When one gets the chance to test drive a luxury vehicle for a week, you don’t pass up that opportunity.

Last week I got to cruise around town in the brand-new 2016 Lincoln MKX.  I’ve had test driving opportunities in the past with Ford Canada, and if you are a car enthusiast, you’ll know that Lincoln Motor Co. is the luxurious older sibling in the Ford family. Now if you aren’t really a car person, the MKX is an SUV, similar in size to the Honda CRV. Since I drive a Honda Civic, it took me a little time getting used to sheer size of this vehicle (it was weird getting back into my Civic earlier this week since it seemed so small and lighter than the MKX).

Now to the parts that matter. I could go into detail about the engine (2.7L EcoBoost® V6 for the model I had) or about the horsepower (335 @ 5,500, again, for the model I was testing), but let’s be real here, the only thing I really cared about were the interior features.  After test driving the Ford Explorer and discovering the magic of the heating steering wheel, that was at the top of my list of priorities. In fact it was the first question I asked the PR rep.  But hey, when the weather is minus 30 degrees and you have bags to carry, a set of keys, and a dog, there is no time for mittens, so that’s where the steering wheel comes in.  But then I found out about a feature which will trump all other features…. Massage seats.  Yes my friends, driver and passenger seats that massage your back and bum while you drive. It’s not an urban legend, it actually exists (actually my boyfriend was telling me about his friend’s car that has that months ago but I thought he was lying).

Obviously the first thing I did when I jumped in the driver seat was reach beside the seat and press a little button that turned on the massagers (or, as Lincoln calls it, the Active Motion), which, combined with the heated seats feature, made me want to sit in that car forever with the engine running. I didn’t have to actually go anywhere, I just wanted the massage. The warm, comfortable, soothing massage…..

Less I digress… The car also has tons of other cool features as well. Looking for a gear shifter? Not in the Lincoln MKX! Instead there’s buttons you press to put it in park, drive, reverse, etc., which take some getting used to.  There’s also a button to open the glove box, cause you know, you don’t want to put too much stress on that back that’s currently receiving a massage.. Although I do have to say that you manually have to shut the glove box, so I feel like that kinda defeats the purpose…

For such a large car, the Lincoln really does give you a comfortable ride. It also has all the bells and whistles for a safe ride.  This is the first Lincoln to offer a feature that may help avoid or lessen the severity of some frontal crashes, with the Pre-Collision Assist with Pedestrian Detection. It also features adaptive cruise control, which uses sensors to detect when traffic in front of the vehicle slows, as well as a lane-keeping system (the steering wheel vibrates when drivers are straying from their lane). In addition, it has that nifty feature where it will park itself, which I didn’t try out this time around (I failed miserably when I tried it in the Ford Explorer – it didn’t seem to want to catch on to park itself). It also features a backup camera (which is pretty standard nowadays anyways), as well as a 360-degree camera with enhanced park assist. This is that weird feature which shows you a 360-degree view of your camera from on top. I’ve often wondered how this works exactly, and apparently the front camera sits behind the Lincoln Star badge.  When in park, drive, or natural and the button is pushed, the Lincoln Star badge moves out about one inch and tilts up to deploy the available front camera.

Other cool features that I loved were the ambient lighting in the interior during the night. It’s like a trendy loungy blue shade, which if you crank up the music and pass around some (virgin, of course) drinks will have you feeling like you’re in ‘da club (okay, not really, but the ambient blue shade was super cool). Also, when you unlock the car it flashes a Lincoln welcome mat on the ground. So unnecessary, but so cool. Seriously, it was one of those things that you only see in luxury vehicles. Like whose idea was it to come up with that?

Finally, have you ever been driving and you’re like “what’s the speed limit even?” The Lincoln actually displays the speed limit in the dashboard so it takes away all the guessing.

Overall, I had an amazing time with the 2016 Lincoln MKX, so much so that I didn’t want to give it back! The only downside I noticed was that the gas tank only lasted me a week (which is pretty standard for an SUV). Also, much to my dismay since I loved it so much, was that the Active Motion in the driver’s seat (aka the massagers) pretty much stopped working after the first day. I even tried playing with the settings, making them max, but alas, I could hardly feel the massagers, whereas the passenger seat worked fine. I don’t think this is typical of each particular car though, I think I just got a bad model. At least I got to experience it the first night…

The particular model I tried out retails for over $65K, but the Lincoln MKX starts at C$47,000. If you’re looking for a luxury SUV, seriously give this one a thought.

Have you tried the 2016 Lincoln MKX?

Please note, I received no compensation for this post aside from the car for a week. All opinions are my own.

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