Strengths

Roomy interior; ride and comfort; unique styling; available luxury features.

 

Changes

The Lincoln MKX enters 2010 with few changes. Pricing has increased by about $500.

 

Value

The 2010 MKX continues Lincoln's distinctive personality and style with a modern crossover vehicle shape, making the look and feel different than most other crossover vehicles. Aside from visual panache, the MKX has a roomy interior, decent fuel economy, and a full roster of safety features, making it a very practical yet luxurious choice.

 

Overview

The Lincoln MKX crossover utility vehicle is built on the same platform as the Ford Edge. It features a large front grille as well as other Lincoln-specific design cues. The 5-passenger MKX emphasizes on-road comfort and interior space, as well as versatility.

Only one engine is available on the MKX-a 265-horsepower, 3.5L V6, paired with a 6-speed automatic. Front-wheel drive is standard, but an all-wheel-drive system is available. Fuel economy on the AWD model is good at 17 mpg city, 24 mpg highway.

The MKX combines a contemporary, somewhat sporty exterior look-with large 18-inch aluminum wheels, chrome grille and flowing exterior lines, with traditional American luxury styling cues inside. The interior is trimmed in wood and "brite nickel," and there's a "cool white" theme for interior lighting.

The interior is especially quiet and comfortable. The MKX has thicker sound insulation than most other vehicles in its class, and both rows of seating are sized for adults. For expanded cargo space, the back seats-which can be reclined up to 15 degrees-fold forward easily via an Easy Fold remote switch (which comes as part of an options package). There are also several useful smaller storage areas, including a center console sized for laptops. The rear liftgate has a unique lighting system featuring LEDs inside and out. And overhead, an available panoramic vista roof allows a significant portion of the roof to be open to the sky.

Other notable standard features include satellite radio, heated and cooled front seats, front power lumbar support, a reverse sensing system and a memory feature for the mirrors and the power driver's seat. Ford's SYNC voice-activated communications and entertainment system is also standard.

The MKX includes front side-impact airbags and full-length side-curtain airbags as standard, in addition to dual-stage driver and front passenger airbags. The safety canopy system for the curtain bags assures protection during rollover situations, while the AdvanceTrac with roll stability control helps avoid those situations in the first place. Anti-lock brakes are standard as well.

Heated seats are available for the back. Other standout options include adaptive projector headlamps that turn the beam into a corner with the steering wheel, DVD-based navigation, a rear-seat DVD system with an 8-inch screen and a 14-speaker, 600-watt THXII-certified audio system.