Over in this thread KyAllroad posed a good question:
KyAllroad said:
It feels like these (He's refering to the Lincoln LS) should be more popular on this board. Modest size, rear wheel drive, stick shift. Why the utter apathy toward the poor LS?
They can be had with a V6 or V8. And at least the V6 can be found with a third pedal.
Is there any Love left for these? Or Stay away? They can be found cheap around here.
First time I drove one, I thought it was a great car- much better handling than any other Lincoln.
Then I drove a 5 series right after it.
Potential is there, but one has to do some homework to find it. All in all, if you like the Jag S type, they are the same car.
Plenty of them around here. Most are flogged to E36 M3. Isn't the V8 (or some of the V8's) made of aluminum with a Nikasil liner?
RossD
UltimaDork
4/21/16 2:19 p.m.
It's the Lincoln that Zigged instead of Zagged.
I've always liked them. I thought they were pretty good handlers for their era. Though, finding one with 3 pedals is about as likely as finding a hen's tooth, so I'd just go for the V8-auto.
Aren't these known for transmission issues?
Same platform as the Jaguar S type and I think the S type is a much better looking car. Also you can get an S type R and that is 400 HP of Supercharged goodness. I test drive one of those the other day and they are fantastic cars!!!! The basic platform is sound I don't know if they have a trans issue. From what I have seen they don't seem to be on Craig's list with trans issues.
Stick shift WS only available with the V6, which was a shame.
Lincoln donuts commercial
Any climate control issues are an expensive nightmare to fix. IIRC the early ones had a hydraulically powered cooling fan and an electric coolant pump.
Tom_Spangler wrote:
I've always liked them. I thought they were pretty good handlers for their era. Though, finding one with 3 pedals is about as likely as finding a hen's tooth, so I'd just go for the V8-auto.
There's one for sale in Ohio righ now:
5-Speed
Sounds like a good drift slut.
IndyJoe wrote:
Tom_Spangler wrote:
I've always liked them. I thought they were pretty good handlers for their era. Though, finding one with 3 pedals is about as likely as finding a hen's tooth, so I'd just go for the V8-auto.
There's one for sale in Ohio righ now:
5-Speed
Damn, I need the transmission out of that so I can north/south a 3.4L v8 sho engine......
They're actually pretty decent cars to be honest, my mom had an early v8 car and then a v6 with select shift auto. For their time, they handled fairly well and were excellent touring cars. There were issues with early cars electronics, and a few strange things with the engines, but those were worked out after 2-3 years IIRC. Body panels are expensive, and they use high offset 5x108 wheels.
Brian
MegaDork
4/21/16 3:34 p.m.
IIRC, being a rebadged Jag S, repairs are expensive and a PITA. SIL's baby daddy had one. I don't know what went on it, but it was better to replace it with a used Elantra than to repair it.
Had an 01 V8, nice car until the timing chain started making noise (common problem). Anyway, the chain snapped and destroyed the engine.
I ended up cutting the car up with a sawzall and selling in in parts.
Will
SuperDork
4/21/16 6:14 p.m.
I thought seriously about buying one. I decided that the only way I'd buy one was if I found a good 06 model, for the following reasons:
-The 03+ V8 cars got VVT and a 40 hp boost.
-The front fascia on the 06 is better looking than the 00-05. The same fascia was available earlier on the LSE model, though.
-Rumor has it the electrical gremlins were mostly sorted out by 06.
I test drove one and thought it was decent enough (it's no CTS-V, but it wasn't awful), but the problem was I couldn't find a good 06 for what I was willing to pay.
NickD
Dork
4/21/16 6:31 p.m.
Every time I hear Lincoln LS, I just think of the crazy widebody, supercharged 4.6L 4V one that was at Power Tour
Did these get the same V8 that the rest of the Ford Fleet got?
Or was it a Lincoln only one ?
I thinkk Its the jag v8...
Dont know how much work it will take to convert to ford 4.6.. i think every computer will be against it
The V8 in those is the 3.9 Jaguar AJ-V8 from that era. Not a bad engine from what I know about it, but definitely nowhere near the aftermarket of the 4.6 / 5.4.
I wonder how much fun one would be in gutted form? Strip it to the point that all the electrcal/hvac/drive train problems are solved with minimum wiring, engine/trans swap (4.6 or LSx,) and a couple of racing seats.
Do these have a Limited Slip Differential? Or is there one that swaps in pretty easily?
rslifkin wrote:
The V8 in those is the 3.9 Jaguar AJ-V8 from that era. Not a bad engine from what I know about it, but definitely nowhere near the aftermarket of the 4.6 / 5.4.
It's also the 4.2l V8 seen in the Aston Martins.
It was supposed to go into a Land Rover, but that relationship didn't last long enough.
The big issue with the 4.6 swap is size- there was one done for the One Lap, but the engine was so bulky that it could not cool- not enough space behind the radiator to extract that much heat. That turbo is neat to look at, and may last 1/4 mile. But not more than a lap or so on a track.
RossD
UltimaDork
4/22/16 7:52 a.m.
Is the rear end the 8.8" or the 7.5"?
I'm categorically disinterested in a V8 sports sedan that uses the same transmission which already feels overwhelmed in sohc V6 rangers.