A lot of people think Lincoln is a small player in the luxury market today. That’s what a brand does when it makes boring, pointless goods for years on end. Mercedes-Benz and BMW had much stronger lineups than Lincoln did ten years ago. Since then, things have changed. During a week-long trip on the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus, that becomes clear right away.
The brand’s most successful effort to get back into the conversation was the new Nautilus. If you want to buy a mid-size luxury SUV, this 2017 Lincoln should be at the top of your list. It has a sleek, modern look, lots of room inside, a smooth powertrain, a comfortable ride, and a lot of electronics—as long as you don’t mind CVTs and looking at a big four-foot screen all day.
The Nautilus has always looked nice. When it came out in 2019, its beautiful shape and smooth curves gave the brand a young feel. The 2024 model’s headlights are sharper, cutting into a bigger, more noticeable hood. These days, the daytime running lights are just one long bar that goes through a lit Lincoln symbol. In terms of looks, it’s very modern; it’s more exciting than a Mercedes GLE and definitely better than any SUV BMW makes right now.
But the house is what really stands out. The standard 48.0-inch (that’s four feet) screen on top of the dashboard meets you with great style as soon as you walk in. After an interesting “N A U T I L U S” animation, the screen works as both an infotainment and gauge cluster. It shows the speed directly in front of the driver and navigation, media, weather, and fuel economy to the right. As separate icons, you can put these anywhere on the screen you like. They are easy to swap out for other useful gadgets, like a clock or a widget that checks the tire pressure.
The weather widget that tells you whether it will get colder or wetter during the drive is very helpful, and the screen looks great. But I can’t change it as much as I’d like to. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto can be used directly with the Nautilus, but neither can be used on the huge 48-inch screen. CarPlay can only be used on the 11.1-inch screen further down in the center panel. The built-in Google Maps navigation app is perfect and easy to use, but you can use Waze instead. To do this, you need to use the secondary screen. While Lincoln’s Google Maps is on top, I tried to use Waze on the lower screen, but it wouldn’t work.
You can’t watch Netflix or YouTube on the screen. Also, it doesn’t come with any games or other useful apps for when you need to wait. Do we really need a panel screen four feet away? Yes, it does look good, and if you want cool new tech, this is the best you can get.
The house looks beautiful the rest of the way. Our tester had Black Label trim, and the inside was designed in a style called “Chalet,” which had brown silver trim and white leather. The front seats are power-adjustable in 24 ways so that they can fit any body type. The leather is also nice to touch. Even after traveling for ten hours on a very stressful weekend day, my lumbar and massage skills keep me from being tired.
My biggest issue about the inside is that the climate control system needs physical buttons. Instead, you have to use the 11.1-inch touchscreen on the dash to make changes. The 360-degree camera setup does have a physical button, which is good. You don’t have to worry about hitting a wall or scraping a bumper when you’re in a tight spot. Like its hire car roots, the back seat has a lot of space for people’s heads and legs, and the trunk can hold more than 35 cubic feet of stuff.
To put it mildly, it’s an amazing experience to drive the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus. You can enjoy the extra 28-speaker Revel Ultimate 3D sound system in the lap of luxury because this car is made to make driving look easy. The steering feels like a Tesla; it’s all plastic, doesn’t give you any feedback when you move it, and moves fast enough that your forearms don’t cross too often. With few three-pointers, the car is almost easy to drive because it has a small turning radius.
Because the suspension can be changed, the Nautilus feels like a sofa on rough roads, which is another good thing. This car doesn’t look like a sports car at all; it’s definitely a luxury item. I think that going with smaller wheels instead of 21-inch ones will make the ride even more comfortable and help keep small problems from getting into the car.
Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving aid is a very useful tool or a cool trick to show off to your friends, depending on how far you travel. Right now, the technology lets people drive hands-free on hundreds of kilometers of pre-planned roads in the US and Canada. BlueCruise uses thermal cameras to track your eye movements and make sure you keep your eyes on the road. I found that BlueCruise was just as good as the Chevy Super Cruise system I tried last year after going about fifty miles with it. As with that technology, BlueCruise can change lanes instantly when the indicator switch is flipped. It might also change speed to follow the traffic. Not having a membership for BlueCruise is the only real downside, other than a few false alerts when I wasn’t looking at the road. A membership can be bought for $800 a year or $75 a month. You can get free service for four years on most Lincoln trims if you buy one with technology.
That’s how the engine fits in with the rest of the experience. The optional hybrid system was put on our tester. It has a continuously variable transmission and a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four electric engine that powers all four wheels. The 310 horsepower is enough for this job, but what really strikes me is how well the powertrain fits with the rest of the car, making it more comfortable to drive. When the engine starts up to help the electric motors, it doesn’t shake the car or make the experience less enjoyable; the power delivery is smooth and steady. Most of the time, CVTs are bad, but this buzzing is alright and feels in the right place.
Even though I haven’t driven the base Nautilus, which isn’t a hybrid, this extra engine seems like a no-brainer for buyers since it costs only $1,500. The EPA says it gets a combined 30 miles per gallon, which is six mpg more than the regular Nautilus. It may make driving more fun, but it also uses a lot less gas. With a 20-gallon gas tank, you could go weeks without having to fill up.
Our tester cost $78,095, so it wasn’t cheap. A simple Nautilus hybrid, on the other hand, costs $53,510 plus a $1,595 delivery fee. Even though it doesn’t have a good sound system, nice interior decor, or changeable suspension, it is still a great deal. In a pinch, I’d choose the Reserve model, which is in the middle range and keeps the price below $60,000. It has some of those features again.
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