A year ago I drove and reviewed the then-new Lincoln Zephyr to discover whether it was possible to make a Lincoln out of a Mazda. My conclusion: yes, though I wasn't sure this was necessarily a good thing. Some aspects of the result reminded me a bit much of the Town car.

This year the car gets a new name and a new engine. The new name, MKZ, is clearly a bad idea. When Lincoln is offering an MKZ, an MKX, an MKS, and so forth, you can count on consumers being just as confused as they were when Chrysler offered half-dozen different LeBarons. I know my cars, and I'm already saying MKX when I mean MKZ, and vice-versa. (I'll probably even do it while writing this review.)

Going into this test drive, I had more hope for the engine. The Zephyr made do with the latest (and perhaps last variation) of the 3.0 V6 introduced with the 1996 Taurus. The 3.0 was not competitive in terms of power or of refinement. The MKZ's all-new 3.5-liter V6 kicks out 263 horsepower using regular unleaded, so the specs look good. In addition, all-wheel-drive is now an option. Sadly, stability control is still not available, a major omission in this segment.

To find out how much difference the 3.5 and AWD make, I took a new MKZ for a spin.

Styling

Supposedly some changes have been made to the exterior styling, but they're too small for me to notice. So I'll just touch up my styling impressions from last year...

Nothing about the MKZ's styling suggests its Mazda6 origins. No basic dimensions are shared, much less any sheetmetal. Compared to the Mazda, wheelbase is up two inches, overall length four, and width two, to yield a sedan roughly the size of the current Honda Accord.

The MKZ and Milan share exterior door panels, but still manage to look sufficiently different that no one will confuse the two. The Mercury's headlamps do not wrap into the fenders, and thus miss a chance to disguise the length of the front overhang. The headlamps on the Lincoln do adopt this automotive analog of the french-cut bikini, resulting in a more balanced appearance. The Lincoln's hood also doesn't slope as much, lending the car a more massive front end. As a result, it looks larger than the Mercury even though the tape measure says otherwise (the Mercury is an inch longer).

The MKZ is clearly the more upscale of the two designs, and is more distinctive than Lincoln's previous attempt at a more international product, the discontinued LS sedan. The strong rectalinearity of the design vaguely recalls Lincolns of the early 1960s through the 1980s, with more contemporary proportions. The car has an understated elegance. Perhaps too understated. I'm not sure most people will even notice the car. It's no Acura TL or Cadillac CTS in the attention-getting department. So I'd call it a partial success.

While I doubt anyone will confuse the MKZ with a Mazda6 from the outside, they certainly won't once inside the car. Despite using the same controls as the Milan, no one will confuse its interior with that car's, either. What we have here, folks, is a bold attempt to meld Lincoln's traditional interior cues with an otherwise thoroughly contemporary interior. I personally have little clue how this will play out. People might appreciate the interior's clearly Lincoln flavor. Or they might think it old-fashioned. I personally feel both ways about it.

The strongest traditional cue is a flat-faced, flat-topped, very square instrument panel. Though in actuality this instrument panel is little if any higher than that in the Milan, it feels much higher. I feel a bit buried behind it, even after raising the seat an inch or so. Additional Lincoln cues include satin trimplates on the center stack, console and window switch surrounds and satin buttons. If you've seen a recent Lincoln SUV, you know the look. Classy, and definitely more upscale than the Milan's much more mainstream interior.

My ultimate reaction to the interior depends on the color. The Zephyr I drove last year had the "sand" interior (medium tan with light tan seats) with the blonde wood, and the flavor was too much "downsized Town Car" for my taste. It was at once too prissy and too geriatric. The MKZ I drove this time around had the dark charcoal interior (which has an attractive hint of brown in it) with "ebony" (dark brown) wood, and I found it much more agreeable. While I admire the brighter interior's boldness and distinctiveness, I doubt I could ever feel at home in it. Owners of other Lincolns seeking a more efficient and maneuverable vehicle, on the other hand, will likely love it.

Materials are clearly a step above those in the Milan, and generally in line with the $30,000 price.

Accommodations

Here we have no changes from last year, so again I'll just add a few tweaks...

