2010 Lincoln MKT

February 3, 2009

Vehicle Overview
Lincoln adds a three-row luxury crossover to its lineup for the 2010 model year with the debut of the new MKT. With seating for up to seven people, the MKT shares its platform with the Ford Flex, but has significantly different exterior styling and a more luxurious interior befitting its starting price of more than $40,000.

The MKT is available with front- or all-wheel drive and is offered with a choice of V-6 engines. It hits dealerships in summer 2009, and competitors include the Buick Enclave and Acura MDX.


Exterior
While the Flex is all angles and flat surfaces, the MKT features a flowing design. The MKT has a version of Lincoln's toothy chrome grille that dominates its face, much like the grille on the MKS luxury sedan does. Standard features include adaptive xenon headlights with an automatic high-beam feature and keypad entry.

The rear of the MKT sports a distinctive forward-swept liftgate that incorporates a large horizontal brake light that spans its width. Nineteen-inch aluminum wheels are standard and 20-inch aluminum rims are optional. A fixed glass roof is standard.



Interior
The MKT's interior is a big step up for the brand — the improvement in terms of materials quality when compared to the two-row MKX crossover is dramatic. The use of soft-touch dash materials and an intricately designed gauge cluster contribute to the luxurious space. Leather-covered seats are standard.

The seven-person seating configuration features front bucket seats, a second-row bench seat and a two-person third row. Available bucket seats for the second row drop seating capacity to six and include a center console. A refrigerator is optional with this setup.

The second row has lots of legroom and comfortable seats. The third row, meanwhile, suffers from a lack of headroom that makes it impossible for tall passengers to sit with their heads straight; I had to tilt mine to the side in order to sit down. The MKT's sleeker styling is likely to blame, as third-row headroom in the Flex is fine.

With all the seats upright, the MKT has 17.9 cubic feet of cargo room. With the third row folded there's 39.6 cubic feet of space. The second row also folds, yielding a maximum cargo volume of 75.9 cubic feet.

Additional standard features include power-adjustable pedals, a CD stereo with USB and auxiliary input jacks, automatic air conditioning, heated and cooled front seats, a power tilt/telescoping steering wheel and rain-sensing windshield wipers.

Safety
Standard safety features includes antilock brakes, side-impact airbags for the front seats, side curtain airbags for all three rows, an electronic stability system with Roll Stability Control, rear parking sensors and a backup camera. Optional features include Collision Warning with Brake Support that can alert the driver to vehicles ahead and ready the brakes, and there's also a blind spot warning system.