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Review Worth Noting: "Best American Luxury Car In A Generation"

7K views 39 replies 23 participants last post by  sdotjeezy 
#1 ·
Road & Track magazine
May 25, 2020


Photo Credit: Ford Motor Company

One year ago, I drove a Lincoln Navigator Black Label. Imposing, smooth, opulent. Part of me thought that Lincoln—of all companies—had built a better luxury vehicle than the Mercedes S-Class. For $30,000 less you could have just as much comfort, more space, and far more approachable technology. But it was rough around the edges, not the all-around stunner that the Mercedes was and is. A couple of years later, though, I'm wondering if Lincoln might just have bested Mercedes, with an even cheaper product.

When the Aviator bowed, I already knew it had a shot at really delivering on what Lincoln promised. Three major issues hold back the Navigator: its body-on-frame construction makes it less of a high-speed, buttoned-down luxury cruiser; the driver-assist tech is a generation behind other luxury flagships; and some details feel a little too close to what you'd find on a Ford. The Aviator, with its unibody architecture, Co-Pilot 360 semi-autonomous driver's aids, and relentless attention to detail, seems to solve all of that.

If the Navigator's biggest problem is that it tries to match, not beat, other luxury flagships, the Aviator's boundless ambition sets a great precedent for the brand. Look at the styling. To my eye, this is the first SUV since 2013 to match the current Range Rover's elegance and athleticism, with even more intricate detailing. The Aviator beat the rest of the luxury crossover field in offering smartphone-as-key capability (Tesla offers it on the Model 3 and promises it on other models "soon"). Its adaptive suspension uses cameras to adjust to the road ahead, tech usually reserved for S-Class-level vehicles. Even the Aviator's door chime is better than the competition's, composed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to be delicate, not grating.

These new achievements join an already broad slate of Lincoln core competencies. The "perfect position" seats, though finicky and overly adjustable, are sublime once you find the perfect position. The audio system is best-in-class, handily beating anything BMW, Mercedes, or even Volvo will sell you. (Ultra-high end Meridian gear in top-spec Range Rovers still has the Lincoln beat, but that's damned good company to keep.) The ride is sublime and the cabin is whisper quiet.

Oh, that cabin. It is unquestionably one of the best on sale. It's got the stunning wow-factor of a Volvo or Mercedes, but it's far more usable than either. Physical controls are laid out clearly, with an easy and simple touchscreen handling more complicated tasks. The software is a half-step behind the best in the business, but Lincoln is proving that you can make a gorgeous ****pit that's usable and attractive.

Those keeping track of luxury car best practices will recognize that Lincoln has nailed just about every one. The key stuff—the seats, the ride, the interior—was solved in the first generation of new Lincoln products. But as the reborn company matures, the Aviator represents the company paying attention to the details. No longer content to be very good, Lincoln is shooting for best-in-the-business.
Review continues (all is not perfect by the way), at the link above.









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#6 ·
I think they nailed it inside and out. I'd skip the PHEV and get either a Reserve or Black Label. First Lincoln I've wanted since the original Navigator!
 
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#4 · (Edited)
The Aviator is a pretty great car, the PHEV not withstanding. I'm definitely a PHEV skeptic and critic, particularly in this genre. Low range, weak EV motors, complicated refinement. Nothing is more nonsensical than plugging a gas car in for a few EV miles and/or boost. I know this is mostly to meet regulatory demands in China and Europe, but in North America it's really a momentary niche.

I would love an Aviator, but it's a little bigger/longer than I wanted and the leasing on them have been pretty high. The Nautilus is still the right vehicle size for me.
 
#7 ·
"IT'S NOT A CAR" .....It's a damn SUV. What's the new habit everyone has now calling TRUCKS, cars...? This is part of the problem why we can't sell automobiles. The manufacturers want you to believe it's a car.....IT'S NOT. They want you to believe this so they can stop making real cars and shove SUV's down everyones throat.

With regard to the article.....I believe that Lincoln has their act together much more than Cadillac.... Their SUV's all have names.....they are much more luxurious than Cadillacs, even the Escalade, with the stolen dash from Escala......offer more choices of EVERYTHING..

My friend's 2019 Navigator Black Label is so much more luxurious than my 2017 Escalade Platinum that sits in the garage 95% of the time. I only drive it when my sister comes to visit from Augusta on the train (she gets a bedroom because she brings 20 suitcases and that damn cat).

The second row of seats in my Escalade looks awful because there is NO console between the seats....just a big, empty, space.......I'll have the damn thing until I die, or my sister does. Christ, if the cat died I could eliminate about six suitcases.........

