2022 Lincoln Nautilus Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Especially when equipped with the Black Label trim’s 21-inch machined-finish wheels, the 2022 Lincoln Nautilus is an attractive SUV. There’s nothing awkward or out of balance, but the styling isn’t plain. Lincoln adds enough detailing to ensure the Nautilus has plenty of character.

Approach the SUV after dark, and a Lincoln Embrace lighting sequence greets you. Open the door to a Black Label model, and you’ll find a Chalet or new-for-2022 Flight design theme. Our test vehicle’s Chalet design featured light gray premium leather upholstery, while Flight features a classy Luggage Tan color.

In addition to specific interior design themes, Black Label trim includes pretty much everything you can get on a Nautilus, along with a simulated suede headliner and luxury floor mats. The end result is decadent in many ways, but the center console design and some of the chrome-plated plastic pieces look a little cheap.

You can buy a 2022 Nautilus for a Manufacturer’s Retail Suggested Price (MSRP) of $44,225, including the $1,195 destination charge to ship it to your local dealership. The loaded Nautilus Black Label costs more, starting at $66,825 with destination. In between, you’ll find the Nautilus Reserve ($50,630).

Our Black Label test vehicle had a single upgrade, Ultra Comfort 22-way power-adjustable front seats with Active Motion massage, bringing the price of $68,325. They were perfect for a 14-hour round-trip drive from the suburbs of Los Angeles to Scottsdale, Arizona, and back.

Choose the standard Nautilus or the Nautilus Reserve, and you’ll get a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine making 250 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. Front-wheel drive (FWD) and an eight-speed automatic transmission are standard, and all-wheel drive (AWD) is an option.

The Nautilus Black Label includes a twin-turbocharged 2.7-liter V6 engine producing 335 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque. It requires AWD and is an option on the Nautilus Reserve.

Comfort, Normal, and Sport driving modes are available, and in addition to calibrating powertrain behavior and steering effort level, they adjusted our Black Label’s adaptive suspension. Lincoln delivered the Nautilus with Comfort mode activated, and it makes the SUV feel woozy enough to cause motion sickness. Sport mode makes the steering too heavy. Normal mode proved just right.

We left Los Angeles on a dicey weather day. In San Bernardino, a mix of rain and snow fell as we made our way east on the 210 freeway, gunking up the windshield and front end enough to render the Lincoln’s driving assistance features unusable. That didn’t last long, though, and our drive across the desert was comfortable and cozy thanks to the massaging and heated driver’s seat and the heated steering wheel.

The Nautilus has an 18-gallon fuel tank and the twin-turbo V6 carries an official EPA fuel economy rating of 21 mpg in combined driving (25 mpg on the highway). The maximum range based on the highway rating is 450 miles. Over 871.1 miles, the SUV averaged 25 mpg exactly. On a short mixed-driving loop in the L.A. suburbs, it returned 19.9 mpg.

During the drive to and from Arizona, the Nautilus proved to be the perfect road-tripper, quiet, comfortable, and filled with our favorite music thanks to the 19-speaker Revel audio system. Perhaps inspired by the so-called Constellation theme on its infotainment system, we even pulled off at a desert exit to recline the seats, open the panoramic sunroof, and gaze at the Milky Way well away from city lights.

Before returning the SUV to Lincoln, we took it for a drive in the Santa Monica Mountains. Switching to Sport mode, the twin-turbocharged V6 and eight-speed automatic transmission go on high alert while the suspension firms up to quell about 95 percent of unwanted body motions. And while the 21-inch wheels wear all-season tires, they provide impressive grip.

Unfortunately, the steering is not engaging at all. It’s a shame because the Lincoln Nautilus Black Label is unexpectedly graceful and athletic on a mountain road. Plus, the twin-turbocharged V6 is terrific, and if you listen closely, you might hear faint downshift rev matches.

This might be surprising, but underneath its skin, the Nautilus shares its engineering with the Ford Edge, and the ST version of that SUV is a laugh-riot to drive. In our opinion, there is some of that spirit baked into the Lincoln Nautilus.

Upon entering the Nautilus Black Label, you’ll find smooth and supple leather, warm and inviting ambient lighting, and a quiet drive thanks to the standard Active Noise Control and acoustic windshield and front door glass. Both front seats are heated and ventilated, and the power tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel is heated.

