View Full Version : Lincoln "MKZ" (aka Zephyr 3.5) review
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=116471
Still no stick, but the new 3.5L engine sounds like a huge step forward. If nothing else, this review is worth reading for the snarky comments that the Ford engineer makes about his competitors' engines.
lemming
08-18-2006, 09:49 AM
i found the engineer's comments funny.
and note that he talked about "power density" and hp/litre (sound familiar? we talk about that even around here).
the best part about the engine is that it runs on 87 octane fuel (shocking to me), but ford has a miserable history of producing v6s in my lifetime, so i'll just sit and watch. it would take a lot to surpass the franchise, the Nissan VQ series or even the GM "high content" 3.6 dohc'er engine.
i found the engineer's comments funny.
and note that he talked about "power density" and hp/litre (sound familiar? we talk about that even around here).
the best part about the engine is that it runs on 87 octane fuel (shocking to me), but ford has a miserable history of producing v6s in my lifetime, so i'll just sit and watch. it would take a lot to surpass the franchise, the Nissan VQ series or even the GM "high content" 3.6 dohc'er engine.
"Power density" at least makes more sense than hp/L.
Other than the SHO V6 (which was really a Yamaha) and the original 2.5L Duratec (which was a decent engine in its time, especially in SVT form), I agree--Ford's V6s have been crap for the past...always. Hopefully the 3.5 is better. Maybe, unlike the VQ35, it won't sound like complete ass.
Maybe, unlike the VQ35, it won't sound like complete ass.
You know, it's funny... I really liked the sound of the FXs, Gs, and Zs when that engine was fairly new on the market. Now I really really hate the sound.
I guess it's kind of like having a girlfriend with a weird snort-laugh. It seems really cute in the beginning of the relationship, but after a few months it makes you want to strangle her. :lol:
I'm glad I didn't buy a car with that engine.
I wonder if the marbles-in-a-soup-can S54 has the same like/hate curve with owners?
Sharp11
08-18-2006, 11:22 AM
You know, it's funny... I really liked the sound of the FXs, Gs, and Zs when that engine was fairly new on the market. Now I really really hate the sound.
I guess it's kind of like having a girlfriend with a weird snort-laugh. It seems really cute in the beginning of the relationship, but after a few months it makes you want to strangle her. :lol:
I'm glad I didn't buy a car with that engine.
I wonder if the marbles-in-a-soup-can S54 has the same like/hate curve with owners?
I've got the same engine as you in my Z4, the acousticians did a fine job with the analog band pass filter, but after awhile, it's like having a dog that drools and jumps all over you, you just wish it'd sit down and be quiet.
Ed
lemming
08-18-2006, 11:44 AM
i hate the Nissan VQ exhaust sound.
but i love its midrange torque, something i could never really say about any v6 i've ever driven that was below 3.2litres. usually they're so tricked out to breathe well (and are physically constrained by cubic inches) that they all feel cammy to me.
I wonder if the marbles-in-a-soup-can S54 has the same like/hate curve with owners?
I all honesty its more feeling sorry for the people "outside" the car then inside. Inside you get to hear more of the engine, which sounds great to me. Outside you get all that shitty sounding tin in a blender. So for the actual driver not so bad. =)
I all honesty its more feeling sorry for the people "outside" the car then inside. Inside you get to hear more of the engine, which sounds great to me. Outside you get all that shitty sounding tin in a blender. So for the actual driver not so bad. =)
I also like the e46m3 engine sound from the inside.
I like the e46m3 engine sound from the inside.
Umm read it again, thats what I said.
Umm read it again, thats what I said.
Umm, I was in agreement... I'll edit in an 'also'.
I posted it as I looked at one last week (I've almost bought this car many many times) and I think it may be a minority view to like the s54 sound.
lupinsea
08-18-2006, 02:58 PM
It took me a while to figure out that the farty, buzzy noises I heard from the 350Z were the way the exhaust actually sounded from the factory. :eek: The first few times I heard one go by I though some idiot installed a crappy aftermarket exhaust. Why the Nissan engineers and designers actually wanted their car to sound like that I don't know.
This new Ford V6 sounds very intriguing. It sounds like it's a nice, smooth, free-reving engine. I appreciate the fact that they were able to achieve what they did without using the variable valve timing, or other techno-bits and to do so with the 87 octane. :thumbup: To me its a mark of elegance in simplicity by being able to do more (or the same) but with a simpler design. Like how Mazdas Renesis develops the power it does with a small physical size and only 3 moving parts. . . or how the Corvette's "old school" OHV push-rod V8 develops all that power, gets good fuel economy, is a smaller physical size, is pretty damn reliable, and yet employs that "old" engine technology very elegantly and simply. (I'm actually more impressed with the Corvette V8's than I am with anything from Ferrari)
Umm, I was in agreement... I'll edit in an 'also'.
I posted it as I looked at one last week (I've almost bought this car many many times) and I think it may be a minority view to like the s54 sound.
haha i was just messing with you. I really don't like the tinny sound when I am outside the car but the cost of fixing it with aftermarket pieces far outways having to listen to it. Besides since I am in the drivers seat most of the time I dont hear it anyway.
lemming
08-18-2006, 04:58 PM
i think tuning the S54 engine (to sound at least as decent as, for example, the R32) would have required even more weight on the car.
:D
i think tuning the S54 engine (to sound at least as decent as, for example, the R32) would have required even more weight on the car.
:D
Well I heard, and I could be smoking the drapes again, that the euro cars don't have the awful tin sound. The emissions equipment installed for the US cars is the culprit. Any truth to that?
i think tuning the S54 engine (to sound at least as decent as, for example, the R32) would have required even more weight on the car.
:D
Why does the R32 sound so good, and the S54 sound so stupid? A mystery for the ages.
Why does the R32 sound so good, and the S54 sound so stupid? A mystery for the ages.
Why does the zhp sound so good, and the M3 so bad? A bigger puzzler, IMO. Like others, I thought something was busted when I heard an M3 for the first time at a CCA control clinic.
I was very dissapointed.
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