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Everything about the new Lincoln flagship sedan speaks of luxury, from its exceptional quietness and comfort to its premium materials, class-exclusive features and confident driving experience.
"This is a new generation of Lincolns," said Jim Baumbick, Vehicle Development chief engineer. "The MKS delivers on the Lincoln promise: it's an engaging, intuitive car to drive - quiet but with confident steering and handling."
The MKS puts the driver in command. Its chassis provides isolation from road noise and harshness but doesn't isolate the driver from the road. Steering is precise and responsive, requiring very little input from the cockpit.
The Lincoln MKS driving experience features three key qualities:
- Connected: The car actually makes the driver better because it naturally responds, providing intuitive feedback and a confident and secure feeling behind the wheel.
- Isolated and Quiet: Whether using SYNC to talk hands-free on a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone or engaging in conversation with business partners seated in the comfort of the cabin, the MKS provides the perfect setting.
- Comfortable: The confident and secure driving experience combined with comfortable seating and a quiet, vibration-free cabin allows occupants to enjoy the journey, arriving more rested and relaxed.
The Lincoln MKS features an all new fully independent suspension (IRS) that has been designed and tuned to deliver a perfect balance of performance, handling and comfort.
The IRS features stamped steel lower control arms and cast aluminum upper control arms and is mounted to a fully-isolated sub frame to reduce noise and vibration. A unique design places vertically-mounted shock absorbers at the outboard end of the suspension arms, near the wheels.
This configuration increases the motion ratio of the suspension allowing for a more precise tuning while also facilitating the larger wheels and tires that are desired by today's luxury customers.
Moving the shocks outward and positioning them vertically increases suspension travel in a positive way. The shocks alone can now handle a larger portion of the load requiring less suspension damping to isolate road noise and vibration from the cabin.
"The setup significantly increases the efficiency of the dampers," said Baumbick. "This allows us to more finely tune the suspension across a wider range of attributes and deliver the optimum in both handling and ride comfort."
The MacPherson strut and rear-facing L-shaped lower control arm front suspension also mounts to a fully-isolated sub frame. The suspension geometry was designed to maximize suspension travel and tuned to work in harmony with the rear suspension.
Together, the new front and rear suspension design can accommodate class-exclusive, 20-inch wheels and tires without compromising ride comfort.
The Lincoln MKS comes standard with four-wheel ventilated disc brakes (12.25-in front and 12.75-in. rear discs) with ABS and power rack-and-pinion steering.
Standard wheels and tires are 18 x 7.5-inch painted, cast aluminum, 10-spoke wheels and P235/55R 18 all-season radials. Additional choices include an available 19 x 8-inch premium painted 10-spoke cast aluminum wheel or a 19 x 8-inch bright machined 10-spoke painted cast aluminum wheel both with P255/45R 19 all-season radials.
A 20 x 8-inch, 11-spoke polished cast aluminum wheel and P245/45R 20 all-season radials will be available after launch.
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About Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures or distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 244,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide, the company's core and affiliated automotive brands include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Mazda, and until completion of their sale, Jaguar and Land Rover. The company provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. For more information regarding Ford's products, please visit www.ford.com.