Ford suspension engineers have given the Continental a beautifully taut, quiet ride based on air-spring technology the company has been refining for more than a decade. The Continental uses German-made struts with electronic-control modules that adjust the suspension through plush, normal and firm ranges. The ride automatically reverts to firm whenever the road inputs dictate a switch, with the process completed in just milliseconds. The steering, which we liked best in the low-assist mode, gives the front-drive Continental a very beefy, glued-down feel. This big luxury car astounded us with its sure-footedness on a drive through the hills of the Virginia horse country south of Washington, D.C. Only when you get going really fast does the Continental's 3900 lb. really show up, along with an industrial grade of understeer. Understeer is car-speak for a vehicle's tendency to resist directional change, and it's a universal trait among front-drive cars. What it means, in a nutshell, is that the faster you attempt to drive the car through a turn, the more it wants to go straight ahead. In the Continental's case, this trait is consistent and wholly predictable - no nasty surprises if you decide to apply the brakes in the middle of a corner, for example.
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