is different. Departing from the conventional, designers put the transmission controls in a vertical series of ergonomic buttons on the center instrument panel. For even sportier operation in an MKZ powered by the standard EcoBoost® or available 3.7L V6 engine, press the “S” button and use the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Eliminating the floor shifter frees up space between the driver and passenger seats, and enhances the clean, uncluttered appearance that characterizes the whole of the interior.

[twitchyzero]

what if your electronic system fails and you need to quickly switch gears in case of emergency...

[JesseBlue]

well a lot of cars already have drive-by-wire technology so this is another step in that direction...

[Harvey Specter]

Here's an interesting review for this car;

Anyone who aspires to review cars should give Mary Walton’s “Car: A Drama of the American Workplace“ a careful examination. In 392 pages, Walton introduces us to the men and women who went through the gruelling task of designing, engineering and planning DN101, the second-generation Ford Taurus that was meant to dethrone the Toyota Camry once and for all from its spot as America’s favorite car. Only the hardest of hearts would fail to identify with the Ford staffers who spent billions of dollars and countless hours slaving away at a project that ultimately flopped in the marketplace. I know it gave me pause for a long time when it came time to review a car. I began to second guess whether it was right to harp on some poorly fitting trim or wonky steering feel or a carried-over powertrain. Surely, someone wanted to do better, but budget constraints, infighting or other external factors must have conspired to taint their platonic ideal of an automobile.

And then I spoke to someone who worked at Ford and told me the story of their mother’s car shopping experience. “I went to the Lincoln dealer with her to look at a new MKZ,” he told me. “I was there, wearing my Ford jacket, picking the car apart on the showroom floor, cussing and spitting tobacco into a cup. There was flash (extra plastic that hasn’t been filed away) on the fascia. The fit was poor. My mom ended up buying a Lexus.”

Suddenly I didn’t feel so bad anymore.

Forty seven thousand six hundred and sixty-five dollars. Take a second to visualize that. For most Americans, that is a lot of money. Quite possible their salary for the year. Maybe even a nice starter home on a rural route in an economically hard-hit part of the country.




That’s also how much you’ll have to fork over, before any incentives or rebates, for this car. A car that is approaching $50,000, but has a fuel filler door that spontaneously pops open every morning and hangs like a limp appendage.

I did my best to overlook the glaring quality issue that was staring me right in the face at 6 AM every day, but even the supposed selling points of the MKZ ended up pissing me off even more. Take the full length retractable sunroof, something that Lincoln’s marketing guys can’t get enough of.



When fully retracted, it effectively blocks off half of your rear window field of view, reducing the already poor rear visibility. The brochure picture (above) downplays this effect but believe me, the chunky section just below the glass panel combined with the dark tinted glass gives you a field of view worse than the first generation Chrysler 300′s windshield. Luckily, this is an option that can be avoided, but so much of Lincoln’s sales proposition as a premium car seems to be based on this feature. Lest we forget previous issues surrounding fit and finish with this feature.

So, that’s two major issues before we’ve even turned on the car. Starting it is a bit like using an ATM. You hit the starter button on the center stack, then hit Reverse to back out, then Drive to go forward. All of this is done via a column of push buttons, like an old Chrysler, except there’s a discernible lag with this system that you don’t find elsewhere. Having never really experienced it before, I found it a bit disconcerting. The MyLincoln Touch system was as crappy as ever, slow to respond and awkward to use thanks to its haptic controls. The boys at Allen Park ought to start looking very closely at UConnect, and how easy it is to make a touch screen system that actually works. The 2.0 Ecoboost engine returned a whopping 16 mpg in city driving, while the turbo took forever to spool up when the accelerator was pressed. So much for downsizing engines to achieve greater fuel economy.

Most cars seem to have one redeeming feature that saves them from the depths of vehicular Hades. This has none. It does nothing better than a Fusion, costs as much as a decently equipped 3-Series, and displays the kind of QC issues that one would have expected from a Korean auto maker a decade ago. In such a competitive marketplace, this is a disgrace. The Lincoln MKZ is one of the most poorly executed cars in recent memory. There is literally nothing redeeming about it. I can think of more reasons to avoid it than to buy it. And I’m not the only one – Lincoln had so little faith in this car, that they had to pump up early driving impressions by putting Ferrari 599 GTO-spec Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires on the car. Even then, nobody was fooled.

Once upon a time, Lincoln stood for something. It was the car of choice for pimps and presidents and every high-profile individual in between, whether your name was Iceberg Slim or John F. Kennedy. The MKZ, however, is for the kind of person Iceberg Slim would deride as a “mark” or a “sucker” – someone too dumb or brand loyal to go buy anything else. In the words of Nino Brown, another famous pimp, Ford ought to “cancel this bitch” and get back to making something worthy of the brand.

Lincoln provided the vehicle, insurance and one tank of gas for this review.

Capsule Review: 2013 Lincoln MKZ | The Truth About Cars

[Manic!]

disposable car. Once the electronics start to fail the cars going to useless. Trying to fix or replace any of the electronic parts is going to be a nightmare.

[Stiig]

looks like shit drives like shit



american cars are garbage. just look at what happened in Detroit...

[LP700-4]

Hmm where have i seen push button transmissions before?

[!e.lo_]

Remember when James and Jeremy were looking at communist cars and the button sunk into the dash?

[Lomac]

The push button transmission is by no means a new feature. It was around even in the late 50's with Chrysler's original Torqueflite transmission. And, yes, it's even found in Aston Martins of today's vintage.

That said, while I'm a big fan of Ford (probably the only domestic car maker I'm still finding myself root for), I dislike the MKZ. Frankly, the whole Lincoln marquee should have been killed off a while ago. I know it's Ford's "high end" brand, but they're all nothing more than reskinned Fords with an ugly ass grill.

