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BangShift Test Drive: The 2017 Lincoln MKC Black Label – Can Lincoln’s Luxury Compact SUV Make A Dent In A Crowded Field?


BangShift Test Drive: The 2017 Lincoln MKC Black Label – Can Lincoln’s Luxury Compact SUV Make A Dent In A Crowded Field?

We like many others have been kind of harsh on Lincoln’s attempt to get back to relevance in a luxury market that seems to have passed the brand by. Ford has injected a lot of money into Lincoln to help reshape and rebuild their flagship luxury nameplate and some of that investment is being seen now in the form of the Continental and with cars like the one the company recently threw us the keys to. This happened to be the 2017 Lincoln MKC Black Label, the highest end luxury compact SUV that the company offers. In a field of Mercedes, BMW, and Audi options that can soar into the $60,000 range pretty easily, can this Lincoln hang with the Europeans in styling, performance, and luxury feel? We decided to have a look.

Styling:

By any measure, the MKC Black Label certainly stands with anyone else’s offerings on the visual side of things. We found the styling to be modern and especially from a side profile, very European. There are some muscular curves and creases that really work in the MKCs favor. The wheel and tire combo was nice and were an $1,145 option on the vehicle. The “split wing” style grill really has not won us completely over yet. It seems like something more subtle on the nose of this would have been even more effective at going after the German machines that dominate this luxury segment. We understand the idea of common design language between models but it seems like too much here.

The rear of the MKC is very nicely styled and strikes us as totally contemporary. The clamshell style rear gate wrapping around into the rear quarter panels is nice and it allowed designers more room to work with the taillight package on the SUV. The small spoiler off the roof that slightly shrouds the rear glass is a good finishing touch on the design. The color code on the test MKC was Chroma Couture Premium Metallic which happened to be a $1,750 option.

Mechanicals –

A 285hp 2.3L Ecoboost four banger powered out MKC test vehicle and it was hooked to a Ford six speed SelectShift automatic transmission. This one happened to be all wheel drive as well. We would not rate this MKC as a drag strip terror but it had more than enough power and torque to get out of town when it needed to and the automatic transmission was really, really good in both drive and sport mode.

The engine and transmission pairing is certainly on par with anything else we have driven in this class of SUV. It was not overly loud or buzzy and given the typical buyer for one of these wants quiet and enough acceleration to set himself or herself into the seat a little when pulling on the highway, those needs are met with aplomb with the Ecoboost engine.

The all wheel drive system was virtually invisible in terms of driving dynamics and economy is still acceptable at 18mpg city and 26mpg highway. Without the AWD those numbers would tick up a couple of notches higher.

Interior –

What really sells these small SUVs to people is ultimately the interior. They do not offer much in the way of driving excitement and they are not necessarily vehicles to “be seen” in. These are worker bees and when it comes to the luxury end of the scale, the richer the interior feels, the more likely a buyer with upmarket tastes will throw their money down.

Part of the “Black Label” experience with Lincoln is the fact that you are dealt with like a VIP at the dealer and that there are three Black Label interior options to choose from. This one happened to be called “Oasis-Island” and our immediate reaction was not all that favorable. The color combo seems like something an elderly person would choose and the awkward look/color of the steering wheel is a tough thing to get around as it is the central device you deal with day in and day out actually driving the car. The simulated wood grain inserts in the door were weak and overall the look of this particular interior would be an immediate turnoff to us.

Moving past the physical appearance and onto the functionality, the “Venetian leather” seats were extremely comfortable, the kids loved the rear seats, there was plenty of room for four adults and the layout of the dash/HVAC controls was perfectly fine. This is a car you could proudly commute or road trip in without any comfort issues. The color palette used in this “Oasis-Island” design is just bizarre to us. The dash looks very cheap with what amounts to a couple of tones of brown on each other. The upscale feel we got from the exterior evaporated when we opened the door.

This being said, there’s an option in black that looks much better and there is an option in a very deep brown leather (think baseball mitt) that looks fitting for the exterior as well.

The interior would not dissuade us from buying this car unless the dealer ONLY had Oasis-Island.

The Bottom Line –

With a base price of $48,950 and $8,020 in options, the MSRP of this 2017 Lincoln MKC Black label as tested was $57,895. That is a pile of money to spend on a relatively compact SUV but it is by far not the most expensive example in the segment and in our eyes, if you are shopping in this market the MKC black label is one to be considered.

With the EcoBoost engine power is in the ballpark with the rest of the competitors, the exterior styling is a big on the edgy side (the nose) but the overall look is Euro-cool like the the rest of the entries in the field. The interior is comfortable, well laid out, and perhaps a little more lux feeling than one would expect after recent Lincoln offerings.

Lincoln is in a very important part of their life now. This is the part that will determine if they have a life ahead. The MKC black label is an important vehicle for them because this is the highest volume segment in the automotive world these days. If they can get people into the driver to actually test these out, they will have a fighting chance against the competition.


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5 thoughts on “BangShift Test Drive: The 2017 Lincoln MKC Black Label – Can Lincoln’s Luxury Compact SUV Make A Dent In A Crowded Field?

  1. john

    Lincoln himself would think this boring…to small to get separation from Mary Todd.

  2. Gump

    Swing and a miss. Looks cheap and boring. Lincoln should stick to making luxury cars that arent Cadillacs, not soccer mom rigs.

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