We take the all-wheel-drive Lincoln to Subaru country.
“Over the hills and through the woods”
Having spent a few days on the rainy side of Washington, my better half and I loaded up the 2010 Lincoln MKT for a trip over the Cascade mountain range to her folks’ place on the eastern side of the state. As a chronic overpacker, I had a stuffed suitcase to take, and we had what seemed like dozens of empty Mason jars to return. Honestly, I felt a bit like a moonshiner driving my not-so-hot-rod Lincoln. The trip spanned about 300 miles each way, providing plenty of opportunity to exercise the MKT’s optional 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 and its twin turbos. As it turns out, 355 horses and 350 lb.-ft. of torque is more than enough to haul Lincoln’s version of the Ford Flex up and over mountains with ease. Along the way, I tested the transmission’s paddle shifters, and while they did let me change gears on my own (albeit with a slight delay), such a feature seemed a bit out of place in a $57,000 Lincoln wagon. More impressive was as-tested fuel economy that approached 21 mpg…not too shabby for a powerful, heavy family-hauler that I was able to fill with good ol’ 87-octane gas.