When you think of luxury automotive, no one does it better than the Germans. When it comes to power and performance under 50k, you can’t go wrong turning towards the 3-Series, A4, or C-Class. These cars are preferred status symbols among young 30-something business professionals who most likely favour power over practicality.

However, size wise, these cars are small and match up to the likes of the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla. If you wanted a German mid-size, be prepared to spend up to $60,000 for an E-Class, 5-Series, or A6. But what if you wanted to pay a compact luxury price for a mid-size luxury sedan?

Turn to Japan and USA to provide you with luxury alternatives like the Lexus ES, Acura TL, and the Lincoln MKZ. We recently had a chance to test drive the MKZ Hybrid and decided to write about what we liked and disliked.

LIKES

Attractive Price

Most people can’t justify buying a hybrid, because the price doesn’t justify the long term savings – especially during a four-year lease term. For instance, the Accord Hybrid has a $5,500 price premium over the standard Accord. To justify the premium, the buyer would have to save over $1,400 every year (over a four-year term) in fuel expenses for the purchase to make sense.

Lincoln makes the purchase decision a bit easier by eliminating the premium. It’s the only Hybrid in the market that is the same price as the standard model. For $38,460, you can pick between the MKZ and the MKZ Hybrid. If you were to factor in the monthly lease payment and fuel expenses, this hybrid’s operating costs would be much lower than its non-hybrid counterpart.

Outstanding Fuel Economy

The MKZ delivered a combined fuel economy rating of 6.7L/100km. Although this number is not exactly close to the 4.0L/100km figure that Lincoln claims, it’s still pretty impressive for a luxury mid-size sedan. Throughout our test, we didn’t use any climate control features aside from the heated seats. 

The MKZ performed extremely well in stop-and-go traffic, as we were able to drive two kilometres on just the battery before the engine turned back on. Like most Hybrids, the Lincoln uses regenerative braking to charge the battery whenever the brakes are applied. Compared to many hybrids on the market however, the MKZ seems to provide better driver feedback that encourages fuel efficient driving. For instance, there are two LCD screens on the dash that show how much charge returned to the battery upon braking. 

The screen can also show Ford’s trademarked “Efficiency Leaves” – animated leaves that spread and grow as fuel efficiency increases. Want to hear the best part? While most luxury sedans rely on premium fuel, the Lincoln is able to power its Ford-derived engine simply using regular gasoline.

Concept-Inspired Design

Is this really a Lincoln? I’ve been asking that since its initial debut last year. The MKZ looks like a concept car that you are most likely to crowd around at the auto show. The headlights seamlessly transition into the kidney-shaped grill – surrounded by a chrome outline on each side. The rear window stretches further into the trunk, giving it a coupe-like appearance. While we’re not crazy about the unibrow taillights, they are still unique in their own way.

World’s First Modern 4-Door Convertible

The MKZ has a distinctive feature that distinguishes it from the competition – its optional panoramic roof. Touch the sunroof button and wave goodbye to your roof as it moves to the back of the cabin. This gives you 15 square-feet of open sky that covers most of the front and rear seats. Sure, many cars have panoramic sunroofs, but the MKZ offers the largest opening of all of them. What truly sets it apart is the fact that the roof doesn’t retract, but rather shifts all the way to the back – like a convertible. Cruise around in the MKZ over the summer with the roof open and bask in the glory of jealous onlookers. The roof comes at a premium of $3,450.

DISLIKES

Subtle Performance

While the battery does a great job at delivering performance at idle or very low speeds, the engine kicks in when you need more power. Unfortunately, the engine feels like its lacking the power needed for a car of this size. While a 2.0L sounds like it should be delivering sufficient power to complement the battery, it can be quite slow to deliver the level of acceleration demanded from the throttle. Moreover, it seems a bit noisier than the average car engine. If you need something more powerful, the non-hybrid MKZ offers a turbo engine at the same price point.

Undistinguished Headlights

While the headlights look impressive, they’re less impressive at night. With a basic xenon lamp and 2 amber LEDs, the lights are a bit too simple to make a statement. Other luxury brands like Audi and BMW have done a phenomenal job at this, using a combination of LEDs that create distinct shapes within the headlight. Unfortunately, the MKZ’s LEDs are placed on the front bumper and act as daytime running lights.

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