The land of Lincoln these days – the automaker, not the President – is a different world than what made it famous among Hollywood stars in the 1950s.
The massive Lincoln Continental, a nostalgic homage to the huge, luxurious sedan of the same name made back when, was shuffled off six years ago. Since then, the Lincoln land has been SUV/CUV, with Corsair, Nautilus, the Ford Explorer-based Aviator, and the Ford Expedition-based Navigator. But that’s just fine.
You see, our 2026 Nautilus is no slouch in luxury or technology, even if it is on the Ford CD4 platform set up to handle front-or-all-wheel-drive midsize and full-size stuff like the Ford Edge and S-Max. And the Nautilus has been popular, with just under 34,000 sold in 2025, out of the 106,000 vehicles Lincoln that crossed the nation’s lots.
So let’s submerge ourselves in the details behind this third-generation midsize luxury crossover, and see why people shell out lots of Lincolns for it.
Our 31-year-old son, lover of tuner cars and racing motorcycles, summed up his first look with, “Wow, that’s a good looking car.” And indeed, in a stunning pearl white metallic paint on 22-inch Goodyear Eagle GT rubber wrapped around 10-spoke bladed wheels, it does look good. And at just over 193 inches in length and 67.6-inches in height, it looks long and somewhat lower than some other CUVs.
Slim quad LED headlights connect via a light strip centered on a glowing Lincoln crosshair emblem atop a gloss-black crosshatch grille. There’s 6-bar accents at each corner. The low, wide center intake lives over a buff gray and black air dam, with aggressive side inlets edged in more gloss black – real aerodynamics at work here as they flow air over the front wheels.
On the flanks, black fender vent spears are matched by lower sill accents under a somewhat low black roof with slim cargo bars. The roofline flows down as it heads aft, as window sill lines rise, adding to the slim silhouette as the clamshell hood’s shutlines flow along flanks to end near slim wraparound taillights. The rear fascia gets slim exhaust tips in black, framing for neat contrast with the stunning pearl white paint.
The design has been around for a few years, gaining some distinction with our test vehicle’s black Jet Package with dark styling elements and those bladed 22-inch wheels.
2026 Lincoln Nautilus AWD Black Label Lights Up The Night
The Lincoln is ready to greet its drivers day or night, its grille emblem glowing as front and rear LED light bars pulse, and seas of tiny Lincoln stars project on the ground. There’s curved, high-mounted handles integrated into the doors, then you settle into light gray leather and suede seats with white stitching and piping, plus heat, cooling and massage. One note – to lock the doors from outside, you can tap an icon on the keycode touchpad panel on the gloss black B-pillars. It’s funny how Ford continues to install a keycode panel on its vehicles in a time of phone apps and remote key fobs.
2026 Lincoln Nautilus Label Interior Includes 48-inch Panoramic Display
The interior is done in Navy blue over a deep burgundy with stitched edges – even the door top leather has a soft, touchable feel. Tap the “Start” button amid more padded leather, and the 48-inch panoramic instrument panel wrapping from A-pillar to pillar glows to life. There’s basic driver’s information in front, as well as status of the BlueCruise and driver safety stuff. Flowing right, a navigation map appears – or the backup-overhead camera view. A unique time display and audio info is next, then a configurable display for trip meter, weather/forecast and more.
Perched dash-center in front of unique buff wood trim with pinpoint steel dots is an 11.1-inch-wide infotainment screen for Home Screen (map and audio), or car functions, info screens, etc. That center screen is almost superfluous, since almost anything you need there can also be popped on the widescreen. It’s handy for preset radio stations; or accessing apps or phone functions, while main climate control functions are touchscreen icons on the bottom.
The vents cannot be manually adjusted – tapping the screen’s airflow icon gets a screen image of all vents, and a smartphone-like swipe of each allows adjustment. It works, but is a bit fiddly getting air flow where you want – best do it while parked. The same is true for drive mode – tap a physical console button, then tap one of five smallish drive mode icon on the center screen, sometimes easy to miss while driving.
The squared-off oval steering wheel is low so you can see the widescreen main display. The digital speedometer is straight ahead at the right height to be read without eyes straying off asphalt too long.
If you’re feeling stressed, then park and access the Rejuvenate mode. That wide screen turns into a panoramic waterfall, beach or underwater scene with soothing music. There’s also “Elevated Journey.” Motivational therapists calmly give a pep talk; and do not forget Digital Scent – Mystic Forest, Ozonic Azure or Violet Cashmere – to help. And the wide screen is the bookended by perforated alloy speaker grilles, and sculpted accent corner lighting. But Lincoln missed a trick – there are blank panels at each end that would be cool with blind spot camera displays.
That squared-off oval steering wheel’s thick stitched leather rim feels right, while the haptic touch controls handle audio and cruise – just tap them and a menu appears on the widescreen to show which quadrant of the featureless black square handles volume, tune, mute and voice command, or cruise control and distance setting.
That center console is framed in padded, stitched gray leather, with piano key transmission buttons, then a crystal-like volume knob that’s elegant, flanked by drive mode, camera, flashers and other buttons. An inductive charger slot is nearby, plus a rubberized nook with dual USB ports and cup holders. The cushy center armrest hides good storage space and more power outlets. And those leather and suede bucket seats have separate power thigh cushions, plus heat, massage and cooling. The driver gets 3 memory presets. They are comfy and fairly supportive.
