Lincoln Aviator 4x4 on 2040-cars

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Lincoln Continental brings back suicide doors with Coach Door Edition

Remember that teaser image from last week indicating the Lincoln Continental would get suicide doors? Well, it's happening, and we got to check out a prototype late last week. As you can see from the photos, the vehicle is essentially a stretched Continental with rear doors that latch forward. Lincoln doesn't call it the suicide door edition, of course. No, the proper name is 80th Anniversary Coach Door Edition. Semantics aside, the car is here to pay homage to the suicide doors of the 1960s Continental and celebrate 80 years since the original Continental was introduced. That's the why; now here is the how. To build this special edition, a Continental begins life as a normal Black Label model, and leaves the factory with normal doors intact. From there, Lincoln ships the car to Cabot Coach Builders in Massachusetts for the stretch and other modifications we'll get into later. Before you start cursing Lincoln for not really screwing together a suicide door Continental, know this: Lincoln engineered all the components, metalwork and everything else that goes with the build. It then gives the car and components to Cabot for the fabrication work. So yes, somebody else is doing the conversion, but you're still getting a Lincoln-engineered vehicle. Make of that what you will. Cabot has done work for Ford before with the MKT and Transit Van, but Lincoln says it's much more involved in this build than it ever was before. To begin, the Continental gets a six-inch stretch. It was a relatively long car before, but boy does this thing look like it's lounging now. That's exactly what you'll be doing once inside those suicide doors. Lincoln claims best-in-class legroom, and yes, to our eye that is surely accurate. Someone well over 6 feet tall could easily stretch all the way out and still have room to spare back there. The only problem we noticed? Headroom. A sloping roofline combined with seats that are well pushed back doesn't leave a whole lot of space up there. It looks like Lincoln noticed this and carved out little spaces in the headliner, but it might not be enough for those who are closer to the sky than most. A flow-through center console occupies space where the middle seat would typically be. This has all sorts of controls for things like audio and climate control. Lincoln said the one we sat in wasn't entirely finished with all the features and electronics that will be included.

Ford recalls more than 550,000 trucks and SUVs for various safety issues

Ford announced safety recalls for its current F-150 pickup along with several Ford and Lincoln crossovers early Wednesday. The recalls cover more than 550,000 vehicles and address various safety defects, ranging from a fire hazard to potential loss of braking power.  The most far-reaching of the recalls covers approximately 550,000 examples of the 2015-2018 Ford Edge and 2016-2018 Lincoln MKX, which may have been assembled with defective front brake jounce hoses (also commonly referred to as "flex lines"). These hoses run from fixed points on the chassis to the individual front brake calipers. Defective hoses could potentially rupture, allowing brake fluid to leak and resulting in a loss of braking function. Ford will replace the components in question with revised parts.  The next-largest recall is for roughly 3,000 2020 Lincoln Corsair crossovers. The affected models may have been assembled without proper clearance between their rear suspension springs and toe link brackets. The components could potentially make contact, wearing down the protective coating on the rear coil springs, allowing corrosion to occur over time. This corrosion could eventually lead to a failure of the spring. If this happens while the vehicle is being driven, it could result in a sudden change to the vehicle's handling characteristics, and the spring fragments could potentially cause further damage to the car or surrounding traffic.  Ford says owners will be notified that their Corsairs need to be inspected; if there is not adequate clearance between the rear suspension components, Ford's service technicians will remove material from the toe link bracket to allow for operation without contact.  The final (and by far the smallest) recall is for the 2020 F-150. Some units may have left the factory with the incorrect retention nut on the hot lead to the starter motor. Ford says it can cause increased heat generation or electrical arcing, which could potentially result in a fire. Ford says this issue is limited to just a few hundred examples sold in the United States. Dealers will inspect the vehicles and replace the nut if necessary.       

2020 Lincoln Aviator fuel economy revealed

Ford finally revealed some of the last details, such as fuel economy, for the non-hybrid 2020 Explorer. So it's no surprise that its classier corporate twin, the 2020 Lincoln Aviator, has had its own fuel economy data released by the EPA. Though, like the Explorer, we only have information for the non-hybrid versions. The 2020 Lincoln Aviator has just two engine options, a base turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 with 400 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque, and the same engine coupled to a hybrid system with 450 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque. That base engine is the one we have fuel economy numbers for, and it's shared with the Ford Explorer ST, though the ST's version makes an extra 15 pound-feet of torque. With all-wheel drive it gets nearly the same fuel economy as the fast Ford with 17 mpg in the city, 24 on the highway and 20 in combined driving. The Explorer ST gets one more mpg in town. Unlike the Explorer ST, the Aviator does offer rear-wheel drive with this turbocharged V6. This model gets improved fuel economy of 18 in the city, 26 on the highway and 21 in combined driving. This isn't too surprising, since all-wheel-drive vehicles often do a little worse when it comes to fuel economy. We'll be especially curious as to how the Aviator hybrid performs. We doubt it will match the Ford Explorer hybrid, since that crossover relies on a less-powerful naturally aspirated 3.3-liter V6. But it might give the all-wheel-drive four-cylinder Explorer a run for its money, since the rear-drive V6 Aviator is only 1 to 2 mpg behind it. Related Video: