Final week, I picked up a member of the family from JFK airport in a top-trim, $127,000 Lincoln Navigator.
They approached from the passenger facet. The SUV was so large that they did not even discover a minivan parked subsequent to the driving force’s door.
“This automobile is big,” they mentioned as they acquired into my weeklong tester.
Moments later, they sighed because the delicate, supportive seats began massaging their again. Then, confusion: They could not work out regulate the air vents whereas I used to be busy utilizing the display for instructions.
That brief drive from the airport — marked by lavish consolation and a way of extra that borders on ridiculous — summed up the Navigator completely.
The almost 30-year-old nameplate has become an icon by doubling down on over-the-top luxurious. It weighs about three tons, delivers a few of the most snug seats you should purchase, and chugs a gallon of gas roughly each 17 miles (with the beneficial premium gas, no much less).
It is unapologetically itself — it exists to be extreme.
It additionally stretches a 48-inch display throughout your complete dashboard.
“It is huge, proper?” Christian Dodd, the senior design director for digital merchandise at Ford, advised Enterprise Insider when discussing the tech.
Lincoln’s SUV doubles as Ford’s tech lab
Ford, Lincoln Motors
The Navigator performs an outsize function inside its father or mother firm, Ford. The automaker treats the high-end SUV as a know-how proving floor — rolling out software program options that may ultimately unfold throughout the broader lineup.
That begins with that large show stretching throughout the dashboard. It is not a touchscreen, which was a deliberate alternative.
Dodd mentioned the purpose is to maintain drivers’ “eyes up and out” of the cabin — a design cue that Ford will implement in future cars.
“It is huge and daring, however they’re meant to be glanceable by anybody,” he mentioned.
In apply, that works. The passenger facet of the display could be custom-made with non-invasive widgets — climate, navigation, compass, gasoline economic system, et cetera — organized throughout three sections. (I skipped the gasoline mileage readout for peace of thoughts.)
The true experiment, although, is how Lincoln handles suggestions.
The Navigator features a “voice suggestions” app that lets homeowners report messages on to Ford’s tech workforce.
“You could find it, report a message, and I’ll get it,” Dodd mentioned. His workforce can be scanning Reddit, working buyer polls, and monitoring sources like J.D. Energy — all of which feed into a gentle stream of software program updates.
“When you had a Navigator for a yr, you most likely would’ve seen three totally different variations of the climate widget,” Dodd mentioned.
I did not report a message, however perhaps the tech workforce will learn this assessment: I discovered the local weather system to be the weakest a part of the tech. Adjusting airflow — one thing that used to take a second with a bodily vent — now requires swiping by menus and dragging your finger throughout a display.
Nonetheless an American gem
Ben Shimkus/Enterprise Insider
The Navigator feels unmistakably American. At instances, it is extra truck than luxurious automobile.
Below heavy acceleration, its twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 (which changed the V8 in 2014) nonetheless delivers a deep, throaty rumble.
That character carries over to the driving expertise. The Navigator feels its measurement. Push it into a good flip, and passengers will lean into the automobile’s weight. The suspension does a strong job of smoothing out most bumps, however when bigger vibrations attain the cabin, they have a tendency to linger.
Ben Shimkus/Enterprise Insider
Gas economic system is precisely what you’d count on. On a 200-mile journey to upstate New York, I averaged 17.7 mpg — proper in keeping with its estimate.
As a day by day driver, the Navigator delivers on its promise: It is huge, snug, highly effective, and unapologetically inefficient.
For consumers who need a three-ton SUV that prioritizes consolation over precision — the form of automobile that makes lengthy drives really feel easy — the Navigator matches the invoice.
