2017 Lincoln Navigator Review

For shoppers with big families, buying a minivan or a three-row crossover is often the way to go. In fact, with their impressive fuel economy and long lists of features, you might even prefer one. But for those scenarios where you need maximum seating capacity and the ability to pull a trailer behind you, only a big, traditional truck-based SUV like the 2017 Lincoln Navigator will do.

While it does have a class-leading 9,000-pound towing capacity and seven seats standard, the Lincoln Navigator gives you a lot more than just rugged capability. It's also a luxury vehicle filled with creature comforts. On the highway, the Navigator is impressively quiet and comfortable, and its turbocharged V6 engine is powerful and makes for an easy driving experience regardless of your payload. The Navigator also has one of the largest interiors of any SUV, so interior space will seldom be a concern.

If a big and capable SUV is what you're after, there are just a few other choices. The obvious competition comes from the Cadillac Escalade. This bold-looking SUV also provides a towering towing capacity and plenty of luxury features, but we're partial towards the Navigator because of its superior road manners. Other options you might want to look at include the Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class and the Land Rover Range Rover. Both are more prestigious than the Lincoln and can be had with more up-to-date technology features, but they do come up short on cargo space and towing capacity. Overall, we think the 2017 Lincoln Navigator holds it own here, and its combination of utility and luxury should make it worthy of a close look.

Safety equipment that comes standard on the 2017 Lincoln Navigator includes antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, trailer sway control, front-seat side airbags, three-row side curtain airbags and a post-crash alert system. Front and rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are also standard. The standard programmable MyKey system allows owners to specify speed limits and stereo volume limits for secondary drivers (think teenagers and valets).

At the Edmunds test track, a four-wheel-drive Navigator came to a stop from 60 mph in a simulated panic stop in 125 feet. That's on par with SUVs in this class.

The 2017 Navigator hasn't been crash tested yet, but in last year's test, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave it a top overall rating of five stars (out of a possible five), with five stars for frontal-impact and side-impact protection.

The 2017 Lincoln Navigator is a full-size luxury SUV that's available in two sizes: the standard-wheelbase and the extended-wheelbase Navigator L. Both lengths have three-row seating, with captain's chairs in both the first and second row. This places the Navigator's standard seating capacity at seven passengers, but an available three-person 40/20/40 split second-row bench seat increases seating capacity to eight.

Both versions of the Navigator (standard and long-wheelbase) come in two trims: Select and Reserve.

Standard features on the Select includes 20-inch wheels, automatic bi-xenon headlights, a heavy-duty tow package, front and rear parking sensors, automatic wipers, rear privacy glass, a power liftgate, power-folding running boards, keyless ignition and entry, dual-zone automatic climate control (with rear auxiliary controls), a power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, driver memory settings, first- and second-row leather upholstery (with third-row vinyl), heated and ventilated eight-way power front seats (with power lumbar), power-adjustable pedals, second-row captain's chairs and a power-folding 60/40 split third-row bench.

Also included are an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a 110-volt household-style power outlet, the Sync 3 interface with an 8-inch touchscreen, voice controls, navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, a rearview camera, smartphone app integration and a 14-speaker surround-sound audio system with HD/satellite radio and two USB ports.

The Reserve adds 22-inch wheels, adaptive suspension dampers, a two-tone exterior paint scheme and upgraded leather upholstery that covers the doors, dash and console.

Individual options include a sunroof, heated second-row seats, different 22-inch wheels (sold in combination with the adaptive suspension) and second-row console storage (between the captain's chairs). A rear-seat entertainment system with twin, independent 7-inch headrest-mounted screens is sold as an accessory.

The 2017 Lincoln Navigator is powered by a 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 engine that puts out 380 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed automatic transmission and rear-wheel drive are standard. A light-duty four-wheel-drive system (no low-range gearing) is optional.

When we put a four-wheel-drive Navigator through testing at the Edmunds test track, it went from zero to 60 mph in 6.7 seconds, an average time for a full-size luxury SUV.

There are four nearly identical EPA estimates for the various trims and lengths of the 2017 Lincoln Navigator. The standard length, two-wheel-drive model is rated at 17 mpg combined (15 mpg city/21 mpg highway), while the four-wheel-drive version gets a similar 17 mpg combined (15 city/20 highway). The long-wheelbase versions come in at 17 mpg combined (15 city/20 highway) and 16 mpg combined (15 city/19 highway) for 2WD and 4WD, respectively.

Properly equipped, a rear-wheel-drive Navigator is capable of towing up to 9,000 pounds. For a bit of context, the Escalade tops out at 8,300 pounds and the Mercedes GLS-Class reaches its towing limit at 7,500 pounds.