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Fascinating Look at Continental's Construction


BORG

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http://www.autosteel.org/~/media/Files/Autosteel/Great%20Designs%20in%20Steel/GDIS%202016/Track%202%20-%20Lincoln%20Continental.pdf

 

This is actually the first document to officially confirm the Continental is a CD4 product based off of the Fusion and shares its platform with the Taurus AP.

 

But it also reveals just how closely the Continental is related to the Ford Fusion and the modifications they made to make it Continental including better stiffening. They also used different grades of steel to control weight gain. They also designed the parcel shelf for improved resonance quality for the subwoofer.

 

This also shows you that all the length added is in the rear passenger compartment and that the Continental seats are slightly lower than MKZ which helps to increase headroom. Essentially the floorpan is identical to the fusion except for a lengthened section under the rear passenger row.

 

Also interesting is that the hood, trunk-lid, and front fenders are Aluminum.

 

Ultimately this is the first time we actually get to see the level of differentiation at the molecular level. Continental is fairly basic, no exotic materials or advanced design going on here. It'll be investing to see how much the Continental weights, I'm sure it's going to be quite heavy for the class but I wonder if the lighter steels will help keep it under control.

 

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Edited by BORG
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I'm wondering if MKZ will be downsized in its next re-design....

 

 

While the overlays look similar (and everything is put in millimeters) the differences between the two are pretty big.

 

 

  • Continental length is 7 inches longer than MKZ
  • Wheelbase is 5.5 inches longer than MKZ
  • Rear legroom is over 4 inches more than MKZ
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The MKZ will likely increase in size more than anything, the interior dimensions are actually tight for it's main competition, especially the Lexus ES. There is still a significant difference between the MKZ and Continental in terms of interior packaging. I'm curious to see what is happening with next-gen MKZ, it seems to be quite far away.

 

What's interesting to me is that the Continental has a slightly shorter front overhang than MKZ and lower hood which is what contributes to it's better 3-box proportion, despite the lack of a 'prestige gap'. It's amazing what design does with the same architecture. Overall, the Continental is a fairly low sled, definitely something you fall down into (at least if you're me, haha).

Edited by BORG
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Also interesting is that the hood, trunk-lid, and front fenders are Aluminum.

Not really that unusual, except maybe the fenders. Ford has used aluminum hoods and deck lids/tailgates on several other vehicles in the past. The real question is, have they learned anything from their mistakes ?!!!

 

Take a look at the hood and/or tailgate of any 4+ year old Navigator/Expedition. You will see aluminum oxide causing the paint to bubble in several areas. My assumption is that these panels were stamped, assembled and primed by a supplier. IMHO, the AlOx is from poor surface preparation.

 

This problem has been around for many years and, even though owner have complained, but Ford has done nothing.

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Not really that unusual, except maybe the fenders. Ford has used aluminum hoods and deck lids/tailgates on several other vehicles in the past. The real question is, have they learned anything from their mistakes ?!!!

 

Take a look at the hood and/or tailgate of any 4+ year old Navigator/Expedition. You will see aluminum oxide causing the paint to bubble in several areas. My assumption is that these panels were stamped, assembled and primed by a supplier. IMHO, the AlOx is from poor surface preparation.

 

This problem has been around for many years and, even though owner have complained, but Ford has done nothing.

 

 

I know many Fords use Aluminum hoods and trunks, first time I'm seeing fenders on a Ford or Lincoln (other than F-Series of course). That introduces a new challenge since the fenders have to be bonded to steel unlike the other aluminum components.

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I know many Fords use Aluminum hoods and trunks, first time I'm seeing fenders on a Ford or Lincoln (other than F-Series of course). That introduces a new challenge since the fenders have to be bonded to steel unlike the other aluminum components.

Front fenders have been bolt on for as long as I can remember.

Edited by theoldwizard
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Lincoln's website lists the weight of the Continental at 4,224 and the V6 MKZ at 4,191. Very impressive to add more content and size while only increasing weight by 33 pounds.

 

Akirby, I am sure the LS had aluminum fenders. By the way, I kept my LS for 10 years and over 100,000 miles and the paint was still perfect on all of the body panels.

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Unfortunately my kids kept their bicycles next to my LS in the garage so I had lots of dings on that side. I tried to do a touchup which kept getting bigger until I ended up with some large areas that I repainted but never could get them quite right. When I traded it in I had to assure the dealership that all I did was touchup paint and there wasn't any body damage or filler underneath. Don't blame them, I would have been skeptical too.

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Sorry for this off-topic post but Akirby's comment about his LS sustaining dings from his kid's bicycles made me think of this. The first pic is my LS just before a sold it to a co-worker who gave it to his daughter for her high school graduation. The 2nd pic is what it looked like shortly after she got it.

 

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Never had the COP or tranny problems but I did have to replace the rear regulators (did it myself for $30).

 

I always found the regulator problem interesting. Failures almost always happened on the rear first and was more common for people who did not use their rear window frequently.

 

Turns out the door channel material would stick to the window if they were left closed in a hot climate for a long period. Then when you tried to open them it would put stress on the plastic regulator.

As long as you opened the windows periodically you were ok.

 

The normal testing would have opened and closed the windows thousands of times and this would never have shown up. You would have had to park the vehicle in the heat for at least several days if not several weeks and then try to open the windows. And you may have to do that cycle several times to get it to fail. Sometimes you just can't replicate the real world.

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