2022 Lincoln Navigator adds lavish interiors, hands-free driving, Alexa
Mark Phelan
PHOENIX – Lincoln’s flagship Navigator luxury SUV adds appealing technologies and a pair of luxurious new interior design themes for the 2022 model year. Normally ’22 models would’ve been on sale for months by now, but the start of production was disrupted by the pandemic. They should roll into dealerships any day.
Among the big advances:
- Lincoln’s Active Glide hands-free driving highway system.
- Cloud-connected navigation and entertainment, including Amazon’s Fire TV and Alexa digital assistant.
The updated Navigator is key to Lincoln’s expectations of significant sales growth this year, pending availability of computer chips and other key parts.
Prices for the 2022 Navigator start at $76,710. I recently spent a day driving a pair of top-of-the-line Black Label models, including an “Invitation”-themed SUV that stickered at $108,340. All prices exclude Lincoln’s mandatory $1,295 destination fee.
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Lattes, leather and Lincolns
The day began in Lincoln’s first “boutique,” a toney branch office of Scottsdale’s Sanderson Lincoln. Located in an upscale Galleria-style shopping center, the airy boutique looked more like a dog-friendly coffee shop than a dealership. A barista/sales rep gave me a smooth caramel latte and I sat down in front of a glass front wall that opens for a patio-style environment as Lincoln President Joy Falotico, Navigator Chief Engineer Mike Kipley and Navigator Brand Manager Laura Clark explained the boutique and the 2022 Navigator.
The boutiques will be associated with local Lincoln dealers but have staff hired specifically to create a new shopping experience. People can buy any Lincoln from a boutique, where vehicles for test drives will probably be available. Lincoln’s pickup and delivery plan for service means customers may never have to set foot in a traditional dealership building.
Lincoln’s second boutique will open soon in Bethesda, Maryland.
New to the '22 Navigator
Despite its high price, the Navigator attracts Lincoln’s youngest buyers, averaging 50 years old, Falotico said. An impressive 35% of Navigator buyers are new to Lincoln.
A 440-horsepower twin-turbo 3.5L V6 and a 10-speed automatic transmission are standard on all Navigators. Rear- and all-wheel drive are available. The big SUV offers three rows of seats to accommodate seven or eight people, depending on whether the middle row is a bench or two captain’s chairs that offer heating, ventilation and massages.
Key new features for 2022 include:
- Slimmer adaptive LED headlights
- Available black roof
- Five new wheel designs
- New LED taillights
- “Cascading” lighting upon driver approach and departure
- 13.2-inch touch screen
- Sync 4 connectivity, including cloud-based features
- Two new interior themes: “Central Park” and “Invitation”
Advanced and luxurious interiors became Lincoln’s hallmark during the brand’s recent resurgence. In addition to familiar features like 30-way power seats and 28-speaker Revel audio, the new interiors have unique touches. The Central Park theme includes walnut wood with laser etchings of the New York skyline and Central Park paths. Invitation — intended to evoke the feeling of a calligraphy note — features open-pore Khaya wood with dual laser etching, the first automotive application of that detailed technique. Those themes are new to Lincoln’s top-of-the-line Black Label trim.
A total of four Black Label trims are available on the Navigator, including the carryover Chalet and Yacht Club. There’s no word if a salute to Prince Charles’ polo ponies is in the works for 2023, but one can hope.
Driving impressions: No hands, sometimes
The current Navigator, which debuted as a 2018 model, has always had plenty of power, thanks to the biturbo V6’s quick response and prodigious torque output —510 pound-feet at 3,000 rpm. The Navigator has always been exceptionally quiet, to the extent that this year’s improvements include muffling the massaging front seats’ air chambers — great on a long drive. The Navigator can tow up to 8,700 pounds.
The adaptive suspension sensors include a digital camera aimed at the road just ahead of the Navigator that adjusts damping before the wheels hit irregularities. The system monitors the SUV’s path 500 times a second and can adjust the shocks 100 times a second.
Several new driving assistants join the feature pack for 2022, headline by Lincoln’s ActiveGlide system, which allows hands-free driving on 130,000 miles of limited access roads in North America.
ActiveGlide is standard with the Reserve and Black Label trim packages.
My first impulse was to compare ActiveGlide to GM’s more accomplished Super Cruise, which in addition to not needlessly running words together, has been available since the 2018 model year and has some functions ActiveGlide doesn't.
However, that narrow focus ignores the fact that no other brand, including Tesla no matter what its kamikaze loyalists say, offers a hands-free driving. ActiveGlide is a significant development. Just going on the market — like its Ford-brand twin, BlueCruise — it’s likely to get regular over-the-air updates as Ford engineers get feedback.
ActiveGlide switches on automatically when adaptive cruise control is on and you’re on a road that’s been digitally mapped. The activation was unobtrusive and effective. The system uses infrared cameras to make sure the driver is awake. The feature worked well during my test, not allowing me to send a text or stare out the side window for more than a few seconds.
ActiveGlide works remarkably well in stop and go rush hour. It slowed the Navigator smoothly from a fast highway speed to 5 mph, then a complete stop, then resumed moving with no intervention on my part. That pattern repeated a couple of times in afternoon Phoenix traffic, before the Navigator zoomed back to cruising speed when traffic cleared.
The driver has to take over to pass vehicles or change lanes, and Ford engineers erred on the side of caution approaching several mild curves, handing steering back to me when I suspect the system could — and should, for driver convenience — have remained active.
Those impressions are very tentative, though, and Ford could have updated the controls in the week since I experienced it. I hope to take a long drive in an ActiveGlide-equipped vehicle soon so I can evaluate it better.
The Navigator is loaded with other driver assist features that are available on all roads.
2022 Lincoln Navigator at a glance
Base price: $76,710 (all prices exclude $1,295 destination charge)
Large luxury 7- or 8-passenger SUV
On sale now
Specifications as tested:
Price as tested: $108,340
Short wheelbase, all-wheel drive
Engine: 3.5L biturbo V6
Output: 440 hp @ 5,850 rpm; 516 lb-ft of torque @ 3,000 rpm. Figures achieved with 93 octane premium gasoline.
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
EPA fuel economy estimate: 16 mpg city/22 highway/16 combined. Premium gasoline.
EPA estimated annual fuel cost: $3,000
Wheelbase: 122.5 inches
Length: 210 inches
Width: 79.9 inches
Height: 76.3 inches
Passenger volume: 172.0 cubic feet
Cargo volume: 19.3-20.9 cubic feet behind rear seat; 57.5-63.6 behind second row (depending on seat positions)
Water fording: 19.7 inches
Ground clearance: 7.48 inches; 9.25 at maximum ride height
Curb weight: 5,855 pounds
Weight distribution: 54/46
Towing capacity: 8,700 pounds
Assembled in Louisville, Kentucky