CD Article: 2006 Lincoln Zephyr

[CD_Editor]

You may discuss our cover story of the day in this thread....
Test Drive:

'Zephyr' might seem like an odd name for a luxury car, but it's a name that goes back a long way in Lincoln's and Ford's history, reports editor, Greg Wilson. Based on the Ford Fusion, the new 2006 Zephyr is Lincoln's lowest priced model and offers a quieter cabin and a more comfortable ride than the Fusion, says Wilson.     More...

[sirAQUAMAN64]

I still wonder what they were thinking with that oddball oldie dashboard.

At least the wood looks good this time 

[Bullet Blue]

Lincoln had a chance to bring a real nice new competitor for this segment. At bumed out on the styling. Interior and Exterior. Not really my cup of tea.

[turbodiesel]

i always wonder if this car has a tiptronic function... end up it doesn't... that 6AT seems too simple...

[wing]

Dash reminds me of the Mazda 6 actually.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Dash reminds me of the Mazda 6 actually.

It does? 

Open dem dere eyes, ma man! The lip on that dash reminds me of the Mustang or some old truck with hard shiney plastic.

[Shnak]

the gauges look like the new Mustang... hate the grille, don't like the rear too much (although it is distinctive), center stack of the dash isn't too too bad, but it it stands out a bit too much compared to the rest of the interior. Nav screen is too low... it should be much closer to your eyesight... All in all, it's just another 'meh' offering by a domestic... 

[wing]

It's that colour, the mazda 6 has the same thing, bright fake silvery stuff.



Looks better in the mazda.

[mdxtasy]

Zephyr’, by the way, means “a gentle breeze”.  

Snowy...perhaps you can change your handle to Zephyr....but then I'm sure somebody from Ford would sue you for infringing on their rights.  

How big are those taillights?  Holy cripes....Thank goodness Lincoln has a narrow badge or else nothing would fit between those blobs.  The interior looks so dated, I said that before and I'll say it again, it's ugly.  Retro has gone too far this time, the retro in the Mustang interior was alright, but going back to the 70's for inspiration for the dash of this thing resulted in a pretty ugly looking piece.

[Arthur Dent]

the rear is ugly, the dash looks 70s pickup truck-ish around the guages, the engine is weak. I predict it will be a minor flop.

[FakeInternetFriend]

I saw a Zephyr on the road today for the first time.  I had read in a few reviews that Lincoln is trying to target 40-somethings with this car, but the person behind the wheel in the one I saw about an hour ago was a bluehair granny.  She was classic 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock and barely peering over the steering wheel with a good squint.  I don't think Lincoln was going for this look, but they should be happy at least one person bought this.  I think it's an alright vehicle (disclaimer: haven't actually driven one), but surely that money could be better spent on a different car.

The front grille is very distinctive and noticeable from far away.  I liked it in the pictures and I like it even better in person.  The back end looks like crap in pictures, and it's equally unattractive in person.  All in all, I think the Mercury Milan is the best looking one out of the new triplets.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Don't mind the front.

The silver dash parts aren't the problem (although I like them better in the Mazda6 than in this - especially the buttons), it's the cliff of an upper dash that has that protruding lip before falling off vertically that's the retro touch of disdain. The Mazda's dash is nicely curved and grained. Plus, the dash looks like it's from an 80's truck... it's higher than the base of the windshield, rather than meeting up to it. Would feel space confining for no good reason.

[jack-bimmer]

bring the LS back....this cars looks horrible to me!!

[sirAQUAMAN64]

bring the LS back....this cars looks horrible to me!!

I didn't think the LS was all that bad, really. Sales and enthusiasm were OK initially if I remember correctly.

Problem was they left it out to dry and never gave it a second thought or more development by the looks of it. RWD platform at that price with good handling, slightly more interior room, and good luxury features would have been more competitive.

[Bullet Blue]

The best part about the LS? There was a manual tranny available 

[haris]

The best part about the LS? There was a manual tranny available 

Yeah , but only with the V6. Stil, it's a sweet car.

As for Zephyr, mah. Blah. I wanna know what were they smoking when they approved this as a LS replacement. Or was it approved back in 90s and they totally missed their mark?
Man, there's just no hope for Ford, is there? It's like they're trying to run the company  into the ground.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

I really think Ford is in much dire straits than GM both here and abroad, yet the media doesn't pick on them as much.

[Bullet Blue]

The success of both Mazda and Volvo is probably overshadowing that.

[Benhaze]

I would pick so many other cars before this one for $45K...

One comment about the transmission performance. I have experience with the Mazda6 V6 5 speed auto and I read the 6 speed behaves the same way. There are some calibration issues with the powertain that makes the trans hesitates when trying to accelerate relatively hard from coasting. The trans hang for a while -it feels like you're stuck in neutral- before finally downshifting 2 gears and then watch out for major torque steer. It happened to me in a couple of time when I had to avoid a car suddenly braking in front of me and I tried to make a lane change. Not pretty!

It is the major disappointment we have with this car. I wish I could have convinced my better-half to buy the manual trans...