Forget the Continental-like, rear-drive artillery pieces for mafiosos that we all think Lincoln Motor Company should be building. They aren’t happening anytime soon, and neither are expensive, brand-exclusive platforms, à la Cadillac. So you might as well get over it. The vehicles that Lincoln is building, crossovers and cars spun from volume-brand architectures, might make you a sad panda, but the brand’s problem largely has been the execution, not the strategy—witness the VW Group, which crafts excellent, cost-effective vehicles of wildly disparate prices, sizes, and missions from the same few boxes of parts.

So, yes, the MKC shares its platform with a Ford product, or rather several of them, as it rides on the solid C1 bones that also underpin the Focus, the C-Max, and the one most closely related to this Lincoln, the Escape. But calling the MKC a rebadged Escape sells short the alterations that make it, if not a unique vehicle, somewhat more than a simple re-skin.

View Photos MARC URBANO, THE MANUFACTURER

Will Change Do It Good?

For starters, the MKC features a wider track than the Escape. This was accomplished via changing the kingpin angles, which in turn required all-new front suspension geometry to avoid introducing bump steer and other nasties. All bushings are new, as well. The MKC’s roof is lower at all pillars than that of its Ford cousin, as measured from the floorpan, so all seats were lowered a bit. This dropped the center of gravity from the Escape’s while still maintaining the “command” seating position preferred by drivers of these pseudo wagons. The MKC’s brake rotors and calipers are its own, and it also has an electronic parking brake. Meeting the Lincoln’s styling goals dictated redesigned front and rear crash structures to accommodate both the swept-back front fascia and a shorter rear overhang. Caveats to the changes: Much was also altered in transforming the satisfying Ford Fusion into the Lincoln MKZ—we know how that turned out—and Lincoln admits this is the heaviest vehicle on the C1 platform by “a fair amount,” although we don’t yet have any numbers.

The MKC offers two turbocharged four-cylinder engines. The new one displaces 2.3 liters, so, as with the MKZ and its V-6, the MKC offers a powerplant unavailable in its correlate Ford (although a stronger version will find its way into the 2015 Mustang). Compared with the 2.0-liter base unit, it receives unique intake and exhaust plumbing, including a three-port integrated exhaust manifold (as opposed to a single port); a new radiator, condenser, and air-to-air intercooler; larger valves; and its own twin-scroll Honeywell turbocharger that pumps at 15 psi. Making 275 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 300 lb-ft of torque at 3000, it’s competitive with the German bogeys—namely the Audi Q5, BMW X3, and Mercedes GLK, the top-deck versions of which make 272, 300, and 302 horsepower and 295, 300, and 273 lb-ft.

View Photos MARC URBANO, THE MANUFACTURER

The entry 2.0-liter turbo four makes the same 240 horses and 270 lb-ft of torque as it does in the Escape and Fusion but does without the 2.3’s fancier respiratory equipment. Both engines spin Ford’s 6F35 six-speed automatic, although the 2.3 application uses a heavier-duty torque converter to better match that engine’s power-delivery characteristics. No fuel-economy numbers were forthcoming, but active grille shutters will help in that regard. Front-wheel drive will be standard, while all-wheel drive will be optional. Models with four driven wheels will include active damping as part of the Lincoln Drive Control (LDC) system that offers Comfort, Normal, and Sport modes for the throttle, shift mapping, and dampers. (The active setup is optional on front-drivers.) Let’s hope the suspension portion is tuned better here than in the MKZ, where the final two settings should just be called Too Stiff and Granite.

Handsomeness—It Has It

A sharp arrow in the MKC’s quiver, its handsome styling will be crucial in the battle against Lincoln’s brand perception. The discreetly upscale, compositively German aesthetic of last January’s MKC concept has carried over almost completely unchanged, with the aggressive shoulder line, re-re-reimagined split-wing grille, and Audi-style clamshell liftgate all making the cut for production. The Escape looks narrower and more upright in comparison, and moving the side mirrors from the windows on the Ford to the doors here has allowed for additional glass. About that tailgate: It’s made from a single hydroformed panel, with no cut lines to clutter its clean visuals. Like the Escape’s inset hatch, it can be operated sans hands by waving your foot under the bumper. Eighteen-, 19-, or 20-inch wheels are available.

MARC URBANO, THE MANUFACTURER

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