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With regards to SUVs, they don’t get a lot greater than the Lincoln Navigator L. And in Black Label trim, this voluminous experience is among the most luxurious automobiles on the street, too. We spent every week dwelling with the 6-figure Lincoln, attending to know its many comforts and what it’s prefer to really feel like a limo driver and an government driving within the again.
If there is a single phrase to explain the Navigator, it is substantial. From its tall entrance grille with dozens of shiny chrome emblems and a giant light-up Lincoln star brand to its 22″ machined aluminum wheels, the Navigator Black Label exudes class and class. These monumental wheels look even higher in movement. As they spin, they produce the phantasm of gliding throughout the bottom. Measuring a garage-busting 222″ lengthy, the long-wheelbase Navigator has area for seven or eight passengers with additional room for baggage behind the third row.
Underneath its elevated hood, the large, body-on-frame car has a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine that helps encourage this roughly 6000-pound SUV from 0 to 60 mph in simply 5.8 seconds. That energy plant cranks out 440 horsepower and 510 lb-ft. of torque. It is a variant of the identical engine discovered within the Ford F-150 Raptor and Ford GT, so it solely is smart that it is acquired nice energy and torque. Energy goes to both the rear or all 4 wheels through a easy, fast-shifting 10-speed automated transmission. Lincoln presents the Navigator and Navigator L in RWD and AWD configurations. All fashions can tow a minimum of 8,000 kilos, with the RWD Navigator providing the very best capability at 8,700 kilos.
Due to its absolutely unbiased entrance and rear suspensions, the Navigator presents a supremely gentle and compliant experience, cushioning its cabin from bumps and vibrations. The adaptive suspension system has a characteristic known as Highway Preview, which makes use of the entrance digicam to look forward and put together the dampers earlier than the wheels hit a bump or a pothole. With this technique in place, feeling a jolt from large bumps is uncommon. One factor to notice is that the suspension is sort of gentle. Even in its sportiest mode, the experience can really feel a bit floaty at freeway speeds.
There’s a lot of fashionable expertise aboard, together with a 12-inch configurable digital instrument cluster, selectable drive modes, adaptive cruise management, lane-keeping, pace signal recognition, and numerous fashionable security methods. Lincoln BlueCruise (aka ActiveGlide) offers hands-free driving on many U.S. highways and interstates, with the Navigator taking on steering, throttle, and braking software so long as you retain your eyes up and on the street. We have skilled this technique in different Ford and Lincoln automobiles, and it is labored fairly effectively. Nonetheless, our Navigator was fairly fussy and stored switching off after quick distances as a result of it thought our eyes weren’t on the street. Maybe it was a difficulty with eyeglass reflections or driver place, or perhaps it was an older model of the software program than we have encountered earlier than. Hopefully, this will likely be improved with an over-the-air replace or in 2024 fashions.
Lincoln presents Navigator Black Label fashions in 4 totally different inside themes, every combining high-end supplies and designer-selected coloration schemes right into a serene and complex atmosphere. Our check car got here with the Invitation theme, which mixes open-pore Khaya wooden, Onyx black leather-based, and brandy-colored stitching. Different themes embrace Central Park, with darkish walnut, City Inexperienced seats, and a Manhattan inexperienced exterior; Yacht Membership, with whitewashed teak and Coastal Blue leather-based; and Chalet, a light-and-airy theme with two-tone Espresso and Alpine leather-based seats and sliverwood particulars. The laser-etched geometric patterns in our Invitation mannequin have an suave look and pair effectively with the sample on the seats.
That is the primary time we have sat in a car with 30-way adjustable energy seats, and so they’re price each greenback. These front-row seats are extremely comfy, effectively padded, and allow you to dial in a exact seating place that is precisely proper to your physique. Even the left and proper thigh helps alter individually. The seat controls are mounted on the doorways, making them simpler to see and use and permitting for a wider seat cushion than automobiles that mount them on the bottom.
The driving force and entrance passenger seats additionally get warmth, air flow, and therapeutic massage features. Massages could be activated with the push of a button and fine-tuned on the touchscreen. There are 5 settings to focus on totally different areas, every providing three depth settings. Like most automobile therapeutic massage methods, this one makes use of air bladders, so it isn’t the form of deep tissue therapeutic massage you would possibly get from a therapeutic massage chair with rollers, nevertheless it’s additionally a lot much less prone to have upkeep points than a mechanical massager. File this below first-world issues.
We will not say sufficient good issues concerning the 28-speaker Revel Ultima Audio setup. This sound system kicks out great quantity with precision and with out distortion. It presents an enveloping soundstage for all passengers, and its audio system have lovely metallic grilles, one other spotlight of the luxurious cabin.
Whenever you strategy the Navigator Black Label at evening with the important thing fob readily available, the door handles gentle up, its energy working boards deploy, entrance and rear working lights activate, and Lincoln brand puddle lights illuminate the bottom at your toes. It is a fancy and welcoming approach to discover your car at midnight.
Whereas some individuals would possibly purchase a Navigator to drive themselves and their households round city and to children’ soccer video games, it is more likely for use as a high-end limousine or government automobile. With that in thoughts, the second-row seats are each bit as vital because the front-row. The comfortable captain’s chairs within the seven-passenger configuration present a chilled atmosphere with loads of headroom, legroom, and elbow room. Just like the entrance seats, they’ve warmth, cooling, and therapeutic massage features. A small touchscreen within the middle armrest offers easy accessibility to seat, audio, and unbiased local weather controls. Energy window shades could be activated by switches on the again of the middle console. You may additionally discover cupholders, USB ports, and 110V energy retailers again right here. We spent a number of hours sitting again right here getting work performed on a laptop computer, and it made an exquisite workplace on wheels. Lincoln does provide Navigator fashions with a bench second row or a passthrough between the seats, buying and selling a little bit of consolation for practicality, which looks like an unlikely requirement for one thing as luxurious as this car.
Due to a tilt-and-slide mechanism on the second-row seats, it isn’t too laborious to get out and in of the third row. Three passengers can match into the again seat, and if you happen to’re not caught within the center, the seats are fairly comfy by way of width, padding, and headrests. These seats can also recline just a bit bit, bettering consolation however barely lowering cargo area. It’s attainable for adults to take a seat again right here, however taller passengers would possibly discover the headroom and kneeroom limiting. There are cupholders and USB ports again right here, too, in addition to storage bins on the edges for youths to stow iPads or different devices.
The Navigator L offers unimaginable cargo area, with loads of room for passengers’ baggage even with all seats occupied. Behind the 60/40-folding third row, you may discover 34.3 to 36 cubic toes of area (relying on whether or not the seats are reclined or upright.) Drop these seats, and that will increase to 79.6 cubic toes. Put all of the seats down, and that jumps to a cavernous 120.2 cubic toes. Keep in mind that if you happen to go for the captain’s chairs and middle console, it isn’t a wholly flat cargo space. Nonetheless, it is monumental, and you will doubtless by no means must put the second row down. Each the second and third rows provide pushbutton motorized folding, which makes it straightforward to drop the seats when loading cargo from the again.
There is not any query the Lincoln Navigator L is a lavish and chic experience – particularly for the primary two rows of passengers. It is a formidable and highly effective SUV that is fulfilling if you happen to’re within the driver’s seat. However if you happen to can afford to be a second-row passenger and have another person shuttle you round, you may get probably the most pleasure out of its enjoyable and splendid atmosphere. Consumers can discover the 2023 Navigator L AWD beginning at $112,300. Our well-optioned check car had a sticker value of $120,995.