2000 Linclon LS

I didn't have my camera with me... so pictures are from www.edmunds.com

2000 Lincoln LS V6 Sport

Obviously the car I’m reviewing here is a bit dated, so just treat it as a used car review!

I’m quite sad that the LS has been discontinued and no real successor has been named over at Lincoln. The Mazda 6 derived Zephyr/MKZ replaces the LS in the Lincoln line up but it doesn’t replace the LS in purpose. This car was a first for Lincoln, since it was the first thing this branch of Ford offered that can be remotely seen as sporty. This car uses the chassis of a Jaguar S-type and the body shape looks like a BMW with a Lincoln grill. Clearly Lincoln was using a sports sedan recipe, and was trying to appeal to buyers who weren’t around since King George ruled the colonies. For those who were around before the declaration of independence was signed, the LS is offered with tacky chrome accents on the bumpers and you can even get the coveted “Presidential Edition;” presidential edition being a term used to describe a car with a disgusting looking vinyl roof including button latches (I don’t think they’re convertibles though), a presidential seal looking seal on the back pillars, and the ability to appeal to people who are too senile to realize how ridiculous the whole thing looks.

The version I tested was fortunately aimed at people who still have teeth. Getting the sport pack on the LS adds larger 17 inch alloys with grippy sport tires covering them, a firmer “sport” suspension, one of those shift yourself automatic transmissions, and the vulgar bumper chrome gets thrown out. You’ll still look out of place in the car as a teenager, but at least a thirty year old would look at home. That’s a definite improvement for Lincoln when you remember that the Lincoln Town Car’s average buyer is, no joke, seventy years old. In the end though, you wind up with a viable BMW 5-series alternative in terms of looks and drive.

Positives: This car is a proper sports sedan. The steering is heavy and responsive; the car itself feels like it’s hugging the road surface; also, the car grips and handles properly thanks to its rear wheel drive layout. The car has traction control to prevent you from crashing into a tree if you’re over zealous; but, if you feel like testing your ability to power slide through the corners, you can easily turn it off by pressing a switch next to the gear shifter.

This car admittedly will not be as good to drive as a BMW 528, but it’s still pretty good, especially if you consider the price. Used LS’s in good condition can easily be found under 20k, and they’ll most certainly be cheaper to run than a BMW (lower insurance and maintenance costs). This particular LS went for 33k when new and that was about 15k less than the equivalent BMW! So if you were a middle aged businessman you could have bought an LS for yourself, and a Civic for your kid for the price of a BMW 528.

Despite the sport suspension and the narrowish sport tires, this car doesn’t throw your coffee out of the cup holder as you crash over some potholes, which is nice. In terms of a ride and handling compromise, the suspension settings are just right, giving you a good balance between comfort and flat cornering capability; however, if you’re looking for a “soft and luxurious ride” like most Lincoln buyers are, you might not want the sport pack.

Negatives: I hope one day I won’t have to mention the cheap interior on an American car, especially ones that are supposed to represent luxury marques, but seeing how this is an older model, I’ll have to this time. The plastics are definitely higher grade than what you would find in a normal Ford, but the plastics are only Corolla grade at best. The worst bit is the wood trim, which clearly isn’t wood. A Corolla LE has a slab of plastic resembling wood inside of it as well, and I have to say the Corolla’s plastic slab is more convincing. The wood in the LS is literally a gel sticker. I don’t know what the gel is made out of, but you can actually peel off the “wood” and roll it up.

The leather on the seats is clearly of a lower grade than what you would find on foreign luxury cars. The seat is still comfortable and supportive, but the leather is really stiff rather than soft and supple like it should be.

The gauge pod and steering wheel are very Lincoln… that’s the only way to describe them… and don’t really offer any sense of sportyness. Overall the interior gives you the feeling that you’re driving a nimble Town Car, rather than something special.

This car is deceivingly large. If you look at it with nothing next to it, you would think that it was meant to compete against the 3-series BMW and the C class Benz, but the car is actually three inches off the length of a Lexus LS430! The interior space however, does not reflect the external size of the car, nor does the trunk space, but that’s not to say things are cramped… it’s just not as big on the inside as it should be.

Dynamically this car feels smaller than it really is, but the car’s colossal weight can definitely be felt. You can feel the extra mass giving you an additional shove through a corner, but it’s nothing too major; however, the real issue behind the car’s weight lies with Newton’s second law of motion… f=ma. If you rearrange things you get that acceleration = force/mass and with the large mass you need more force to get it to move. What I’m trying to get at is that the 3 liter V6 in this car is simply not powerful enough to accelerate this heavy car with any real sportyness. In fully automatic mode, this car feels really underpowered. Moving into the sport shift mode where you can rev the engine harder by choosing the gears yourself does alleviate this problem a bit, but the onboard computer still up shifts for you just to piss you off sometimes (the excuse is to shift up for you in case you’re not paying attention and thus prevent engine damage). Also, when you want to down shift, the transmission sometimes gets ADD and takes a few seconds before it can be bothered.

Conclusion: Despite the Negatives section being of reasonable length, I actually like this car a lot. The interior is a bit cheap, but you are essentially getting an S-Type Jaguar for half off (and less ugly) and that’s fantastic. There is a V8 option for the LS, which I would advise getting, and that will turn this Lincoln into a reasonably quick muscle car. The V8 is pulled from Jaguar’s parts bin too (V6 is from Ford), so getting the V8 really means you’re getting a cut price S-type!

Unless you actually are purchasing this car using your pension fund, I would really recommend finding an LS with the sport pack installed. The car just drives better with it, and the chrome accent deletion and larger alloys make the LS look less grandpa and more grand tourer. Also, no matter what your age is, please do not get the presidential edition… Everyone will be too embarrassed to talk to you.

Summary:

The Good: It’s a Jag for cheap

The Bad: You’ll have to resist the temptation to peel off the wood trim and roll it up.

Verdict: I like it, and the folks at Motor Trend even named it car of year in 1999!

Random Stats:

Engine: 3.0 Liter V6, 210 hp, 220 lb-ft torque

EPA fuel estimate: 18/25