Faults:
With my Mazda, nothing happened; just wanted something bigger, so I bought the Lincoln Mark VII LSC. This is the first luxury car I have ever had, I'm use to the sports cars; RX-7, Mustang, Camaro; things I had in the past.
My driver's side seat is starting to wear, but I still have power windows, seats, antenna, truck, fuel door, key-less entry with a code, and heated power mirrors.
No problems with the air ride suspension, it was a Florida car. Bought it from a retired lawyer, it was his wife's car, and he updated the cars for him and his wife, so I bought it for a steal. The car still books for like 4 thousand and change, but I bought it for like 2,800, and it's worth every penny. Everything in the car is power, sunroof doesn't leak, seats move in all directions, no "check engine" lights, or "ABS" lights, car runs like a champ. I just cruise with it, I don't race it, or get on it, and the gearing it has, you get a lot of speed top end.
It's nice, fast, luxurious, and handles really good, and for some reason, the more weight you put in, the more comfortable the ride is. Also, with the air suspension, the ride levels out, so you can pack the car and trunk with people and luggage, and the car never looks like it is sagging, it stays straight, and level, and rides like I am on air.
General Comments:
1. The car handles like any stock Mustang, and rides better too.
2. The only thing I would advise anyone to do, is update the valve body in the transmission to a more firm shift, and higher line pressures. The tranny will last a lot more longer, the shifts will be a little more firm, but worth it, plus it's a Luxury Sport Coupe, it should shift like that from factory, but it doesn't.
3. Air ride suspension can be expensive, but there are web sites that offer instructions on how to turn it from an air ride suspension car, to a coil springs and struts car.
4. For those who wanna lower the car, without buying the lowering kit, or any of that stuff, just adjust the ride level sensors, they have adjustments. The longer you expand the ride level sensor, the higher the car will think it is, and it will lower itself down more than stock height. I think you will only lower it like an inch or inch and a half, try it out.
5. For a decent looking body kit, find the kit that sort of looks like the Mustang GT body kit, with the air scoops on the lower part of the kit and the cut outs for the fog lights, I'm talking about the 86-92 body style Mustang GT. The rear wing they offer for the car is nice also; not like the rice burners where it's gonna look like a shopping cart, this one is low profile, and nothing radical, very sporty, and goes with the car.
6. A good modification to do is the polyurethane bushings for the suspension. I wouldn't do the motor, because then you will feel the vibration from the motor, and tranny, but that's up to you.
7. To get more power, take the silencer out of the air box and get a cool air induction kit, or Ice man kit, and rip out the restrictive silencer and air tube that is located inside the fender well; you'll open up the motor a little more, and get better fuel mileage, you'll hear the engine's roar, but it's not extremely loud, and won't bother you inside.
8. The first thing I think you should do to get more power is get a bigger exhaust; those tiny tail pipes kill the car, and the factory says you can't put 2", or 2/1.2 inch exhaust, but it fits. Go to a place that knows how to bend pipe; it might cost you a good penny, but it's well worth it when you drive it again. It's like comparing apples to oranges, the power gain you will get. If you do the cold air kit and exhaust, and play with the timing and advance it a bit, and also get 8 or 9 millimeter wires, platinum plugs, you'll be good to go.
There's a lot of stuff from the factory that restricts the power in these cars. Let it loose; stock Mustangs around town will think twice about messing with you, and Camaros too.
9. Rear end gears aren't a bad idea for the car either, from Summit magazine. They're only like 249 for a set of 3.73s, or 3.76s, or whatever ratio you want; may cost more or less, but it's there. These cars have the 8.8 rear, just like the 86-91, or 92 Mustang GTs. A lot of stuff from the drive train and motor swap right over. The car is a Mustang GT with a longer, heavier body; it's only like 600 pounds heavier than the Mustang GT. Mine, with a full tank and me not in it, and the car is empty of luggage or any of that stuff, was like 3860lbs, with a full tank of fuel.
10. Under drive pulleys are a good modification for these cars also, frees up some power under the hood, because the belt runs so much stuff; the A/C, alternator, crank, pollution pump, fan and water pump, so it will free up some ponies under the hood.
11. Super chargers do fit under the hood; just order one for a Mustang GT without the mass air flow sensor, because these cars don't have the mass air flow, like some of the later Mustang GTs. If you do the supercharger, definitely do the valve body in the tranny, firm up the shifts, and bump up the line pressure, and save a lot of money now, rather than doing a tranny.
12. For those who wanna know why their switches under where the cup holders pull out to don't work, it's because when you have a cold beverage and the condensation from the beverage falls onto the switches, it fries them out.
13. If your car has keyless entry, meaning you have the option to open the car door with a code, if you bought the car used from someone who never used the keyless entry, because they didn't know what the code was, you can find the code in the truck, where the trunk lid is bolted on to. There should be five numbers, and those are your keyless entry code numbers. If you wanna make your own code, type in the codes the car came with, and within five seconds, you put the numbers you wanna use, but the code that came with the car can also be used, or use your own code whatever you wanna do.
14. Your heated mirrors are activated when you turn on the rear defroster, a lot of people ask me where the switch is for the heated mirrors, and don't realise that it is actuated by the rear defroster switch.
15. The doors are very heavy. I'd suggest you grease the hinges every so often; basic maintenance.
16. Headers are a good modification for these cars also. Headers, exhaust, platinum plugs, 8, 9,or even 10 millimeter wires, do injectors if you do any head work, and get a GT-40 upper and lower intake on the car, and a cold air induction kit, and you will open up a lot of power that the factory restricted on the car. Also, advance the timing, and do pulleys, and fuel pump.
17. Be careful when mounting amps, and connecting amps in the rear section of the car, because the factory installed amp is in the trunk, and the air ride suspension's computer is mounted back there; you don't wanna mess with that, so watch where you mount stuff. My opinion, the stereo sounds good, has nice bass in my car, and it's the JBL premium sounds, I'd just up date the speakers, and leave it, even the head unit is fine, or you can change it, but if you're looking for sound, I'd just update the speakers, and it should be good to go from there.
18. There's a lot more I wanna write, but I'm beat. If you wanna know more about the car, you can e-mail me at augie1979@citlink.net, I'm located in New York State, in Orange County, yes the same Orange County as the show that is on the Discovery channel, that shows American Choppers, also known to us as "Orange County Choppers". I'm also willing to sell my car for the right price if anyone is interested.
Another known problem with the car is the clear coat peels, but mine was a Florida car; well the guy I bought it from, it was his wife's Florida car, so the car hasn't seen winter, and I'm looking for a winter beater, so I can put my Lincoln away under a car tent, or in my friend's heated garage, so if anyone is looking for one, make me an offer.
I miss my Mustangs, and RX-7s, I wanna get back into them, the Lincoln is nice and I don't regret having it, and I love my car, but I miss my sports cars, and I miss the five speed also. This was my first automatic; I miss banging gears.
If anyone needs help with their car or whatever, I know these cars and what to look for, feel free to e-mail me augie1979@citlink.net
Thanks again, hope this might help anyone out, later.
9th Feb 2011, 22:58
Haha, great car. I have been pondering the idea of getting one of them one day, seems like a very reliable car based on the reviews posted here.