General Comments:
My wife has always gotten the new cars in the family (she commutes and I work and live in the same town.) As I reached one of those milestone birthdays, I decided to treat myself to something special. What was I going ot buy? I wanted four doors, reasonable horsepower, some comfort, but not at the expense of handling. I looked at Audi (the A-6, 2.7T) which I rejected as too expensive, Volvo S-60 AWD (basically a front-driver with "when you need it" AWD, Mercedes E430 (way too much money) and the BMW 540I (see Mercedes.) Then I drove and LS V8 Sport.
It took me another 4 months to decide, but I'm very happy with my choice. I bought a 2002 LSE and never looked back. The car is pretty much what I expected; very good, not great power; a firm suspension, but not overly harsh- riding; excellent weight distribution leading to balanced handling; a comfortable and reasonably well-appointed interior with a very good sound system by Alpine and a sporty looking appearance package that continues to draw complements wherever I go.
On the down side, the car gets very poor mileage around town (I'm lucky to see 14.5 MPG.) This is balanced by reasonable highway mileage (22-23 at or above 80 MPH.)
Other complaints are the "smarter than a human" computer that won't allow the transmission to stay in 1st gear at a full stop; the ease with which you can confuse the tranny into selecting the wrong gear and manual shifts that aren't quick or firm enough. I have to shift approx. 300 RPM before redline or the tranny won't shift before the engine hits the REV limiter.
I didn't, but it to drive all year (it's garaged all winter) nor did I care about trunk space or the supposed lack of storage since, if I wanted a pack horse I would have kept my S-10! For such a great highway cruiser though, they could have at least included a change holder.
Overall, I couldn't be happier. I have a car that I actually want to drive whether or not I've got somewhere to go. It wants to be driven hard, is rock-steady at triple-digit speeds and it's more comfortable than anything I've owned before. The car needs further refinement and Lincoln has already begun to address the car's shortcomings (gee, they actually listen to buyers!)
I think it's an excellent example of what can be built right here in the USA and I can't wait to see what this car becomes with another 2 or 3 years of development. Lincoln is definitely on the right track!
13th Jul 2014, 05:26
I'm going to change out the trans fluid with Amsoil for $90, and I'll be good to go for 100k. And no I won't sell it. But after reading what it did for taxis in Vegas for years, it's going in the L's.