2024 Lincoln Nautilus Review and Test Drive
The redesigned 2024 Nautilus' panoramic display dazzles, even if there are some dull areas.
Christian Wardlaw
Ad Age, a marketing-focused publication, recently called the Lincoln Nautilus one of America's hottest brands. Reportedly, the redesigned midsize luxury SUV is driving enough online buzz to warrant the nod, thanks to its high-tech interior and optional hybrid powertrain.
The new 2024 Lincoln Nautilus slots above the automaker's compact Corsair and below its three-row Aviator. Lincoln assembles it in China, and the 2024 Nautilus is a technologically advanced vehicle with impressive infotainment displays and the latest version of BlueCruise, a hands-free highway driver-assistance system. It also looks attractive — if plain — and has hidden door handles similar to those Lincoln used on the defunct Continental sedan.
While I wouldn't have named Lincoln as the car brand most likely to achieve "hot" status, after spending a week with the 2024 Nautilus, I can see how it might appeal to a younger demographic — one that has no idea what Lincoln's earlier Continental, Mark, and Town Car were like. I can also see, however, that the new Nautilus could benefit from some fine-tuning of the details.
Christian Wardlaw
The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus Offers a Range of Trims
The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus is available in Premiere, Reserve, and Black Label trim levels. Base prices range from the low $50,000s to the mid-$70,000s, including the destination charge to ship the SUV from the Hangzhou, China, factory that builds it to your local dealership.
For this Nautilus review, I test-drove the Reserve in Southern California. Highlights from the optional equipment list included the Reserve III option package, extra-cost paint, upgraded 21-inch wheels, and a four-year subscription to BlueCruise. The manufacturer's suggested retail price of the test vehicle came to $67,700, including the $1,595 destination charge. Lincoln provided the vehicle for this Nautilus review.
Christian Wardlaw
The Exterior Is Conservative, but the Interior Is Captivating
The new 2024 Nautilus offers a relatively plain design on the outside, with flat flanks, hidden door handles, and a black roof supported by dark pillars. Aside from the test vehicle's illuminated Lincoln badge in the chrome-stitched grille and bold 21-inch wheel design, the Nautilus struck me as decidedly anonymous.
Open either front door, however, and a different experience awaits. The star of the show is the panoramic display that stretches the width of the interior beneath the base of the windshield. A separate 11.1-inch touchscreen provides traditional infotainment functions while offering customization of the panoramic display. Together, they provide more of a wow factor than anything else I've seen in the class.
The well-equipped test car also featured supple leather, aluminum trim, ornate speaker grilles, and a crystal-inspired volume knob. An available interior fragrance system offers several subtle scents. That said, the hard plastic on the lower parts of the cabin should look and feel better than it does.
Following a trend, the interior emphasizes minimalism by limiting the amount of physical switchgear. For example, to adjust climate-system airflow, you must use the center display screen to make changes, which I ultimately found a hassle. Also, the unmarked, touch-sensing steering wheel controls look great but are distracting to use. Fortunately, the Lincoln Digital Experience infotainment system features Google built-in, making it easier to control various features by voice.
Christian Wardlaw
You Can Find a Perfect Position in the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus
The Reserve III option package contains Lincoln's Perfect Position front seats with 24-way power adjustment, heating, ventilation, and massage. They are as comfortable as they sound, and the premium leather wrapped around them is soft and supple. The driver faces a small-diameter steering wheel that's part square and part circle. I found that the shape made parking and U-turns more difficult, however.
Passengers will likely find the back seat comfortable with plenty of room for legs and feet. From what I saw, Lincoln has deftly integrated USB chargers into the front seatback panels, and the air-conditioning vents have manually adjustable vanes.
Oddly, the Nautilus does not offer a triple-zone climate control system with rear controls. Also, my well-equipped test vehicle lacked rear-side window shades, a concern for many owners who need to carry infants and small children in the SUV.
Christian Wardlaw
There's Enough Storage and Cargo Space to Be Useful
Storage space is adequate, with numerous small stash locations likely to provide just enough for everyone aboard. In the cargo area, you'll find a couple of grocery bag hooks but no side wells for storing bottles of wine and the like. Under the cargo floor, the test vehicle offered small hidden trays and a spare tire.
The cargo space measures 36.4 cubic-feet behind the back seat (35.2 cu-ft in the Reserve and Black Label). The maximum volume with the rear seat folded down is 71.3 cu-ft (68.6 cu-ft in the Reserve and Black Label).
Christian Wardlaw
The Digital Experience Is Complicated
Lincoln's new panoramic display is undeniably impressive. Stretching from one side of the dashboard to the other, it offers several configurations, allowing you to customize the appearance and data panels to personal preferences. Its clean and contemporary styling make it an impressive technological feat, even in the luxury market where full-dashboard screens already exist.
In addition, there is an 11.1-inch touchscreen centered on the dashboard. It is a Google-based Lincoln Digital Experience infotainment system, providing access to more features and functions than might be prudent. Why is that? In the test vehicle, the screen quit responding to touch for nearly 36 hours, preventing me from changing radio stations, adjusting the air vents, switching driving modes, and modifying other system settings. The only thing that worked was the temperature controls.
After the screen's touch-sensing functionality came back to life, the Google built-in technology worked well enough. It integrates Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Assistant, but you can use the wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto instead.