We recommend the optional 22-way power front seats. In addition to multiple massage programs, they include adjustable thigh extensions and head restraints, making it easy to find a perfectly comfortable driving position. They proved exceptionally comfortable even after hours on the road.

Lincoln heats the outboard rear seating positions and provides air conditioning vents for the rear passengers. The high-quality materials evident in the front continue in the back, but the Nautilus is unexpectedly cramped in terms of its accommodations. You sit rather high, which is great, and the seatbacks recline for napping. But legroom is tight for a midsize SUV.

Practical storage space is adequate. The larger locations behind the stereo and climate controls and under the center console bridge are hard to see and access, so that leaves the covered bin forward of the cupholders which isn’t very big. In fact, that curved pod containing the stereo and climate controls looks tacked on, but when Lincoln redesigned the SUV’s interior last year, this was the solution.

A hands-free power liftgate reveals a nicely finished luggage compartment. The Nautilus supplies 37.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat and a maximum of 68.8 cubic feet when you fold the back seat down.

In addition to a 12.3-inch digital instrumentation display, the 2022 Lincoln Nautilus features a 13.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system running the latest Sync 4 software.

Sync 4 offers over-the-air update access, allowing Lincoln to keep the system current over time. It includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Lincoln Connect connected services, a Wi-Fi hotspot, and SiriusXM 360L satellite radio with more stations than is typical. Our Black Label test vehicle also came with connected navigation, wireless smartphone charging, and a 19-speaker Revel premium audio system.

This system was helpful during our road trip and features an intuitive user interface and a wide range of menus and settings. We like that Lincoln offers separate, physical stereo and climate controls, even if the pod on which they reside looks a little cheap. The natural voice recognition system works well, too, and the Revel speakers produce excellent sound quality.

Another technology available on the Nautilus is Phone as a Key. Essentially, this turns your smartphone into a digital key that can unlock and start the Nautilus. Given the size of the SUV’s remote keyless entry fob, you might be inclined to actually use Phone as a Key.

Every 2022 Nautilus has Lincoln Co-Pilot360 1.0. This package of safety features includes forward-collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and automatic high-beam headlights.

Additionally, the Black Label includes Lincoln Co-Pilot360 1.0 Plus. This package adds adaptive cruise control, lane-centering assistance, evasive steering assist, a surround-view camera system, and parking sensors. The Black Label also features a semi-autonomous parking assist system.

We didn’t use that parking assist tech, or (thankfully) the standard post-collision braking system that brings the Nautilus to a stop as soon as possible following a collision. We did experience many of the SUV’s other safety tech during our extensive time behind the wheel. And on this particular trip, in the areas where we used them, the driving assistance systems proved effective without causing irritation in the driver.

For example, the standard rain-sensing wipers were nice to have during the winter weather conditions. We made extensive use of the adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist features, and on the return trip to L.A. wished the Nautilus came with the new ActiveGlide technology we experienced in the refreshed 2022 Navigator earlier in the day.

In crash tests, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gives the Nautilus a five-star overall rating. In fact, the only four-star rating it earns is for rollover resistance, and that’s a common score for SUVs. Unfortunately, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has not assessed the Nautilus for safety.

There are two kinds of five-passenger luxury SUVs. There are the models based on a rear-wheel-drive platform that offer significant performance (Audi Q8, BMW X5, Genesis GV80, Jaguar F-Pace, Land Rover Range Rover Velar, Mercedes-Benz GLE). And there are the models based on a front-wheel-drive platform that offer significant value (Cadillac XT5, Lexus RX, Lincoln Nautilus).

In the FWD-based segment, the Lexus RX is the best-selling model. Proven to be reliable and luxurious over its nearly 25-year history, the RX seems to offer the right combination of style, quality, and dependability for people shopping in this segment. Plus, it is available as a fuel-efficient hybrid, which in early 2022 is suddenly a very big deal.

Still, of the trio of front-drivers, we like the Lincoln Nautilus. To our eye, it looks better than the Cadillac and Lexus, feels more luxurious, and offers the kind of acceleration and passing power that only a twin-turbo V6 can deliver. However, the most appealing versions of the Nautilus are also the most expensive versions.

Nevertheless, even in Black Label specification, the Lincoln represents a relative bargain compared to similarly equipped SUVs from BMW, Mercedes, and others.