The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus is a truly interesting vehicle. It should give buyers something to think about. It will make many happy, but it won’t appeal to others. I wish more cars had an identity so clearly defined.
It’s compelling because of what Lincoln leaves out as much as what the company builds in.
For a low 6-figure sum, almost every luxury automaker will sell you a car that does almost everything. The flagship cars of luxury automakers leave nothing out, wringing sports car performance from 3-row SUVs with extraordinary luxury and beautiful design.
When they design a luxury midsize SUV for about 70% of that price, they have to be more selective. Most solve this by building a car that’s nearly as good at everything. They give you about two-thirds of the flagship’s power, two-thirds of its feature list, and cabin materials a grade less than the absolute top-of-the-line.
That’s not what Lincoln has done with the Nautilus. The cabin of this luxury midsize SUV strongly resembles something from a higher class, while the rest of the car is just OK by luxury standards.
Rather than a student who scores a B-plus in every subject, they’ve built a car that excels in one and underwhelms in others.
It’s refreshing because we know exactly who this car is for. Buy a Lincoln Nautilus if you want a cabin so luxurious it includes programmable scents and massaging seats, and you don’t need it to drive exceptionally well.
My test model was the all-wheel drive (AWD) Reserve III trim, with a hybrid powertrain, the Jet Appearance Package, and a Revel Ultima 3D audio system. The asking price touched $71,700 (including $1,595 for delivery).
Immersive Display
The centerpiece of the Nautilus cabin is a 48-inch curved display screen stretching door to door. Several other cars in the 2024 model year have immense screens, but Lincoln’s approach is unique and worth explaining.
The screen sits further away than any other screen in a car. It’s mounted high, meeting the base of the windshield. It appears to sit on top of the dashboard more than to be part of it. The steering wheel is a neat squircle (it’s a word now, meaning squared circle), so you can look over it at the screen.
The giant curved screen is not a touchscreen — you operate it with a smaller, 11.1-inch touchscreen mounted where you would expect a car’s touchscreen to be.
Because it sits so high and so far away from your face, looking at the screen is almost like looking at the road. That’s the point, Lincoln says. The screen’s focal length — the distance your eyes have to focus to comprehend it — barely requires your pupils to adjust at all as you check turn-by-turn directions or the title of the current song.
It’s genius. I’ve driven several cars this year with movie theater-like screens. This was the only one that wasn’t a distraction. It doesn’t compete for your attention. It serves the task of watching the road.
Lincoln has since built the massive screen into more expensive models — the 2025 Aviator and Navigator will each get it. But the Nautilus is the least expensive way to access this stunningly well-thought-out piece of cabin design.
You’re about to learn that is a theme with this car.
Ultraluxe Cabin
The Nautilus offers many features you might expect to find in a more expensive car.
Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free highway driving system, which can accelerate, brake, and steer the car on more than 130,000 miles of designated highways, is standard on every trim level.
My Reserve III model also had Lincoln’s outstanding Active Motion front seats. They’re heated and ventilated, adjust 24 ways (you can even set the knee bolster to different lengths for each leg), and offer massage functions.
Even the rear seats are heated.
Oddly, the vents can only be repositioned from the touchscreen. But that allows each driver to save their preferred airflow pattern along with the driver’s seat settings.
The optional Revel audio system has a stunning 28 speakers — seven more than even the extraordinary Mark Levinson system available in the Lexus RX.
A programmable digital scent system lets you flood the cabin with different scent experiences. The car ships with three, but Lincoln sells replacement cartridges for seven in its accessory store, should you prefer Serene Seashore to the standard Mystic Forest.
You can combine all of these experiences with a “rejuvenation” program that, when parked, plays soothing visuals on the big screen, massages the driver and front passenger, and plays gentle sounds and scents to help you recharge. Yes, the car is spa.
These are features we’re accustomed to seeing one class up in pricier cars.
Lincoln left a few tricks for the next Navigator. The leather in the Nautilus isn’t the softest grade. But, in many ways, the cabin of the Nautilus feels like the cabin of a flagship luxury SUV for a much lower price.
Driving Experience Is — Fine
The class-up luxury ends there, though. There’s nothing wrong with the way the Nautilus feels from the driver’s seat. There’s just nothing particularly remarkable about it, either.
It combines a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine with a pair of electric motors for a total output of 310 horsepower. Transitions between electric and gas power are smooth.
That sounds like more than enough power, but in practice, it feels like just enough. A continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) makes it feel adequate to the task of moving a midsize SUV. However, it’s not going to race your pulse.
Standard all-wheel drive (AWD) makes it a good choice where winter weather is a factor in your driving.
The steering feel is light but not particularly dynamic. If it’s connection to the road you want, look to the BMW X5 or Porsche Cayenne.
A Car That Knows What It Is
The Nautilus is an excellent car for a particular sort of buyer.
During my week in it, passengers oohed and aahed at the big screen. I felt relaxed and cocooned from the road.
I never once felt excited by its athleticism or stunned by its beauty (though the wheels in the Jet Appearance Package are cool).
That, in its way, is bracing. When designers try to build a car that is all things to all buyers, they almost always fall short.
Lincoln, instead, built a car that does one thing exceptionally well. The Nautilus has a genuinely brilliant cabin design — other automakers could learn from the placement of the big screen — and luxuries you might expect to find in a more expensive car.
Nothing else about it stands out. But that’s delightful. You probably know just from reading this whether the car would appeal to you. In a midsize luxury SUV class full of look-alike, drive-alike vehicles, that’s unique.
