Driven: 2024 Lincoln Nautilus Hybrid Improves On Excellence

The Lincoln Nautilus is all-new for 2024, marking the third generation of this luxury SUV. There’s seating for up to five people with a stunning interior, standard all-wheel drive, and a choice of gas or hybrid engines. One of the standout features of the new Nautilus is its infotainment system, which includes a display that spans the full width of the dashboard.

Every trim of the Nautilus delivers a luxury experience with standard features including heated and ventilated front seats and synthetic leather upholstery. It’s all a matter of just how much luxury you crave, with the top Black Label offering exclusive themed interiors. The Nautilus combines the latest technologies, including Lincoln BlueCruise hands-free driver-assist, along with upscale materials for a premium driving experience.

Exterior: A Bold Stance With Unique Details

Style matters, especially when it comes to luxury cars. The Lincoln Nautilus looks the part from its wheel designs that range from 19- to 22-inches to its unique door handles that are tucked into the beltline. You don’t even see them when you first walk up to the car. Rather than pulling out of the door, there’s just a button tucked on the inside of each handle that needs only a gentle press.

Up front, there’s a striking grille design that includes a lit Lincoln Star with a lightbar running to the LED headlamps. These make the Nautilus a standout at night. Around the back there are dual chrome exhaust tips for extra visual appeal. This SUV is big and impressive, attracting attention for all the right reasons. It isn’t a small vehicle, but the streamlined design keeps it from looking bulky.

Interior: Surrounded By Luxury

Lincoln is a luxury brand, which comes with certain expectations. While some luxury cars are lackluster in their base trims, saving the good stuff only for the top of the lineup, no matter which trim of the Nautilus you choose, you’re in for a treat.

There’s a standard 10-way power driver’s seat with synthetic leather seating surfaces and an 8-way power front passenger seat. Both seats are heated and ventilated. There’s also dual-zone automatic climate control, a heated, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and ambient lighting to set the mood. Available digital scents refresh the air through replaceable cartridges easily accessed in the center armrest. They fill the cabin with a light touch of scent, but can be activated for a burst of fragrance at the press of a button in the infotainment screen as needed.

At the top of the lineup, the Black Label ups the ante with themed interiors, including Chalet and a new Redwood theme with leather seating and herringbone marquetry walnut wood inlays. The Reserve also features 24-way power front seats and 28-speaker Revel audio. While every trim of the Nautilus is beautiful, the Reserve truly coddles passengers in every way.

Lincoln Rejuvenate: Creating A Moment Of Zen

There’s seating for five in the Nautilus with plush front seats. They deliver the support to keep muscles from tiring on long drives with plenty of comfort. You won’t mind sitting and waiting for your kids to get out of school in these seats. Rear seat passengers don’t get quite the same treatment, but those seats are still comfortable. They recline for road trip naps and are available with heated outboard seats.

There’s also something called Lincoln Rejuvenate, which might have you hanging out in your car a bit longer on purpose. This feature is set to roll out as an over-the-air update for this year’s Nautilus, but will be included in the 2025 model year Nautilus when it arrives at the end of this year.

This option, available only when the Nautilus is in park, creates a spa-like experience. It adjusts the lighting and climate control while reclining the driver’s seat and activating massage. Graphics on the screen change to relaxing images, including the Aurora Borealis, and pleasant scents are released from the available scent cartridges. You can choose from a five- or 10-minute experience that lets you create a moment just for yourself in the middle of a hectic day.

Infotainment: The Lincoln Digital Experience

Once upon a time, infotainment screens were tiny and showed very little information. Over the years, they grew in both size and number. The Lincoln Digital Experience takes it further with a massive 48-inch display that runs across the entire length of the dashboard right below the windshield, along with a second 11.1-inch touchscreen that houses the controls.

It is, at first, a bit overwhelming. The pillar-to-pillar display houses the instrument cluster on the left and various customizable widgets on the right. It shows everything from the weather to the tire pressure to the name of the city where you’re currently driving. While it seems like a lot, it is surprisingly not distracting. We thought this would be overkill, but ended up loving it and finding it better than having to look at an instrument cluster and infotainment screen separately.

