2020 Lincoln Corsair: Big Features in a Small SUV

The 2020 Lincoln Corsair is built on the same platform that underpins the new Ford Escape. Years ago, cars built on a shared platform would have meant little more than swapped badges and maybe some different-looking wheels. But the days of Lincoln's "badge engineering" are long gone. Like the company's new Navigator and Aviator, the new Corsair is a proper luxury SUV.

It's loaded with premium engine options and possesses an impressive suite of available technology features. The cabin has a premium look and feel, and the exterior receives Lincoln's latest styling treatment. The only real question mark right now is the price.

Escape From the Escape

Lincoln swears the 2020 Corsair is named for the Latin "cursus" — which translates to "course" — and not French pirates and privateers of the sailing age. But if you want to play out your pirate fantasies in the Corsair, we can't stop you. Just remember to never grog and drive.

The Corsair and the Escape on which it's based are a big deal for Lincoln and Ford. If you want a small passenger vehicle from either brand, this vehicle is going to be your best bet. And if our early impressions of the Corsair are anything to go on, Lincoln has made something competitive.

There's not much Escape left in the Corsair. Starting with the exterior, the Corsair inherits Lincoln's trademark grille and tailgate-spanning rear lights. The side panels also feature deep contouring that is designed to evoke a more organic feel.

Behind that big grille are two engine choices. The Corsair's base engine will be a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder that puts out an estimated 250 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque, which is the same as the top-tier engine option available in the Escape. The Corsair also lets you opt for a turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder that makes an estimated 280 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque. This family of engines is familiar from a number of Ford and Lincoln products, and it delivers a satisfying punch in all of them. A plug-in hybrid Corsair will also be revealed at a later date.

Both engines are paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive is standard on the base engine, and all-wheel drive is available as an option. The 2.3-liter is only available with AWD. Speaking of AWD, the Corsair uses an AWD system that can fully decouple the rear axle for improved fuel economy and then re-engage it when more traction is required.

Classy Pirates Only

Lincoln has really stepped up its interior design quality recently, as anyone who's been inside the latest generation of Navigator can attest. The Corsair carries over Lincoln's new interior chops with a wide dash, a floating control console and crisp-looking screens. The interior touch points have mostly been coated with premium materials, although a handful of panels around the cabin are still cheaper-feeling plastics. But the overall design and available color schemes deliver a luxurious impression.

To support that luxury feel, Lincoln has improved sound deadening by adding extra insulation between the cabin and the engine bay and implementing active noise-canceling that goes after both high and low frequencies. The rear suspension has also been upgraded from the Escape to improve ride quality. We've been told that adaptive suspension will appear on some trim levels, but those details have not yet been finalized.

The back seat is much more Ford Escape than the front, but that's not a bad thing. The seat slides 6 inches back and forth to allow for either more cargo room or up to a substantial 38.6 inches of rear legroom. The seatback also reclines for more comfort or folds down to open up a much bigger trunk space. We also appreciate that the rear seat can stop anywhere in its sliding range, rather than simply having to be all or nothing.

Six-foot adults should have no issues fitting into the back seat as legroom remains usable even with the rear seat positioned in the middle of its range. With the seats all the way back, the cargo area doesn't look as big as some competitors, but the 60/40-split seats can be adjusted independently to fit your needs.

Leave Your Sextant at Home

Lincoln has made just about all of its latest tech features available on the Corsair. The standard 8-inch infotainment screen is familiar from the Escape, but it's running Lincoln's version of Sync 3 that adds both a different visual element and some functionality. The Corsair that we saw at the New York Auto Show was also equipped with a 12-inch digital gauge cluster that's customizable and features crisp and smooth animations. Lower-trim Corsairs will rely on a smaller driver information display and analog gauges.

A sizable color head-up display is also available, and Lincoln says it remains visible even if the driver is wearing polarized sunglasses.

Lincoln's Co-Pilot360 is standard, and it includes a full suite of active safety features such as automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. You can also upgrade to Co-Pilot360 Plus. This package adds adaptive cruise control that can read traffic signs to adjust speed automatically and can keep you centered in your lane. It also includes automatic rear braking and active parking assist that doesn't require any accelerator or brake input from the driver.

Lincoln will also be offering the ability to use your phone as a key, much as you can with a Tesla. It will not only lock and unlock the vehicle but access other controls such as the windows and remote start. Your phone will also store your driver preferences so that your Corsair will be set up for you no matter who else has been driving it.

Other options include a 14-speaker Revel stereo, wireless phone charging, and 24-way Perfect Position seats with built-in massage. We haven't been wowed by the Perfect Position seats in other Lincoln vehicles, finding them a bit overly complicated to adjust to our liking. But initial impressions suggest the Corsair's seats will deliver all-day comfort.

There are a few other unique features, such as special chime notification sounds (compared to the typical electronic beeps) and steering wheel controls that offer contextual prompts that change depending on the menu you're accessing. The latter should make operating those functions a simpler task.

Price and Release Date

We know that the Corsair is slated to go on sale this fall, but the price has yet to be revealed. We suspect it will start around where the Ford Escape tops out, in the $30,000 range. Lincoln vehicles can get pricey when they're optioned up, but the Corsair is competing in a class where rivals top out in the $50,000 range, so we'll have to wait and see where the Corsair falls against competitors. Stay tuned to Edmunds for more information about the 2020 Lincoln Corsair as we get it.