STIG

interior looks funny.

LexFather

I swear, its like they make cars just to have REBATES.

Why can't they just make a world beater? WHY? Tops or near tops in everything. Why the delay for the bigger engine and AWD?

And who the hell wants a young or sporty Lincoln? Not the public, we want cushy, big Lincolns.

MASTER YOUR TARGET MARKET!!!

videcormeum

While the car isn't targeted toward performance-sedan buyers ... it really ought to have more power. Honestly - a $30,000 car ought to be able to navigate traffic better than my Sentra ...

This car's a dump. And I can identify with your comments on the 300 - I was disappointmented with the interior as well.

M.

mmarshall

True, a couple more horses couldn't hurt....but since you bring up the 30K mark....a number of 30K vehicles for sale have less power than this one.....including the present IS300, which is in fact a sports sedan.

spwolf

indeed and how many IS's is Lexus selling? At least it is RWD... :-).

This thing is oldpeoplemobile and looks ugly as hell. Interior looks interesting, if you are 80yrs old.
What the heck is appealing in this car? At least some 250hp would show some promise, this way it is mediocre at best.

Anyone can tell you it will simply not sell at all, not at that price---

mmarshall

On your first question, Mike....don't know the full answer but my strong guess is they don't want to take sales away from the upcoming Aviator replacement in the mid-sized SUV field. However, AWD is going to become more and more the standard for luxury and even sport-luxury vehicles, at least as an option. Example: What Acura has done with the new RL is going to become more and more the norm.....you are now seeing signs of M-B and Lexus going in that direction too. I don't see how Lincoln....or any other luxury-car automaker....can avoid it. ( BMW may be an exception....their customers are addicted to RWD except for the X3 and X5).

The second question.....as you know, I tend to defend big, soft-riders and their place in the auto market, but there is also a place for smaller entry-level luxury and sport-luxury cars, even with Lincoln. When the Lincoln LS came out in 1999, I was one of the first people in the DC area outside the automotive press to test-drive one, in both V6 and V8 versions, and was very impressed with it.......and its Jaguar S cousin. At the time I thought it the best overall domestic-nameplate sedan on the road.....much better than the Cadillac Catera, which was actually a German design. So did Consumer Reports. Its only real problems were the typical cheap Ford hardware and switchgear and the fact that the V8 version, which was specifically aimed at BMW 5-series owners, did not have a 5-speed manual option like the Sport-Package V6 did, and Lincoln, foolishly, not only never addressed this oversight but had the audacity to drop the V6-manual combo as well. While of course a stick doesn't make much sense in large urban areas, there are many other areas where it DOES.
Anyhow, given that the LS in my opinion, was a real milestone, I'm looking forward to seeing and test-driving the Zephyr to see how the two compare.

mmarshall

There is an upcoming IS250 AWD version in the works as well...it will not be RWD only.

You say the Zephyr is a Grandpa / Grandma car. Your opinion noted. I will refrain from any more comments myself until I see it in person and drive it. However, when you say Grandpa, keep in mind that Carroll Shelby is pushing 80 himself....as are Paul Newman, Jimmy Clark, A.J. Foyt, and many other well-known racing drivers.