Drove a Zephyr

[HyeLifeLS]

Today I went to the Lincoln dealer and they had about 5 new Zephyrs over there. So I decided to drive one of them. The car was a black on black with aluminium 17" wheels.

What I noticed first from the outside that the car was put together really well, without any gaps or anything like that. The car also looked great, much better than in the pictures. The front end is really nice and the rear is not bad either. Inside was just wonderful, the seats were comfortable and the materials used everywhere didn't look cheap at all, I would say they fealed almost like the ones in Audi or something. The only thing, that the dashbord was kind of too up.

The drive was really nice and smooth, with minimal body rolls, I could feel some diving from breaking, the front drive didn't bother me much, stearing almost fealed neutral. One thing I noticed that the stearing wheel from left to right turns only about 2.7 turns, really sharp. The engine was ok, I think it is the same engine as in my LS V6, but the car is lighter so in was a little faster. I really liked one thing, the transmision, the layout of the gears, because of the 6 speed the ratios are really close so the first gear would only go up to about 35mph and that's why the takeoff was a lot better than in the LS.

Overall the car was really nice with a good price, it is not better than any LS of course, first of all, because of the FWD, but in FWD cars it was really really great.

 

[Black03]

The word is felt.

 

[HyeLifeLS]

I am sorry for that word, I didn't notice the error in the spelling, but you have to consider that English is my third language. Thanks.

The word is felt.

 

[ohioLS]

I was amazed when I drove one 2 wks ago, how much actual power they can give you out of a lil 3.0 V-6.

-Scott-

 

[mdrobnak]

Thanks for the review, Black03. If English is your 3rd language, I'd say you write better then some for which it's their first language.

The only other thing is it would be "body roll" and it's "braking"...That's it.

Sounds like a nice car...It's a 6 speed automatic? Didn't realize they had 6 speed autos now...Any idea on the model # of the transmission? I know the 5R55 is smaller and ... weaker :-/ then the 4R70W...So I can't imagine how little power the 6 speed will hold up to.

-Matt

 

[2001LS8Sport]

I believe the new Explorer is a six speed auto too....and it will sure have some power in front of it.

 

[mark0101]

26,000 is the invoice price, I think that is a very good deal

 

[TeamFord]

Sounds like a nice car...It's a 6 speed automatic? Didn't realize they had 6 speed autos now...Any idea on the model # of the transmission? I know the 5R55 is smaller and ... weaker :-/ then the 4R70W...So I can't imagine how little power the 6 speed will hold up to.

-Matt

It is called the Aisin F21 6-speed automatic. Not to sure on the specs, but at least the name should help a little.

 

[LincolnTech38]

most 06s are getting 6 speed autos now, jag has had them in the stype since 03, 06 explorer/mount/navigator/montego/500/zephyr/milan etc all avail with 6 speeds autos.

Jay

 

[mdrobnak]

Cool..Thanks for the info.

 

[Qbrozen]

The '05 Mazda6 could be had with a 6-speed auto.
I would assume that this is the same unit being used in the Zephyr, but I could be wrong.

 

[Fla02LS]

I dont think i'd buy a Zephyr just because its a crazy dumb name. Oh yeah...also fwd, no way.

 

[MAllen82]

I dont think i'd buy a Zephyr just because its a crazy dumb name. Oh yeah...also fwd, no way.

yeah, being that it is named after a cassic lincoln. try it with awd

 

[ToddG]

most 06s are getting 6 speed autos now, jag has had them in the stype since 03, 06 explorer/mount/navigator/montego/500/zephyr/milan etc all avail with 6 speeds autos.

Jay

Took a new BMW 325xi for a spin last weekend (for the wifemobile). It had a 6-speed auto. Nice car too.

 

[SoonerLS]

The '05 Mazda6 could be had with a 6-speed auto.
I would assume that this is the same unit being used in the Zephyr, but I could be wrong.

The 6-speed on the Mazda isn't the same as the Zephyr's. Mazda uses a Jatco (IIRC), while the Lincoln's is an Aisin, according to a reliable source.

 

[HyeLifeLS]

BMWs are always nice..

Took a new BMW 325xi for a spin last weekend (for the wifemobile). It had a 6-speed auto. Nice car too.

 

[Sacredfire]

The word is felt.

Wow, So nice to have spell/Grammar checkers on here. This board would just go downhill w/out you.

 

[2001LS8Sport]

yeah, being that it is named after a cassic lincoln. try it with awd

I agree...AWD should make that an incredible car. Also, I think that you will find that those people who live north of the Mason/Dixon line will appreciate the fact that it's AWD/FWD and open up a lot more sales. When I lived in Idaho, my LS was practically worthless a couple of months a year. FWD/AWD cars were far and away much more practical. Continentals were everywhere!!

 

[elhelmete]

Well I took a little visit to my Lincoln dealer (own an '03 LSE) just to have a looksee.

I wasn't impressed.

I didn't drive the Zephyr. I am sharing my impressions only on my 15 minute sit in a loaded model.

The fit and finish looked excellent, I will say that. As much as I love my LS, it has its share of fit problems. The Zephyr seems to have avoided most.

I don't like the interior design. I find it kind of severe and blocky. The headliner and associated pieces (sun visor, pillars) seems covered in mediocre material. Ditto for the carpeting. I like my LS's leather quality much better.

No power wheel adjust? or pedal adjust? Most cars in this class have them.

Rear headroom is kind of tight.

I hope, at least, Lincoln makes a good run at the performance crowd with this one, but I have my doubts.

 

[mdrobnak]

Fittment issues? Perhaps you should look at the rest of the Ford line. Hell, even my "SVT" Mustang Cobra has PLENTY of fittment problems, much worse then the LS.

Ford = Functional, but not necessarily fitting together in all the right ways lol.

-Matt

 

[captainalias]

Why the FWD/AWD hating? The caddies are/were FWD/AWD, and people seem to have liked the Seville/STS as a performance car, right?!

I agree it's not going to replace the LS, and it's not meant to be (there is an LS replacement coming), but it's a nice little car for Lincoln.

 

[beaups]

caddies WERE fwd. AREN'T anymore. CTS and new STS are RWD. A performance car SHOULD be RWD, period (awd is tolerable, depending on the setup).

 

[captainalias]

caddies WERE fwd. AREN'T anymore. CTS and new STS are RWD. A performance car SHOULD be RWD, period (awd is tolerable, depending on the setup).

The new STS also comes in AWD, which is what the Zephyr will get next year. I never heard any major gripes about the FWD caddies before their makeover this year.

 

[beaups]

you don't hear gripes on this board because very few people here view those fwd caddies as sports sedans...same reason nobody here's griping about Hyundai's. The fwd caddies are fast (relatively) and straight....

for what it's worth Sts's AWD I assume will be based on a RWD setup... IE longitudally mounted engine.

 

[captainalias]

you don't hear gripes on this board because

and probably because the LS forum is so much better populated as welll....