[ilvtofu]

Drove around in a new ford fusion rental car and was pretty impressed, surprised the MKZ seems to be missing the mark, the fusion knocks cars like the camry out of the park. The current one was a huge upgrade from the old one too.

[Volvoman]

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[StylinRed]

i dunno i think the new mkz is pretty hot more than the mks (which is supposed to be higher end than the z)

but i still prefer the older, longer, bigger lincoln town cars

they should reintroduce that model again

[Marshall Placid]

The push button thing... takes the fun out of driving.

You need the gear stick.

Without it... not sure how good the driving experience will be.

[twitchyzero]

Originally Posted by Marshall Placid

The push button thing... takes the fun out of driving.

You need the gear stick.

Without it... not sure how good the driving experience will be.

not sure how high in the list 'driving experience' is for the demographics that buy Lincolns

[godwin]

Nearly all cars in that price bracket from Audi, BMW etc don't have direct linkage of the automatic shifter to the transmission. It is done to integrate with things like AWD, and ESC etc etc more efficiently. Besides it saves a few pounds.

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

what if your electronic system fails and you need to quickly switch gears in case of emergency...

[godwin]

Clarkson didn't had any problems with driving experience with the Jag F type... and it is just automatic.. in fact the shifter is more or less the same concept.

Originally Posted by Marshall Placid

The push button thing... takes the fun out of driving.

You need the gear stick.

Without it... not sure how good the driving experience will be.

[Lomac]

Originally Posted by Marshall Placid

The push button thing... takes the fun out of driving.

You need the gear stick.

Without it... not sure how good the driving experience will be.

Just like all the Aston Martins that share this same style of push button transmissions, the MKZ has paddle shifters for the "driving experience." Hell, the Veyron can be put into automatic mode and even Ferrari's have been offered with automatic transmissions since the 70's.

And as twitchy said, those looking to buy a Lincoln aren't looking for a car to redline in second gear before powershifting into third.

[Marshall Placid]

Originally Posted by godwin

Clarkson didn't had any problems with driving experience with the Jag F type... and it is just automatic.. in fact the shifter is more or less the same concept.

Yes, the paddle shifter slightly behind the steering wheel is fine.

I don't use it on mine.

I just prefer a good olde gear shifter/stick.

I think that a gear shifter/stick to the right of the driver makes it more fun to drive when upshifting and downshifting, making the driver more in tune with the car... more empowered... a symbiotic relationship between driver and car.

It just my opinion.

However, when driving fast (over 100+ km/h), the paddle shifters come in handy for efficiency's sake.

[godwin]

Well for the sake of argument, we are talking about this push button transmission user interface, not the transmission.

The underlying transmission technology is different for AM Vanquish (first use this style).. it was a SMG gearbox, then they moved to ZF automatics (much like the Jag F type) for the DB9 and onwards.. If you press R on the Vanquish when you are going at speed it doesn't do anything.

Veyron is an Xtrac DSG.

Ferrari's last "automatic" the 456.. you have direct control of the linkages. then they move to push buttons etc. So if you move the gear shifter on the 456 to N when you are driving, you are actually moving some cable combination.

As for powershifting.. well newer ZF autos have that covered.. hence I said the Clarkson test on F type.

Originally Posted by Lomac

Just like all the Aston Martins that share this same style of push button transmissions, the MKZ has paddle shifters for the "driving experience." Hell, the Veyron can be put into automatic mode and even Ferrari's have been offered with automatic transmissions since the 70's.

And as twitchy said, those looking to buy a Lincoln aren't looking for a car to redline in second gear before powershifting into third.

[godwin]

The MKZ has paddles.. so it is fine right?

2013 Lincoln MKZ Paddle Shift Photo 4

Do you mean that all with cars should be like Ferraris, Maserati or the Vanquish Mk1, that you have to click the paddles in a correct sequence to go to Neutral before they can get into a rarified position on your list?

Originally Posted by Marshall Placid

Yes, the paddle shifter slightly behind the steering wheel is fine.

I don't use it on mine.

I just prefer a good olde gear shifter/stick.

I think that a gear shifter/stick to the right of the driver makes it more fun to drive when upshifting and downshifting, making the driver more in tune with the car... more empowered... a symbiotic relationship between driver and car.

It just my opinion.

However, when driving fast (over 100+ km/h), the paddle shifters come in handy for efficiency's sake.

[Marshall Placid]

Originally Posted by godwin

The MKZ has paddles.. so it is fine right?

2013 Lincoln MKZ Paddle Shift Photo 4

Do you mean that all with cars should be like Ferraris, Maserati or the Vanquish Mk1, that you have to click the paddles in a correct sequence to go to Neutral before they can get into a rarified position on your list?

The paddle shifters are okay.

It's the push button transmission that is... to put it mildly, weird.

Nevertheless, the new Lincoln, as another poster pointed out, is geared towards the older-age market segment.

I just hope the push button transmission don't show up in other cars geared towards the younger crowd.

[Berzerker]

I don't see what the big deal is. If the car is auto anyways do you really need a stick to rest your hand on while driving? What about things like my truck with a column shifter? It doesn't NEED to be there at all.

The only thing I don't like is how much space it takes up on the dash with the buttons.

Berz out.

[Soundy]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

what if your electronic system fails and you need to quickly switch gears in case of emergency...

This applies to just about every modern transmission other than your basic clutch-and-stick manual.

[Yodamaster]

Jesus christ people, this shit is nothing new, get over it.

[ScizzMoney]

A lot of big trucks that have the new Allison Transmissions (I'm sure there are others too) have the push button transmissions. Our company Freightliner and Kenworth trucks are all equipped with them. So far we are finding them cheaper because the transmissions are very smart and reliable.