Drew Dowdell

See, this is my experience too in my Encore. The A/C seems to be causing more drag on the engine than in other cars. Using A/C is the difference between up to a 4mpg difference for me. I just did a Pittsburgh - DC - NJ - NYC - Philly - Pittsburgh trip. On some of the legs, it was cool enough outside that I was able to just use the vents and manually turn off the A/C. My fuel economy went up to 34mpg on those legs. When I had to use A/C, it would drop to around 30. This is off the DIC of course. I kept it at the speed limit pretty much the whole trip as I already know that my MPGs drop a lot above 70 mph.

This is pretty disappointing, but glad they still did it. It would be too high a price for me.

One of the most anticipated releases of the New York International Auto Show was the 2020 Lincoln Corsair. The Corsair is the replacement for the Lincoln MKC, and with that, Lincoln has only two MK vehicles left in production, the MKT which is surprisingly still in production, and the MKZ which may go away once the Ford Fusion dies out. Lincoln upgraded the MKX to Nautilus for 2019. That same year, the MKC got a refresh to look more like the rest of the Lincoln lineup for the 2019 model year only and that was an evolutionary step to the Corsair we see today. To say that the Corsair is a step up from the MKC is probably an understatement. Though similar in exterior form, the Corsair wears its styling in a much more confident fashion. It is more upright and assertive a look than the outgoing MKC. While the Corsair shares a platform with the 2020 Ford Escape (My first impressions of the 2020 Escape here), this isn’t a simple badge job as all the sheet metal is different, and though they share the same wheelbase, the Lincoln is longer and wider than the Ford. While originally derided as derivative, the big Lincoln grille is really coming into its own as a signature look. I’m glad that Lincoln has kept at it and not listened to critics of the look. The full-width tail lamps also are a continued improvement, this time reminding me of the Lincoln Continental. The overall look is a much more cohesive design than the MKC which could look like a design compromise from some angles. The Corsair deserves the award for “Most Improved Interior”. While the MKC was never a bad design, it hasn't aged well and still had some recession-era components. This new interior looks well above its class. While I detected some areas of cost-cutting on door panels and lower trim, nothing seemed out of line for the class and the excellence of the styling will let most people overlook it. I am a big fan of Lincoln’s interior styling direction and they are greatly outpacing crosstown rival Cadillac in that department. There is the “stuck on iPad” look of the infotainment system, but such is life in most vehicles these days. The infotainment system runs Sync3 which I’ve had good experiences with in the past. Lincoln’s toggle button shift control and the pod of buttons that reaches out from the dash feels almost like a 1950’s steampunk spaceship (that is a compliment). Front seating position seems just right and the leg room in the 2nd row is what I would expect from this class. It’s adjustable too, as the second row can slide 6 inches fore and aft to give more cargo room or more legroom as needed. I clock in at 5’10” and found there to be more than enough headroom. Lincoln’s 24-way adjustable seats take a while to get set up, but once you do, they feel great. Both the 2.0T and 2.3T from the MKC carry over, though the 2.3 has been tweaked slightly to add a bit more torque (Now 280 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque) and both come with an 8-speed automatic. Neither engine is a bad choice and should move the Corsair along with zest. A plug-in hybrid variant is coming. All-Wheel drive is optional on the 2.0 and standard on the 2.3. The AWD system is able to decouple the rear axle in order to save fuel and recouple it when traction is needed. Up to 100% of the torque can be directed to the rear. Hopefully, the 8-speed automatic and decoupling AWD will improve the only average fuel economy of 20/27 city/highway that the MKC gets, but if not, at least there will be better performance. Corsair will likely start around $35,000, which makes it a better value than the smaller and less powerful Cadillac XT4 that starts around the same price. It will also likely be a better value than anything coming from Europe. The most direct competition, in both size and price, will come from the Acura RDX, Infiniti QX50, and Lexus NX. I expect the Corsair to do well against them. The Corsair will be in dealerships by the Fall. The Lincoln Corsair Gallery has been updated with shots from the show floor. View full article

Does anyone else notice a big drop in fuel economy when using the air conditioning? For people with automatic climate control do you ever manually turn off the air conditioner?

You have a point there.

You're mixing things up. I prefer larger displacement engines to small ones of similar output. 5-10 lbft here and there don't really matter.

It's better than the Altima, Accord, Passat, Arteon, Regal, and Malibu. Only the Camry and Regal GS have more. Maybe Maxima too if there is price overlap. But we may be finally moving into an era where torque is king again and we can finally get away from these relatively useless HP numbers.

Ford unveiled the 2020 Escape ahead of the New York International Auto Show and yesterday I finally got my chance to check it out. The Escape’s overall shape has lost some of its edge. It is now more rounded and car-like born out by the fact that it is longer, lower, and wider than the current model. From certain angles in the front, it almost looks to be a Tesla, an association I’m sure Ford won’t mind me making. In back, it has lost almost all of its character. Scrape the badges off and I couldn't tell you what manufacturer this car came from. Inside is a mixed bag. The dash is laid out in a simple organized fashion and I like how it no longer juts out at you as the outgoing model does. The screen is well placed and easy to reach. My experiences with Sync3 in the past have been good, so I expect that will carry over into this Escape. The rear seat room is good for the class, though the rear seats do sit lower than I would like. Where I’m let down is in the quality of materials. Everything seems to be made of hard plastic. The door panels in the rear were especially tupperware feeling. One strange item is the unusual placement of the engine start/stop button, down and behind the steering wheel almost as if they were intentionally making it hard to reach. I did back to back comparisons with Ford’s competition at the show and I would put the new Escape near the bottom of the list on interior quality. It is even a step backward from the current Escape. The Escape will have four powertrain choices, a 1.5-liter turbo, a 2-liter turbo carried over from the previous generation, and making a return is the hybrid version, powered by a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder. A plug-in hybrid will also be available, but only in front-wheel drive form. The most interesting of these engines is the 1.5 liter. It is a 3 cylinder EcoBoost producing 180 horsepower and 177 lb-ft of torque. It is capable of running on just 2 cylinders during times of light load. I liked the 1-liter 3-cylinder EcoBoost in the Ford Fiesta, and if this new 1.5 liter runs the same, that would be a good thing. Driving impressions will have to wait till later this year when the Escape goes into production. Overall I think this Ford could and should do better on the interior quality. A 3-cylinder turbo may be a hard sell no matter how good the mileage is and Ford will have an interesting time convincing customers of that. You can read more about the 2020 Ford Escape from the release article below. View full article

It will be interesting to see if they can do that in a single-turbo car and keep the lag down. They haven't kept the lag down on the existing 2.0 yet. My bet is they'll use the electric turbocharger in combination with a regular turbo.

Reports out today: Sonata going to get a hybrid version and an N-Line version with over 275 HP.

It just shows that you still don't understand how horsepower works after all these years.

0-60 doesn't really matter in this class either. What matters is responsiveness. The turbo torque comes on at a crazy low rpm. With the right gearing it will feel quicker.

Peak horsepower doesn't matter. Deep torque curve does. If the 8-speed does its job, it should still feel plenty fast with the 1.6T