Cadillac Seville SLS vs. Lincoln Continental in 1995

In a June 1995 comparison, Car and Driver took two front-wheel-drive American luxury sedans, the Cadillac Seville SLS and the Lincoln Continental, through late snow in Michigan and then south to Kentucky horse country. Both cars carried 32-valve V-8 engines, four-speed automatics, all-independent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes and ABS, but the test quickly exposed the limits of putting big horsepower through the front wheels.

The Cadillac used a 4.6-liter Northstar V-8 rated at 275 horsepower, while the Lincoln's similarly sized InTech V-8 made 260 horsepower. The Cadillac was quicker to 60 mph at 6.7 seconds against 7.6 for the heavier Lincoln, and both returned 21 mpg over the 900-mile trip. Yet the Lincoln's governed top speed, 123 mph, was 8 mph higher than the Cadillac's 115 mph.

The result was close. After logging impressions of steering, ride, brakes, interior design and ergonomics, the testers ranked the Lincoln Continental first by a single point. The deciding factor was not muscle but composure: the Continental felt more secure over rough pavement and better isolated from bumps, while both cars showed torque steer when driven hard out of corners.

What the 1995 SLS-Continental Comparison Revealed

Where the Cadillac Held a Clear Edge

The SLS's Northstar V-8 was more powerful and more responsive. The test team praised its punch, shift quality and simpler cabin layout, while criticizing weak brake feel, torque steer and occasionally wishy-washy steering. Those trade-offs show how Cadillac was adding driver appeal without fully solving the underlying front-drive packaging constraints.

Why the Lincoln Still Won

Lincoln's InTech V-8 gave away 15 horsepower and nearly a second in the 0-to-60 run, and the Continental carried 94 extra pounds. But the logbook comments point to a different priority: the Lincoln isolated bumps better, felt more stable on highways and back roads, and offered adjustable steering and suspension settings through its Memory Profile System. In a luxury comparison, that perceived composure outweighed the Cadillac's straight-line advantage.

The Unresolved Chassis Question

The report's final observation is the most important analysis: if either car had rear- or four-wheel drive, the testers said they might have awarded the win on driving dynamics rather than comfort. Both cars still suffered torque steer under hard throttle, a known trade-off of transverse front-wheel-drive V-8 layouts. That gives the 1995 comparison a specific lesson about chassis architecture and luxury driving behavior.