The Revel Ultima audio system’s 28 speakers offered serious sound. That panoramic display can also be used to surf the web, watch videos or stream movies when parked. There’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Wide back doors open to more leather and suede with white stitching and piping in a roomy 3-person bench seat with great head and leg room, and a long moonroof overhead. Outboard seats are heated, and there’s rear air vents and USB ports. The rear seatbacks power split and fold 60/40 to expand a big, flat cargo area under a hands-free power hatch. Cargo area buttons also drop the rear seatbacks.
Power in our Nautilus comes from a turbocharged 2-liter four-cylinder engine with 250 hp and 280 lb.-ft. of torque, mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel-drive. A hybrid version with the 2-liter turbo four has 310 hp with a CVT.
There’s five standard drive modes – Normal, Conserve, Excite, Slippery and Deep Conditions (which shuts down traction control). We did lots of driving in Conserve mode, and found our 7,700-mile-old Nautilus launched moderately, with softened upshifts en route to 60 mph in a decent 7.8 seconds with passing power as needed.
The Nautilus becomes the most fun to drive in Excite, where steering tightens up with a more direct and weighted feel, albeit it’s a bit artificial in feel. And when the right foot goes down, the engine responds quickly, as does the transmission, with a sweeter snarl from the exhaust. We got to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds after a slightly less sedate launch. Passing power in Excite is good, although there’s no way to manually downshift. A “Low” button on the transmission keyboard locks it in a lower gear for descending hills, towing or snow/sand..
A week’s worth of driving in mixed modes netted an average 23 mpg. The last Nautilus I tested in 2024 for a now-retired website hit 60 mph in 7.2 seconds in Conserve/6.8 seconds in Excite, netting a decent 25 mpg in mixed modes.
The Nautilus hits the road with an all-independent suspension; MacPherson struts with coil springs and stabilizer bar up front, and short-long arm with lateral semi-trailing arms in back, all with stabilizer bars and continuous damping shocks as part of an adaptive suspension. Sensors monitor vehicle motion, body movement, steering, acceleration, and braking activities to modify the ride. Driving in Conserve mode, the ride is plush and very comfortable, with a bit of after-bounce as this 4,349-lb. Lincoln easily absorbs bumps and potholes. Things firm up a bit in Excite mode, with tighter control of rebound, but still a bit plush, nicely buffered at full impact. The ride is also quiet, bar some tire noise, although something was rattling in a front door.
Lincoln Nautilus Black Label Has Luxurious, Comfy Ride
As for handling, the Nautilus was secure with all wheel drive, hanging in well with good steering feel in basic cornering. Pushed harder, we had some understeer and body roll, again belying its luxurious suspension tuning, but the all-wheel-drive helped. It is a basic, confident handler, but some other midsize SUVs offer tighter, yet still comfy suspension feel and handling. In a monsoon rain, it tracked well, staying true in lane with all-wheel-drive grip. The lane-keep system is a serious nudger, working to keep this SUV in lane – but it has to stay on to use BlueCruise
For 2026, it has the updated BlueCruise 1.5 hands-free highway driving system, now with Automatic Lane Change. It moves around slower cars, but is not easy to cancel. It also gains a serious face/eye detection system. If you look away for more than a second it tells you “face detection necessary” to keep cruise or BlueCruise on.
Power steering was precise if a bit numb in Conserve and Normal mode, offering a tight turning radius. The Nautilus has 13.58-inch front/12.59-inch rear disc brakes, and offers a fairly tight bite high up, then solid stops from speed with no sign of fade.. But they were sometimes a bit grabby after initial pedal push.
The Nautilus Premier starts at $53,995; our AWD Black Label was base-priced at $77,130, with almost all we had standard bar the $3,500 Jet Appearance Package with black and satin accents; and $750 for the White Platinum Metallic paint. The final price was $81,780.
Bottom line: The design may be a few years on, but remains stunning – long, lean and shapely – with an amazingly lush feel and look to the interior, complete with widescreen display. It remains a solid contender in its class, but I’d love a tad less plush ride, and just a smidgeon sharper handling.
2026 Lincoln Nautilus Black Label AWD Specifications
Vehicle type – 5-door all-wheel-drive luxury crossover
Base price – $77,130 (As driven – $81,780)
Engine type – DOHC, 16-valve turbocharged in-line four
Displacement – 2-liter
Horsepower (net) – 250 hp @ 5,500 rpm
Torque (lb-ft) – 280 @ 3,00 rpm
Transmission – 8-speed automatic w/low range
Wheelbase – 114.2 in.
Overall length – 193.2 in.
Overall width – 85.4 in. w/mirrors
Height – 68.2 in.
Front headroom – 39.6 in.
Front legroom – 43.5 in.
Rear headroom – 39.1 in.
Rear legroom – 43.1 in.
Cargo capacity – 36.4 cubic feet/71.3 w/2nd row folded
Towing capacity – up to 1,750 lbs.
Curb weight – 4,349 pounds
Fuel capacity – 20 gallons
Mileage rating – 21 mpg city/29 mpg highway