From highway to sky: A road trip with the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid

So since Ziggy got to do some pretty fun stuff on his birthday with Ford Canada, they were so kind to hook me up with a Lincoln last week so I could do some celebrating for mine, in luxury of course.

At the end of May I celebrated my 30th birthday, and although I have a trip planned with a bunch of girlfriends to celebrate it in September, I really wanted to get away for at least a weekend to commemorate this milestone birthday.  Thankfully, Lincoln hooked me up with the 2018 MKZ Hybrid to take the car to Kenora and also partake in some fun activities while I was there.

I’ve driven the MKZ previously, but this was my first time driving the hybrid version. It drove pretty much the same, however, it is a very quiet car (thanks to it being a hybrid), and the gas mileage on it was amazing (seriously, the tank lasted a six days, including highway travel to and from Kenora). I have so many favourite features from the MKZ that were the same this time around, including the giant moonroof, which retracts back all the way, letting in that fresh Lake of the Woods air.  The panoramic glass is actually the largest opening among sedans on the market, and although it’s awesome to have all that open-air space the glass actually retracts back to cover half the back window.  I love the feature, but think it’s strange that it covers the back window, since it’s a necessity for driving. I found this odd the last time I drove this car as well and it’s not a huge deal, but I’m still very curious to know why Lincoln designed the car this way.

Lincoln MKZ Hybrid in Kenora Inside the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Entertainment unit inside the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Huge moonroof inside the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid Kenora, Ontario

Other than the moonroof, the two hours there and back were a comfortable ride thanks to the multi-contour front seats with Active Motion, which cooled them and massaged us as we drove (a must for road trips!). The leather-trimmed seats were also super luxurious to sit in and incredibly comfortable there and back.

Now I know I always chat about it, but the stereo system and entertainment unit was top notch since the GPS took us straight to the Clarion Lakeside Inn and Conference Centre, as well as told us in real time how much driving time we had left. We listened to tunes courtesy of Sirius XM all the way there and back as well (my top picks are Hit 1, Venus, and BPM).

As for what we actually did in Kenora (aside from drive of course!). We got in around 9 p.m. on Friday night and checked into our hotel, which overlooked the lake and had this awesome large deck to sit out on the water and enjoy the scenery. Then we walked over to The Boathouse to have some appies before calling it a night.  The next day, we drove to the Harbourfront, where we boarded a float plane to take us around Lake of the Woods on a sightseeing flight.  This was definitely the smallest plane I’ve every been on (seats four people, including the pilot) and went up about 1,000 feet. There are a lot of really large cottages in the area, so it was super cool to get a bird’s eye view of the region, as well as really appreciate the beauty that this area of Canada offers. They call it Lake of the Woods because there are so many islands in this region and by land you can obviously see them but don’t really notice how many there truly are. From the sky is a different story and it was incredible to see the area from up top.

River Air charters in Kenora float plane River Air charters in Kenora, float plane Lake of the Woods sightseeing tour Lake of the Woods sightseeing tour

After the floatplane, we walked around Kenora and took in the beautiful weather before heading back to the hotel, picking up a pizza, and chilling on the dock watching the sunset. The next day we loaded up the car and drove back to the city since it was Father’s Day.

Other features of the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid that I loved were the little lighting features that made the car super exciting walking up to. When you approach the MKZ with the keys, the Lincoln logo welcome mat illuminates on the ground and the door handles light up. This is totally one of those features that doesn’t really do much for the use of the car, but is so luxurious and special and it really does add that wow factor to the whole package.

Driving on the highway was also a breeze thanks to the available 30L GTDI twin-turbocharged engine, which produces up to 400 horsepower, and made passing other cars on the highway less stressful.  I also loved the lane-keeping system, which alerts you via steering wheel vibrations if you’re starting to drift (not that I drifted, but we did see a deer on the side of the highway which I got excited about ;).

I always get so excited to drive the Lincoln vehicles since I know the standard for the cars is quite high. There’s nothing like getting into a luxury car and exploring all the features and the same was the case for the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid.  Like I said, I have driven the car before, but this time around I really couldn’t get over how well the gas mileage was on this.  I used to have a Civic Hybrid back in the day and I although he gas mileage on that was good as well, I found the driving to lagging when I went to accelerate.  You don’t get that in the MKZ, it drives so well that you wouldn’t even realize that it’s a hybrid.

Have you driven a hybrid vehicle before?

Huge thank you to Ford Canada and Lincoln for loaning me the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid for the week. Ford Canada paid for my travel expenses on this trip.

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