2015 Lincoln MKS Review, Ratings, Specs, Prices and Photos (2023)

Martin Padgett Editorial Board

27. May 2015

Tastes

• conservative in style
• Rippling turbo power
• a quiet cabin
• almost everything standard
• The cabin is discreet

don't like

• The badge lacks prestige
• It feels as big as it is
• Headroom in the rear seats is tight
• MyLincoln Touch is complex

Purchase advice

Although the EcoBoost model has similar EPA ratings to its non-turbo sibling, real-world mileage is likely to suffer more, especially if you have a heavy right foot.

Features and Specifications

With the discontinuation of the classic Lincoln Town Car, the MKS is now the largest and most luxurious sedan offered in the brand's showrooms. The MKS is a very distant relative of this old barge; It's a burly premium four-door sedan built for American-sized people and actually has something of a sleeper feel about it. It stacks with the luxury features, with a generous dose of advanced technology, but it's also a surprisingly strong performer, even if you'd never recognize it from the outside. The MKS is now in its seventh model year.

The crowded mid-to-full-size sedan segment in the near-luxury class includes several worthy competitors for the MKS. The Infiniti Q70 (nee M37), Lexus GS and Volvo S80 compete head-to-head, while the Audi A6, BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class are half a step above, coming from luxury brands. Compared to these competitors, the Lincoln MKS is slightly larger and offers a little more shoulder room inside, especially up front. The high waistline and short, foreshortened roof arch limit rear-seat space, but the sleek stance works well from the outside, even if its proportions are a bit tall and a tad wide. The 2015 model gets a very small cosmetic update in the name of ease of use: the trunk lid has been reshaped to improve access to the trunk release button. The change brings a winged accent stripe along the vertical surface of the trunk and has the side effect of making the MKS look a bit like a Jaguar XJ from behind.

The interior of the MKS is very understated, especially when compared to the glamor of some of its competitors. Lincoln's front seats are comfortable all day, and the interior is remarkably quiet on all types of surfaces thanks to an active noise cancellation system. Rear headroom can be an issue due to the flowing shape of the roof and rear window.

The performance of the big Lincoln is strong, but dynamic might not compare to true sports sedans like the E-Class and Series 5. The MKS has a strong, mature personality: it's a luxury car first and foremost. Base models get a 304-hp 3.7-liter V6 that moves the car elegantly but with little emotion. The base V-6 engine is available with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. The premium powertrain is an EcoBoost V-6; This 3.5-liter twin-turbo engine produces 365 hp and is paired with the standard all-wheel drive system to put the respectable 350 lb-ft of power and torque to the ground. The EcoBoost engine offers impressive V-8-like traction, along with a mature baritone exhaust note and fuel economy just 1mpg lower than the base engine paired with AWD. (Note, however, that some EcoBoost engines are shown to run well below their ratings in the real world.)

All drive combinations are equipped with a six-speed automatic transmission. It's a smooth, well-damped companion, and the faster-ratio electric power steering - and stepless damping - make for a slightly more eager driving personality. All MKS models come standard with Lincoln Drive Control, which allows the driver to customize suspension, steering and drivetrain settings. The suspension setup uses continuously controlled dampers on all four corners to improve ride and handling simultaneously.

The Lincoln MKS performs well in most safety tests, although it has struggled in more recent tests. The MKS used to receive the IIHS Best Safety Pick award, although this is no longer the case due to a "Poor" rating in the new Small Front Overlap test. In NHTSA testing, the MKS earns an excellent five-star overall rating, with its only four-star rating coming from rollover analysis. In addition to the mostly top-notch occupant protection ratings, the MKS has a range of available safety features that you won't find anywhere else at this price point. , and an active parking system.

For 2013, Lincoln ditched the matte metallics and gave the interior a subtle makeover, also replacing the MyLincoln Touch infotainment system and a new reconfigurable instrument cluster. Capacitive sliders can be fidgety; MyLincoln Touch can be complex to learn, but you have extensive control over the car's functions, so it's essentially a sink or a swim. Standard equipment includes heated and ventilated front seats; adaptive HID headlights; rear parking sensors; automatic climate control; and an access system with an external keyboard. Lincoln refers to the base MKS as the Premiere package.

