2025 Lincoln Nautilus Black Label First Test Review: Relaxation on Wheels

,

An $80,000 luxury crossover SUV should be attractive and plush. The rakish 2025 Lincoln Nautilus, in its top-of-the-line Black Label trim, nails those attributes. Inside and out, the Nautilus is uncommonly good-looking, and it wins major points for its interior comfort and features. Chinese-built in Hangzhou alongside the now Chinese-market-only Ford Edge, the Lincoln's inherent goodness makes us wish we had a chance to sample that Edge, which would presumably be a nice value.

See All 23 Photos23

Fabulous to Behold

But back to the Lincoln. By far the Nautilus’ most impressive area is its interior design. The front row and dashboard look to have been lifted from Captain Picard’s Enterprise-D and enhanced with a dash of art deco before being installed. The interface is nicely considered and highly customizable, which we love, but—at least in this test vehicle—Android Auto disconnected with a frequency you could almost set a clock by. Sometimes it would reconnect by itself and other times required a full reset. Subsequent Nautilus experiences have not been thus marred, so it's possible this was a one-off. The centerpiece is of course the massive set of screens that sit ahead of the front occupants, below the windshield. It's a lot of real estate, but its location away from riders and the fact that it's not crammed with information mean it doesn't overwhelm. Rather, with a choice of various graphics and a calm mode, it enhances the relaxing vibe. The nighttime ambient light is spectacular, too.

Ford says the new Ford and Lincoln Digital Experience that runs the features you see on the screens is quite the powerhouse, with nearly 14 times the previous system’s graphics-processing speed. And it indeed works extremely well in handling the basics of infotainment, the core of what most people will do within their Nautilus. Some of the tangential features disappointed a bit, however: Several of the built-in games you can play on the system crashed before loading up fully. The 5G internet connection available to riders should allow squashing some bugs via over-the-air updates.

That's it for the bad stuff. The seating offers the array of power adjustments you’d expect from a modern luxury vehicle, and the seats are comfortable for both long hauls and sporty driving. The Blue Cruise hands-free driving system works fantastically, too, locking into the center of a lane and even changing lanes with just a turn-signal tap. With the phenomenal Revel audio system on, the massaging seats kneading out the day's stress, the car's onboard scent diffuser working away, and Blue Cruise handling the driving, road-tripping the Nautilus is the essence of a stress-free experience.

See All 23 Photos23

American Luxury Focus

Excising the tech from the conversation, this is an old-school American luxury car at its core. It can handle a corner fine, especially in Excite mode, but it's tuned overall to cosset and float down the road. Undulations can cause the body to bob in the softer suspension settings, but otherwise driving the Nautilus is smooth sailing. Another old-school thing the 2025 Lincoln Nautilus does well is provide space, with plenty of passenger and cargo room. The back seats are nearly as comfortable as the highly adjustable fronts and are raised somewhat to provide a better view. We're also fans of the squircle steering wheel, which bucks a trend of overly large wheels in many SUVs; it's tidily sized, shaped to allow a view of the gorgeous, dash-spanning screen, and makes maintaining your intended line on things like on- and off-ramps a snap.

As mentioned, outright sportiness isn't its goal, and the mild to moderate understeer you experience while driving hard is evidence. Of course, this isn't a big factor in a vehicle designed to be driven well below its capabilities. It's true that many luxury SUV competitors can do just about everything at once, blending athleticism with state of the art tech and luxury—which is to say the German approach copied by Infiniti, Cadillac, and others—but the Nautilus' singular focus on a style of luxury and experience that are distinctly American is absolutely refreshing.

See All 23 Photos23

The challenge Lincoln faces with the Nautilus is that $80,000 can buy a lot of vehicle in many segments. In off-road trucks, it’ll net you a dune-blasting Ram RHO; in performance cars it’ll buy you a nearly 500-hp mid-engine targa-top Corvette; and in luxury cars it’ll just about grant you access to Lexus’ flagship sedan. But then again, there is essentially no specific alternative to the Nautilus itself. It's a special experience overall, and if the price seems too dear, you can get much of the same in the $50,000-ish base model and the $60,000-ish Reserve.

See All 23 Photos23