brucelinc

Excellent times for a stock MKZ. I have never seen one run that well when stock. You had a very low DA at Island dragway on Friday so that helped but you must have gotten a very strong one!

While I admire the dealer's persistence in solving the problem, I am not impressed that they continued to throw parts at it which it likely didn't need. Not sure why they couldn't have diagnosed the driveshaft issue to begin with.

My complaints with the lesser Revel system center around 2 things - lack of bass and poor adjustability of volume. With THX system in my MKS or the Sony system in our Taurus, I would have the bass around mid-point. With the Revel, I have it as high as it will go and it still lacks the bass I would expect. With the Revel system in my Conti, volume 6 is not quite loud enough but volume 7 is too loud. The THX and Sony systems allow for finer adjustments. Similarly, the speed compensated volume only has 3 settings compared to many more with the THX system. Level 1 makes no discernible difference, 2 only a slight difference and 3 is way too much. I can adjust the sound level for front seat passengers by moving more to the front or rear but that upsets the overall balance of sound. My dealer acknowledged that they had gotten other comments about this and a Ford insider on BON also mentioned it. Fortunately, the sound system is one of the least important things to me so I am not overly concerned about it but since we have a thread related to the system, I am just sharing my thoughts. Others obviously are quite satisfied with it.

The Ultima system is great and does get good reviews. The lesser Revel system has been criticized by many. To Zalvern's point about trying it before buying it, I agree. It was the ONLY feature I didn't try! Since I am not an audiophile at all, I wasn't very fussy but decided to order it since my MKS had the THX system. In reality, it is no better than the Sony system in my wife's Taurus...at least to my ears. In fact, I don't think it is as good. The Ultima system was not a standalone option so I didn't consider it.

I have the same system in my Continental and am NOT impressed with it at all. In my opinion, the THX sound system that I had in my MKS was much better. I am not an audiophile so please excuse this question if it is a stupid one: If a song is not recorded in "Surround Sound" is there any way to make is play back in surround sound? I cannot tell a lick of difference whether is it onstage, audience or off. As for this base Revel system, I think it sounds tinny. Even with the base turned as high as it will go, it seems to lack base. Furthermore, neither the volume control nor the speed compensated volume control allow for fine enough adjustments.

Do we know what the root cause is..or was? Apparently, it didn't affect Continentals. While on a vacation where we traveled by air and rental car, my Conti sat in the garage for nearly two weeks and I had no issues when we returned.

Definitely not normal behavior. Have it checked out for sure.

Is there any danger of this being TOO efficient? Early F150 Ecoboosts had condensation issues supposedly due to intercoolers doing too good of a job. Not knocking this product...just curious.

I have seen IAT 2 readings of 185 at the track with my Continental. That is at least 40 degrees higher than I ever saw with my MKS. I assume the intercooler is the same for the MKZ and Continental. There is much room for improvement!

Actually lighter than I expected. That is probably 300 pounds lighter than my Continental.

That is amazing!

I am pretty sure the C & D corrects their performance statistics to sea level - Zero Density Altitude. By doing that, they eliminate differences in temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, etc. I did run a 13.56 stock but the trap speed was around 103.

Very good ear, Zalvern. I launched at barely over idle against the Camaro and had no wheelspin and no wheel hop. It gave me slower 60 foot time but my best quarter mile time. This tells me that the car is making very good power. I will give some credit to the 3.39 gear, too, it getting the car moving quickly without an aggressive launch. From a power perspective, I am certain my 3.0 is putting out more HP and torque than my old MKS ecoboost even when it had a Livernois race tune. I could launch the MKS much harder without drama but that was the ONLY way it would run in the 12.8 range. If I launched the MKS as easily as I did the Conti, it would be 13-13.1. All of this is considering the same atmospheric conditions. We still haven't had any good air in my area. October is when fast times are set due to cooler, dryer air.

The Mustang owner is a great guy. He had a cold air intake and borla exhaust but was otherwise stock. I had beaten him last year with my MKS so he knew how tuned turbo engines run. The Camaro just didn't go. Not sure if he killed the engine or just didn't know that green means go. Yeah, the Conti gets some attention at the track.

The intercooler should be a benefit. I see 185 degree IAT 2 readings at the track. My MKS was never that high.

No one seems to be taking their tuned MKZs to the track yet so I will post timeslips and a couple of videos of my mildly tuned 3.0 Continental. https://youtu.be/vKhOQN_dHY0 https://youtu.be/DHUMJqOtBvc

Probably sounds pretty good, too!

Wow...looks great. So called CAIs on SHOs and MKSs usually do more harm than good but this looks very promising for the 3.0 in Zs, Fusions and maybe Continentals.

Using sport mode or manually shifting shouldn't hurt it or cause a smell of transmission fluid. I would definitely take a look underneath, though, and check out possible leaks from PTU/axle seals or other possible leak points. I use sport mode at the track and also for datalogging my tune. I also use the paddles when datalogging and the tuner wants to see specific gear and rpm. I have never had any unusual smells.

I have found the fit/finish on Continentals to be superb. The very early ones has some panel gap issues but that was quickly corrected. I think the quality of materials and assembly is extremely good. I have had two warranty-covered issues, however. When I first got the car, I discovered that the memory seats did not work properly. The steering wheel and mirrors responded but not the seat. That required a new power seat module. A few weeks ago, the electronic instrument cluster developed a strange pixelation. That required a new cluster. I was very apprehensive about having them tear into the dash but actually it was a relatively easy job. The top half of the dash comes off and the cluster is a plug-in module. I hate taking my car to the dealer but I must say that in each of the above cases, they did an excellent job. They made sure the seats, floor and steering wheel was wrapped in plastic to avoid smudges. They parked the car in the back of the lot where it would not be exposed to door dings. Each time, I received a Lincoln loaner. They even gave me a nice gift of wine glasses.

If there is no wifi available, you need to have your phone data turned on. Other than in my home, I am seldom in an area where I would have wifi when I want to use the Lincoln Way start feature. For example, we were recently hiking in a very rural state park. About 5 minutes before we got back to the car, I started it with the Lincoln Way app so the A/C would be nice and cool when we got in. There was no wifi anywhere close.

If you are using the data on your phone when wifi is unavailable, it should work fine, shouldn't it? I have used mine when there is no wifi. By the way, does the key fob need to be close by for the app to work?

There was an ATS-V at the track where I ran last week. The driver was a great guy and was very impressed that my Continental was in the 12s. We compared timeslips and I beat his 60 foot time, but he was a tad quicker in the 1/8 and ran the quarter in 12.4 compared to my 12.9. One half second doesn't sound like much but it is probably 5 car lengths - pretty huge. He said he had run 12.1 at a different track on a cool morning. I am not sure how aggressive Livernois' 3.0 MKZ tune is but with equal tuning, I would expect the Z to be a little quicker than my Continental due to the weight difference and firmer suspension. I agree with Zalvern that the tune makes these cars much more enjoyable daily drivers but some of the other flaws prevent them from being all-out drag strip kings. As for street driving, though, a tune makes a night and day difference in how much I enjoy my car.

You might hang with him for short way but not through the quarter mile.

The oil color wouldn't worry me. My guess is that they didn't put in the proper amount when they changed it. You did let it sit awhile prior to checking it, correct?