I've already mentioned the somewhat buried driving position. Even in the Milan you sit lower relative to the instrument panel than in the Mazda6. The view forward is still fairly open, if not quite expansive. Since luxury cars tend to have lower driving positions, and a lower driving position does make a car feel more substantial, I suppose this is fitting if not to my own taste.

The MKZ's front seats feel plusher than those in the Milan. But the cushion is smaller. Last year I found them a bit uncomfortable; this year I found them moderately comfortable, but still not outstanding in any way. Like the Cadillac Catera, the MKZ might be targeted towards women, and these seats might have been sized for them. The seatbacks in the two cars are much more similar; both provide a fair amount of lateral support. Where the Mercury has a driver's side manual lumbar adjuster, both front seats in the Lincoln have 10-way power adjusters, including lumbar and recline.

Despite the Lincoln's and Mercury's greater length, they offer only a half-inch more rear legroom than the Mazda. And even this small advantage is squandered by the poorly shaped rear seat cushion both share. This cushion is so flat that I could not keep myself from slouching a couple of inches. This might have been done to enable the seat to fold flatter. But many cars, including the Mazda6, have rear seats that are both comfortable and foldable.

At least the seat folds. The trunk is large, and this enables even larger items to be carried. When the seats are folded the opening is wide but not very high owing to a beam beneath the package shelf.

On the Road

Despite producing nearly as much power as the premium-requiring 272-horsepower 3.5-liter in the new Lexus ES 350, the new 3.5 in the MKZ does not feel nearly as strong.

Part of the problem might be that I sampled the 200-pound-heavier AWD version. But the Lexus ES 350 splits the difference between the 3,469-pound FWD MKZ and the 3,672-pound AWD MKZ, so this isn't much of an explanation. The real culprits are a overly stiff throttle (which suggests that you shouldn't push it too far), the throttle map, and I suspect the shape of the torque curve. Pushed near the redline the MKZ's 3.5 wakes up. Acceleration is especially energetic at highway speeds. But in the midrange it doesn't feel nearly as energetic as it should. In the Lexus, a bit of gas shoots the car effortlessly forward. In the Lincoln, you never feel the same solid, reassuring push in the lower back.

I've noticed a similar shortcoming in the 2.3-liter four used in many Fords and Mazdas, and in the old 3.0 as employed in the Mazda6 and Zephyr, for that matter. Ford has some learning to do on the subject of a pleasurable torque curve and the associated throttle mapping.

The 3.5 is about average in terms of refinement compared to other recently introduced V6s. It produces a conventional low, not overly loud roar when prodded. In comparison, Toyota/Lexus' 3.5 feels silky and sounds like money.

EPA ratings are 19/27 with FWD, 18/26 with AWD. These numbers are about average for this sort of engine in this sort of car. Direct injection would help: the Lexus ES 350 rates 21/30.

The six-speed automatic transmission is overly eager to upshift, and requires a fairly large prod at the gas to downshift, further emphasizing the engine's subpar midrange. No mechanism is provided to manually shift it; the only choices are D and L, not good considering there are six ratios to work with.

The all-wheel-drive system, on the other hand, worked surprisingly well. I found I could go full throttle at will. No matter how much the front wheels were turned, I never felt a tug at the steering wheel or heard a throttle-induced squeal from the tires.

A Lincoln should not only look different than a Mercury or Mazda. It should also drive differently. This has largely been achieved. Last year, even before leaving the dealership parking lot I could readily tell that the Zephyr had a significantly plusher, more insulated feel than the Milan or Mazda6. The Lincoln weighs about 200 pounds more than the Milan, and additional sound deadening material likely accounts for much of this difference.

Lincoln claims to have tightened up the suspension a bit this year, and even last year its behavior was far removed from the land yachts of yore. Still, once underway the Lincoln continues to have a softer, looser character than the Milan. Steering feel suffers a bit from the MKZ's additional dampening, but isn't entirely absent.

The chassis is still biased towards understeer, but the all-wheel-drive system helps get the most out of what it has to offer. This midsize Lincoln is not intended to be a driver's car, and isn't one. But the MKZ will take whatever you decide to dish out with aplomb, maintaining excellent composure up to its moderate limits. As you approach said limits, the outside front Michelin will begin to squeal. Back off the throttle just a touch, and the tire shuts up and the car keeps going. Even without stability control, the MKZ's handling is both very accessible and very safe. I'd still like to see stability control, as this highly recommended safety feature is standard on most competitors.