The Elite package includes voice-activated navigation, multi-contour front seats, premium wood trim, blind-spot monitoring with cross-traffic alert, a THX II-certified sound system, power-adjustable pedals with memory, and a few other goodies. Additional items are available as standalone options, including a technology package (active parking assist, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control), a cold-weather package (heated steering wheel, heated outer rear seats), and a two-piece sunroof. A fully loaded MKS can well exceed the $50,000 mark. It's a hefty sum, but it gives you a great collection of luxury features and technology that a fairly basic German sports sedan could buy.

Aside from the redesigned trunk lid, the 2015 MKS gets few changes aside from a handful of new exterior colors available.

2015 Lincoln MKS

Styling

The Lincoln MKS is a handsome four-door that manages to avoid the unassuming forms of many of its competitors in the near-luxury arena. While the design may not recall the brand's design heyday, the MKS looks sleek, with an attractive profile from afar and beautifully detailed interior details.

The final styling update came to the MKS for the 2013 model year, heavily massaging the front and rear but keeping the overall proportions unchanged. The MKS is a classic, elegant car, with a large winged grille that draws a little more insistent attention. than anything else in the car. This grille now has a subtle louvered pattern and the lower air dam is slightly more chiseled than before; Meanwhile, the bonnet has been lowered and given a strong center pillar. All these changes made the car appear slightly lower and wider from the front.

Rear styling has also been cleaned up, with the trunk line following different contours and the license plate bracket moving towards the bumper. the trunk release button. The change brings winged molding along the vertical surface of the boot and has the side effect of making the MKS look a bit like a Jaguar XJ from the rear - certainly a welcome if unintended consequence. . The Lincoln star badge was also removed from the back and replaced with the brand name written on the trunk lid above the new trim.

Although the MKS is a distant cousin of the Volvo S80 and is closely related to the Ford Taurus sedan, it doesn't look like either car. With its Ford sibling, the MKS pretty much only shares the rather short-arched roofline and the slightly high shoulderline, with slightly more overhang front and rear than is typical of the MKS class today.

Inside, there's a lot to like, with an understated, linear theme in the cabin design. White-lit electroluminescent gauges glow softly at night in the leather and wood trim, and the interior overall has noticeably better attention to detail than in Lincoln's past. Stitched leather panels replaced some of the remaining harder finishes for 2013, and the MyLincoln Touch was replaced on the interior to perform infotainment duties. Unfortunately, that means a set of capacitive sliders for volume and climate control functions, something that's being phased out on newer and recently updated Lincoln models.

2015 Lincoln MKS

Performance

The 2015 Lincoln MKS isn't exactly aggressive, but it does offer a powerful turbocharged V-6 that rivals the optional six and eight on other models. However, it's not a high-performance rear-wheel-drive car like some of its competitors and near-rivals; Front-wheel drive is standard with the less powerful engine, and all-wheel drive can be booked as an option. Regardless of the powertrain, however, the MKS feels mature and strong-willed, with a real focus on luxury over all-out performance.

Buyers considering the MKS likely have a wide range of ideas about how the car should handle, so Lincoln tried to balance the MKS' ride and handling with an adjustable active damping system. Three modes offer a range between comfortable and sporty, while the Lincoln Drive Control system also coordinates responses from the steering, transmission, accelerator and stability control, and there's a separate sport mode that can be activated at any time.

Base models come with a 304-hp 3.7-liter V6. It can be combined with either front or all-wheel drive. Go with the base engine and you'll get performance that's thrilling enough. Based on our time with this powertrain in the Ford Taurus, this engine offers good pulling power without giving up thrust out of line. However, everything that happens to the engine and transmission is carefully muffled so you don't notice when something dramatic happens.