You’ll also notice the steering wheel isn’t round, but more oval. This makes seeing the instrument cluster easier and, like the Lincoln Digital Experience itself, despite being odd at first, quickly becomes second nature. Our one quibble with the system is that it controls the air vents, too. You can’t just grab the vents and move them, but instead need to adjust them on the touchscreen, which is terribly distracting for the driver.

Cargo: Room For Your Fancy Luggage

One of the reasons for getting an SUV is the convenience of being able to carry plenty of cargo even when there is a full load of passengers. The Nautilus has a max tow rating of 1,750 pounds with up to 36.4 cubic feet behind the rear seats and 71.3 cubic feet behind the front seats. That’s more than enough to manage a family and all their cargo.

Fold the rear seats and larger items can easily be stowed, but we just cannot get our head around this being used for a run to the local home improvement store. The interior is just so nice, perish the thought of throwing mulch in the back. If you have the funds to buy a Lincoln, hire a guy with a truck for that job.

Performance: Choose From A Gas Or Hybrid Engine

There are two engine options for the 2024 Lincoln Nautilus that replace the old V6, which is no longer available. The gas engine is a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder with 250 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission. There’s also a hybrid version of this engine with 310 net system horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque paired to a continuously variable automatic. There’s no electric, but hybrids are proving a big success for Lincoln with new hybrid models on the way.

We spent our driving time in the hybrid, which was responsive and quiet. That quietness is a key part of the luxury experience Lincoln aims to deliver and it succeeds. It’s a well-mannered setup with good fuel economy in either guise, but those who have lots of road trips planned would do well to consider the hybrid.

* city/highway/combined as per the EPA

Drive Impressions: The Smooth Ride Of A Luxury Vehicle

The Nautilus delivers a true luxury car experience. The interior is quiet and comfortable with seats that make it easy to doze off on longer drives. There’s plenty of room with beautiful, upscale materials throughout. The ambient lighting, digital scents, and massive digital display all add to the sense of luxury.

A smooth ride that evens out all but the roughest of road surfaces enhances the experience. The suspension system soaks up the bumps and dips, making it easy to sip your coffee without worrying about it ending up on your shirt. It’s also quiet, creating a serene experience without road, wind or engine noise. Even under hard acceleration, the sound of the engine never intrudes on the calm of the cabin.

The hybrid powertrain we had the pleasure of driving was responsive and smooth with well-timed shifts. This is a big vehicle, but there was no hesitation when merging into heavy traffic and ample power for navigating around slower vehicles at highway speeds.

Take the Nautilus onto country roads and it handles surprisingly well. It won’t fool you into thinking it’s a sports car, but it also won’t force you to slow down overmuch in the turns. It has almost no body roll with responsive steering that makes those winding roads fun rather than a chore, which isn’t an easy thing to accomplish in an SUV.

There’s also Lincoln BlueCruise, which is a hands-free driver-assist technology that’s standard on the Nautilus. This controls the throttle and steering and allows the driver to relax while still paying attention to the road and being ready to take over. It can even manage lane changes as needed. It takes a little time to trust, just because it feels counterintuitive to take your hands off of the wheel. Once you give it a chance, however, you’ll quickly come to realize that it does its jobe well and helps make long treks less tiring for the driver.

Pricing And Verdict: A Premium Product With A Price To Match

The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus is available in three trims. The base Premiere is $50,415, not including $1,595 destination. The Reserve comes in at $54,850 while the Black Label takes a big step to $74,350 – adding the hybrid powertrain adds $1,500 to these prices. It’s not an inexpensive SUV, but it’s priced well for the segment with far more expensive options out there if you have exceptionally deep pockets. The Genesis GV80 is priced higher in its top trim, while the rest of the lineup is comparably priced. The Lexus RX is more affordable overall, but lacks the same luxury panache. The BMW X5 comes in with higher pricing with more performance-focused trims.

There is lots of competition in the segment, with the Nautilus striking a nice balance between performance and comfort. It has powertrains that will easily satisfy the majority of drivers with smooth, responsive acceleration, but where it excels is interior comfort. The serene cabin with its premium features, tech-forward infotainment setup, and amenities from digital scents to massaging seats to unique themes create a singular experience. It’s a beautiful luxury SUV for the discerning driver.