In addition, Lincoln Digital Experience is your gateway to SiriusXM 360L satellite radio, and Lincoln Connect connected services with a 5G Wi-Fi hot spot. A 10-speaker sound system is standard, but you can upgrade to 14-speaker and 28-speaker Revel audio systems.
While not necessarily a Lincoln-specific technology, the Google Assistant voice-control function — while overall easy to use — did show a hiccup. When I told the technology that I needed to go to a hospital, it gave me no more than three nearby medical facilities, not one of which was the hospital just a couple of miles away.
After I changed the request to an emergency room, Google Assistant narrowed the three choices to urgent care centers but still didn't direct me to my city's hospital ER. That's a problem if you're in an unfamiliar area and suffer a medical emergency requiring the expertise and equipment hospitals provide.
Christian Wardlaw
BlueCruise Has Pros and Cons
Every 2024 Nautilus comes with Lincoln Co-Pilot360 Vision 2.2, a fancy way of saying it has all the advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) you expect to find on a modern luxury SUV, plus a surround-view camera. The package also contains adaptive cruise control with a predictive speed-assist function.
In addition, Lincoln equips every Nautilus with its BlueCruise hands-free driving technology, including lane-change assist and an In-Lane Repositioning system that can give you extra room when driving next to large trucks. A 90-day complimentary subscription to BlueCruise is standard on Premiere and Reserve models.
Overall, BlueCruise is excellent technology, but drivers must be prepared to take control at any time. For example, the predictive speed-assist function slows the Nautilus far too much, so you need to be ready to put your foot down on the accelerator to override it, or you'll spark road rage in motorists following the Lincoln.
Also, during my evaluation on Highway 101 in Ventura County, BlueCruise shut off as the Nautilus began climbing a local mountain grade and intermittently reactivated between the base and summit.
More concerning was the in-lane weaving BlueCruise allowed on a freeway curve with an entrance ramp in the middle. The system seemed to have trouble with that combination of factors. To other motorists, the vehicle's behavior must have looked odd.
Despite these aggravations, BlueCruise impresses. But is it a technology worth subscribing to? It all depends on where you live and how you use it. On the multilane freeways of Los Angeles, on which motorists constantly zig and zag at highly variable rates of speed, I don't think it's a worthwhile expense. But when driving across the country, it makes a lot more sense.
As for safety ratings, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) calls the 2024 Nautilus a Top Safety Pick+. It doesn't get better than that.
Christian Wardlaw
Turbocharged Power With All-Wheel Drive Is Standard
My test Nautilus had the standard turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, which produces 250 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque — delivered to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission and a standard all-wheel-drive system. Drivers can choose between Normal, Conserve, Excite, Slippery, and Deep Conditions driving modes.
Lincoln tasks the turbo four with motivating a minimum of 4,349 pounds, and the official EPA ratings are 21/29/24 mpg in city/highway/combined driving. On my evaluation loop, driven mainly in Normal mode with Excite active for a portion of the trip, the test vehicle averaged 21.8 mpg.
Christian Wardlaw
The 2024 Nautilus Is a Soft and Quiet Highway Cruiser
Normal is the default driving mode, and the Nautilus can feel too soft in that setting. When driving in the city, unwanted suspension motions made me feel nauseated. Switching to Excite mode and firming up the adaptive dampers resolved that problem but also made the powertrain more eager and less efficient.
Oddly, at higher highway speeds, the Nautilus dropped the overstuffed marshmallow act and felt normal when in Normal mode.
The turbocharged engine and eight-speed automatic are a good match, and the Nautilus has enough power to satisfy most people. It's not a fast SUV, though, so if that's important to you, consider the optional hybrid drivetrain or choose a different SUV.
Christian Wardlaw
Unfortunately, the steering in my experience feels like you're playing a video game, both in how the undersized steering wheel feels in your hands and how disconnected it seems from what the front tires are doing. All those screens also contribute to the sensation. In addition, the brake pedal is hard to modulate and produces inconsistent responses, so I was never quite sure what I'd get when I pressed on it.
Granted, Lincoln doesn't make the Nautilus for rapid mountain transit, but it's been a long time since I drove a vehicle as unexpectedly dissatisfying on Mulholland Highway in the Santa Monica Mountains. The steering’s artificial feel was part of the problem, but the brakes did not feel up to enthusiastic driving, and despite the test vehicle's oversized 21-inch wheels, the tires gave up grip early.
Christian Wardlaw
The New Lincoln Nautilus Has Ups and Downs
I like the previous-generation Nautilus better than the new one. It had — in my opinion — more design character, was better to drive, and in many ways, felt more substantial in quality. The 2024 Nautilus comes across as half-baked in too many ways, and while there are impressive things about it, equally unimpressive things cancel them out.
This upscale Lincoln has a variety of competitors, including the Lexus RX, which comes with both hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrain options. The Cadillac XT5, high-end versions of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and top-trim Mazda CX-70 models also rival the Nautilus. If you have a bigger budget, you could consider more expensive competitors, such as the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE.
All that said, none of those other SUVs has landed on a list of the hottest 20 brands in the United States in 2024.
Written by humans.
Edited by humans.
Christian WardlawMy first word was “car.” That’s what I’m told, anyway. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with them. The design. The engineering. The performance. And the purpose. I’m a car enthusiast who loves to drive, but I’m also most interested in the cars, trucks, and SUVs that people actually buy. Anybody can tell you that a sports car is fast. What you need to know is whether or not you should buy that new SUV, and why. My life purpose is to help you make that decision.
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