2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid: First Drive Page 3

By Marty Padgett

Marty Padgett

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Marty Padgett is High Gear Media's Editorial Director, overseeing the words that skim across High Gear Media's portfolio of automotive destinations... More

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2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid

Standard features include every safety piece known to Ford, including blind-spot monitors, curtain airbags and top safety ratings from the IIHS and the NHTSA. On the luxury side, there are twin 10-way power front seats with heat and ventilation and memory settings; reverse parking sensors and a rearview camera; keyless entry from a fob or from the coded buttons on the driver-side door; and a capless fuel filler that's a small improvement that means much at Turnpike gas stops.

The MKZ Hybrid also gets standard SYNC, and over the course of two days, I warmed a little more to the system. SYNC uses Bluetooth and voice commands to assist the driver in making mobile calls, changing audio settings and focusing their attention on driving. In initial versions, it took maddening consecutive taps and many individual voice commands to make anything happen. This year, a new voice-command structure and a much bigger vocabulary give SYNC an easier way to understand more normal English--and thus to change the controls. The MKZ Hybrid doesn't yet have Ford's trick MyLincoln Touch system, which adds voice control to many more functions, but we expect it's coming when the sedan is replaced in the 2013 model year.

Which brings us to the bottom line. When the 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid goes on sale this fall, it will have an MSRP starting at $35,180, including destination and delivery. The pricing is identical to the 2011 Lincoln MKZ gas model and below the 2010 Lexus HS 250h, the MKZ Hybrid’s nearest competitor. That's a marketing win, but it also clears up any lingering ideas you might have about how expensive hybrids can be--and if they ever pay back on the investment.

More than just a rebadged Fusion Hybrid, the MKZ Hybrid's a sign of good things ahead. The Fusion's done wonders for Ford: some 82 percent of its new owners are new to the brand, and the Hybrid earns the company some of its highest customer-satisfaction ratings. With jazzy style, the luxury goods it needs and a new outlook on what luxury actually means to non-cigar-smoking, non-McMansion-dwelling urbanites, the MKZ Hybrid snaps into neatly into place in Ford's not-so-puzzling future.