Anyway, in my opinion, the Lincoln's have it all over the Cadillacs, and probably the Benz'ses too. In fact, the only SUV that I like as well as my friend's Navigator, is the Bently Bentayga, but, fortunately, I haven't lost my mind yet.........$200,000-$400,000 for a TRUCK....not me!
 
#9 ·
I'm glad you said it and not me...The Escalade does have that fantastic dash design with the amazing screen but the overall advantage of interior design stops there. It kinda comes off as a flip house (I just started dabbling in investment properties pre COVID outbreak) where the flipper put together a fantastic looking kitchen and maybe greatroom but used builder grade materials to pass basic muster everywhere else in the house. I want the whole shebang in an Escalade, rear seat consoles w/ built in mini fridges, 2nd rows that have the capability to slide on a "track" on the back of the 3rd row seats so that when the 3rd row is folded down, the 2nd row can go full on executive mode...**** like that is what i want to see. To me, and this is again, just my opinion, Cadillac did the bare minimum to give the "impression" that it exceeded the Navigator instead of full on destroying it.
 
#8 · (Edited)
The Navigator woke up Caddy and they responded nicely with the new model. Otherwise I think Caddy has long taken that customer for granted by the strength of their brand alone. I still don't think the interior of the Escalade has anything on Navigator's ultra-posh design, instead favoring of a more striking technical design. These brands still have very different approaches to the same customers. While Caddy is developing an OLED dashboard, Lincoln hires a composer and orchestra for its door chimes.

I do think GM has made Caddy a far bigger priority because of their electrification ambition, that's not the case for Lincoln. I am a little concerned about Lincoln's future under the current administration which seems to have no direction for them. The lack of a BEV until MY 2024 is going to be a noticeable gap for them.
 
#10 ·
The Navigator woke up Caddy and they responded nicely with the new model. Otherwise I think Caddy has long taken that customer for granted by the strength of their brand alone. I still don't think the interior of the Escalade has anything on Navigator's ultra-posh design, instead favoring of a more striking technical design. These brands still have very different approaches to the same customers. While Caddy is developing an OLED dashboard, Lincoln hires a composer and orchestra for its door chimes.

I do think GM has made Caddy a far bigger priority because of their electrification ambition, that's not the case for Lincoln. I am a little concerned about Lincoln's future under the current administration which seems to have no direction for them. The lack of a BEV until MY 2024 is going to be a noticeable gap for them.
Ahem... https://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f38/development-sounds-used-new-cadillac-models-296513/

Agreed that the two approaches appeal to different people, I love the new Escalade interior and will take it any day over the Navigator.
 
#14 ·
Road & Track magazine
May 25, 2020


Photo Credit: Ford Motor Company



Review continues (all is not perfect by the way), at the link above.









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This all sounds nice and all yet Cadillac models still outsell Lincoln’s. Seems like GM knows what Americans want more than Lincoln does.
 
#29 · (Edited)
............Q2.........Q3............Q4........2019 Tot........Q1 2020
XT6.......74.......4,316.......7,169.....11,559.......5,074
Aviator....0....... 1,899........6,424.......8,323.........5,666


So XT6 arrived late Q2 and increased into Q3 and on.

Aviator arrived mid to late Q3 and increased from there.


Naturally the early numbers will skew XT6's direction with it arriving a couple of months earlier. That said, the numbers overall are pretty close to each other.
 
#22 ·
Now there's a car that looks like a Cadillac.
 
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#28 ·
Good for Lincoln.

But it's not a luxury car. It's a luxury truck or wagon or conveyance or thing, but it's not a car.
 
#33 · (Edited)
I certainly prefer Aviator, but I think the XT6 has a very attractive front-end design and the base model doesn't look conspicuously cheaper than the upper models which tends to be the case with the Aviator. But it's hard to ignore that this is a very low-aspiration product. In many ways it fills a nitch by offering a less rarified option that is a little more stylish and posh than a typical 3-row crossover, but is otherwise just a conventional midsizer. I don't think they made a bad decision, but it's not something I can really ra-ra just because it's cheaper and easier to sell. I feel like I use to do this with Lincoln all the time, and now that Lincoln is not the low-risk skin-job, I have a hard time not appreciating the Aviator.
 
#34 ·
I will concede that the XT6's nose is pretty, actually better looking than dare I say it the Escalade's, but like I said in all the other threads, it's proportions are godawful....and cosign on your comments about it being low-aspirational.
 
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