In the EcoBoost edition, the MKS is powered by a 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 that produces 365 hp; Four-wheel drive is a must to keep that torquey engine from sucking on the front tires all day. Its 350 pound-feet of torque deliver impressive V-8-like traction, with a slightly more mature baritone exhaust note and combined fuel economy that's just 1 mpg better than the engine.base with AWD and 2 mpg compared to the front engine . -3.7 liter all-wheel drive model.

A six-speed automatic transmission is standard on both engines. The automatic transmission is equipped with shift paddles on all models. At first glance, paddles might seem unnecessary in a car this size, but a quick spin in the MKS proves they're more useful than you might think. The transmission does an excellent job of keeping the big Lincoln in the right gear at the right time, just what an automatic transmission should do.

The brakes were also updated for 2013. This was partly due to horsepower increases that came with both engines that year and in response to complaints that the brakes on previous models had a tendency to fade.

2015 Lincoln MKS

comfort and quality

The 2015 Lincoln MKS is large on the outside, which would make you think the interior is spacious. It is, but not for all passengers all the time. The MKS plays the role of a big car well, with a quiet and comfortable interior that's a perfect place to while away time on long drives. It also supports drivers who crave the occasional spirited ride, apart from Lincoln's reputation for floating, boat-like sedans.

The long wheelbase means plenty of legroom for front and rear seat passengers. Those up front get individual seats that take the best lessons from Volvo; You can indulge in a soft top layer and stay underneath as the hours and miles go by. Multicontour seats with additional adjustability are available as part of an upgrade package. The seats are also heated and ventilated, which almost makes up for the pesky active headrests, which sit too far forward for our liking, pulling the back of your head and neck away from the seat. It would also be nice if the MKS' steering column could be lengthened a few more inches, as that could force taller drivers to sit closer than they'd like.

The MKS' rear seats tend to be a bit claustrophobic, with limited headroom. Like the front hubs, they also offer great support, and heating is available here. Sitting in threes next to each other is not a big problem, and two adults can sit with plenty of space between them.

The addition of three-mode continuous damping (introduced with the 2013 model) greatly improves ride quality on rough surfaces. There's also active noise control to help keep the cabin quiet.

Inside the MKS there is storage for small items throughout. Lincoln has enough compartments to hide iPhones and netbooks in the sedan, with cup holders for each seat and a couple of spare water bottle slots in the doors. The trunk is large, and Lincoln made its opening larger for 2014, with a lower lip for easier lifting.

The only other thing we're not big fans of is the MyLincoln Touch's absurdly wide center console up front, as well as the capacitive sliders for climate control and audio volume. Newer versions of the MyLincoln Touch ditch the sliders and bring back the regular buttons and knobs, but the MKS still hasn't gotten those retro touches.

2015 Lincoln MKS

Security

The Lincoln MKS performs well in most safety tests, although it didn't do as well in the most recent tests. In addition to the mostly top-notch occupant protection ratings, the MKS has a range of available safety features that you won't find anywhere else. for this price

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gives the MKS its top five-star rating overall, five-star for frontal and side crashes, and four-star for rollover safety. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gives the MKS the highest rating of "Good" in its tests for moderate overlap frontal crash, side crash, roof strength, and seat and headrest tests. But in recent testing of the MKS, which is nearing the end of the current-gen model's lifespan, it didn't fare well with the new, harder, small-overlap frontal shock absorber. Due to its "poor" rating on this test, MKS no longer receives the agency's coveted Top Safety Pick status.

The MKS also brings with it much of the safety gear you'd expect to find standard on a more expensive German-built sedan. The big Lincoln gets dual front, side and curtain airbags as standard, along with anti-lock brakes and traction and stability control. A reversing camera, automatic wipers and parking sensors are standard, while adaptive cruise control is an option.

Lincoln also added lane departure warning and lane departure warning, and more powerful brakes. Active Parking Assist is another safety-related option; Using sensors and cameras, it determines the optimal steering angle and, with the driver's support, controls the accelerator and brake in order to "park" the car.