Power Package
A twin-turbo 3.0-liter engine puts 400 horsepower in the new MKZ
By Steve Turner
Photos by Steve Turner and courtesy of Lincoln Motor Company
Slide into the sumptuous leather seating and crank up the immersive Revel audio system, and you are already bathed in luxury. It’s no surprise you are behind the wheel of the new Lincoln MKZ, but are those real carbon-fiber accents on the dash? Is that a 400-horsepower engine under the hood? Yes. This one has the Driver’s Package and it puts serious performance under the hood of Lincoln’s new sedan.
While at the LA Auto Show we witnessed the unveiling of this car, and that power number caught our attention.
“Our customers are looking for three attributes in a luxury midsize sedan—technologies that ease their everyday experience, a beautiful design that is crafted with attention to detail, and a vehicle with impressive power that makes it a pleasure to drive,†Kumar Galhotra, president of Lincoln, said. “The new Lincoln MKZ elevates all of these attributes—and many more—to create a compelling entry in this large and highly competitive portion of the luxury market.â€
It’s not often that we find ourselves covering the luxury car world, but it is here that Ford’s upscale brand often debuts new technology that might one day trickle down to more mainstream vehicles. However, Lincoln is always working to set itself apart from its Blue Oval counterparts, and the 3.0-liter engine under the hood of this car is currently exclusive to the 2017 Lincoln MKZ.
Lincoln isn’t using the EcoBoost branding any longer, but this Gas Turbocharged Direct Injection engine shares that same technology. This version is a grown-up variant of the robust 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine and it reaches square outputs of 400 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque thanks to two turbochargers!
Ah, yes, factory twin turbos and direct injection are a happy pairing, and in this application, the potent engine is backed by an all-wheel drive system that offers Dynamic Torque Vectoring like Ford Performance’s hot hatch, the Focus RS. This system can vary the percentage of output to the wheels—from front to back and side to side—in order to put down just the right amount of torque to navigate the car through a corner. Even though this powertrain is in a big luxury sedan, we have a feeling it’s a lot of fun to drive, as it also features continuously controlled damping.
Other upgrades in the Driver’s Package include 19-inch wheels, Ebony-painted calipers, light Magnetic-painted grille, an Ebony interior, carbon fiber appliqués, customizable multi-contour seats and aluminum pedal covers.
So this is one luxury car that we’d be really excited to drive, and we can’t wait to see a powertrain like this democratized into mainstream vehicles in the future.
2017 Lincoln MKZ Gallery