Ride quality is better than in the Milan, and much better than in the Mazda, but isn't quite to Lexus levels. Noise levels compare similarly. In this area the MKZ is about 85 percent of the way to where it needs to be.

Overall, the MKZ achieves a very reasonable compromise between a traditional Lincoln and a contemporary luxury-sports sedan. A Lexus ES, for example, has lighter steering, leans more, and loses its composure more readily (if much much readily than it did before the 2007 redesign), while an Acura TL or especially an Infiniti G35 is tighter and sportier.

Lincoln MKZ Price Comparisons and Prices

THe MKZ lists for just $230 more than the Zephyr, a very reasonable increase for an additional 42 horsepower. All-wheel-drive adds $1,875, which is a hundred or two higher than the current average cost for this feature. I'd personally opt for it, as it makes the application of the new engine's power to the pavement thoroughly disturbance-free.

Ford reduced prices on the Fusion and Milan for 2007, so even after adjusting for feature differences the MKZ costs about $4,000 more than its lower-rent sibs. This amount is still significantly less than the premium Toyota charges for a Lexus ES over a Camry, so I suppose it's reasonable.

Compared to the Lexus ES 350, its most obvious competitor, the MKZ is about $4,800 less expensive before adjusting for feature differences, $3,500 less expensive afterwards. Invoice to invoice, the post-adjustment difference is about $1,900. These are all before rebates, which have been as high as $1,000 for the Zephyr. Last year I said I'd take the Lincoln. But this year's redesign of the Lexus included a more attractive exterior and an excellent engine. So I'm now inclined towards the Lexus.

The MKZ is about $2,200 less expensive than an Acura TL before rebates. I'd go with the TL, but then I prioritize handling over ride quality.

These choices reflect the strengths of the Lexus and Acura more than they do the weaknesses of the Lincoln. The MKZ is a very good car, especially with the new 3.5 and all-wheel-drive, just not an excellent one.

In both cases I am comparing the FWD MKZ, not the AWD car I drove, for the simple reason that these competitors don't offer AWD. For someone who wants AWD, the two closest competitors are probably the Chrysler 300 and the Volvo S60.

A similarly equipped 300 Touring lists for less than $200 more, but remaining feature differences widen the gap to $1,600. The 300 Limited is actually a closer match, but then the MSRP gap is about $1,700 and the after adjustment gap about $2,100.

Despite being much less powerful, the Volvo S60 2.5T AWD costs about $5,000 more than the Lincoln.

Prices change frequently, and differences will vary based on feature level. To quickly generate these and other comparisons with the specific features you want, visit my Web site, www.truedelta.com. (It's the only site that provides true "apples-to-apples" price comparisons.)

TrueDelta's page for the MKZ:

http://www.truedelta.com/models/MKZ.php

Last Words

The MKZ is clearly more Lincoln than Mazda, if anything too much so. Previous Lincoln owners seeking a more efficient, more maneuverable car will find much to like. And those who prioritize luxury and ride quality might find the midsize Lincoln an afforable alternative to a Lexus ES. But enthusiasts will likely find the instrument panel too traditional (though the darker interior helps a lot) and the chassis a bit over-insulated. Luckily for Lincoln, most buyers in this segment likely fall into the Lexus rather than the Acura camp.

The new engine is definitely an improvement, but it's at best average among today's generally excelent 3.5-liter sixes. The all-wheel-drive proved a more impressive addition.

I'm still not quite to four stars for the MKZ. A few tweaks to the engine and/or throttle calibration ought to do the trick, though. A better-shaped and -positioned rear seat cushion would also be a good idea.

A Note on Lincoln MKZ Reliability

I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've started collecting my own data. Results, once they are available, will be posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.

Unlike other sources, TrueDelta will clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy a MKZ rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Lincoln MkZ reliability comparisons.

Before I can report results, I need data on all cars--not just the MKZ--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. For non-participants, there will be an access fee.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.

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Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
Acura TL review
Cadillac CTS review
Lexus ES 350 review
Lincoln LS review