Category: Aspiring OEMs

A decade ago, if Cadillac and Lincoln had launched all-new and directly competing products into the market at the same time, most observers would have likely predicted the Cadillac to the clear winner. But it’s now summer 2019 and the two brands that were both founded over a century ago by Henry Leland are in a very different place as they each launch three-row premium crossovers. Just weeks after driving the Cadillac XT6, we’ve had our first crack at the Lincoln Aviator.

Setting aside the global economic meltdown and GM’s bankruptcy reorganization Cadillac was actually in a pretty decent place in 2009. It had begun the process of establishing itself as a credible competitor to the big German luxury brands. It had a distinct and bold design language, dedicated platforms and the CTS-V demonstrated the ability to take on AMG, M and RS performance. Lincoln on the other hand was on the verge of being euthanized along with Mercury despite Ford avoiding chapter 11. Lincoln lacked direction and purpose. It was a dead brand walking.

But five years ago that began to change. Ford committed to a major investment in the brand. A commitment to customer service and carving out a niche based around the theme of quiet luxury took hold. The brand didn’t get its own platforms, but Lincoln managed to distinguish itself from its parent in almost every way that actually matters to customers. Today, if you sit in a recent Cadillac, you are more likely to see switches or fonts shared with a Chevrolet or Buick. Someone unfamiliar with the mechanical lineage could sit in a Ford Explorer and an Aviator and never realize the two roll off the same assembly line, let alone come from the same manufacturer.

Now that Aviators are rolling off the line at Ford’s Chicago assembly plant alongside the Explorer and heading towards dealers, Lincoln invited the media out to northern California wine country to try it out on the road. There we were surrounded by both the types of affluent customers that would buy a vehicle like the Aviator and the types of roads where you would not necessarily expect to find a Lincoln SUV.

The Aviator continues the themes we’ve seen in Lincolns since the debut of the Continental a few years ago. The materials and color themes are all top notch with premium leather coverings combining a choice of wood or metal accents. Sandwiched between the leading edge of the upward sweeping console and the dashboard are the now standard Lincoln piano key shift switches. These are reasonably functional and given that you won’t generally be using them while in motion, the lack of differentiation by feel isn’t really a problem.

Three trims are available, the standard, Reserve and Black Label with the latter including pretty much everything along with a slate of special concierge services. The standard model is pretty well equipped but the options list is kept short, mostly limited to color, heated front seats and steering wheel and the choice of rear or all wheel drive. Features like CoPilot 360 driver assists with lane keeping, blindspot monitoring, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking and auto high beams are all standard. The Reserve models we drove upgrade the tri-zone climate control to quad-zone, add the hands-free liftgate, power steering column adjustment and the Revel audio system. Reserve models also have a much more extensive list of available upgrades like the air spring suspension, CoPliot 360 plus and much more.

The standard powertrain in the Aviator is the same familiar 3.0-liter twin turbocharged V6 and ten-speed automatic transmission found in the Explorer ST with 400-hp and 415 lb-ft of torque. As has been the case since the debut of the Continental a few years back, Lincoln no longer used the EcoBoost branding on its turbocharged engines, leaving that to Ford. At 4,892 pounds, the AWD Aviator is about 190-lbs more than its Ford sibling, mainly due to added equipment.

We drove Reserve models that were very well equipped including the top end 30-way power adjustable front seats with both heating and ventilation. It may take some fiddling around to get the seats perfectly adjusted to your body, but once you do, you can save the settings to individual profiles tied to your key fob or phone. I personally find these seats very comfortable although I know one of my Wheel Bearings podcast co-hosts doesn’t like them, but he’s just cranky. For long road trips, these seats also have massaging capabilities with one of five patterns that move actuators in the seat cushion and back.

When looking strictly by the published dimensions for the Aviator and XT6, it would appear that neither has a notable advantage in interior space aside from the much smaller cargo capacity of the Cadillac. However, there is one element of the Cadillac that I did find superior, the third row comfort. The Aviator’s downward sloping roofline requires the last two seats to be mounted a bit lower to the floor to maintain headroom. The Cadillac’s flatter, more squared off roof, allows a slightly higher position for the third row. The result is that while leg and headroom are comparable, the Lincoln forces a more knees up position while you sit more upright in the Caddie. If third-row comfort for adults is a priority, the Cadillac is your choice, for everything else, the Lincoln wins.

Phone as a key

Drivers have multiple options for getting in and out of the Aviator and other upcoming Lincolns including the Corsair. As always, there is the conventional key fob that lock and unlocks the doors and allows starting of the engine. There is also the door pillar keypad system that Ford and Lincoln vehicles have offered since the first generation Taurus in the 1980s. New for Aviator is phone as a key. Like the Tesla model 3, you can pair your smartphone to the vehicle using Bluetooth LE. Once paired, as you approach the car, it will automatically unlock, just as the key fob does without ever taking out the phone. Similarly you can start and drive the Aviator.

Unlike other telematics based systems that send a signal through the cloud from phone to vehicle, there is no latency. Lincoln has installed 11 antennas around the vehicle to provide reliable connectivity and the ability to unlock just the door adjacent to where you are standing. This way you can open the tailgate without unlocking other doors or vice versa.

One of the potential challenges of such a system is dealing with valets as customers of a premium vehicle like this are more likely to do. If you haven’t brought a key fob with you, you don’t want to hand a valet your phone. This is where the keypad comes into play. On the in-vehicle touchscreen, you can enable valet mode, which will provide an eight-digit code that the valet writes on the ticket instead of taking the key. The first five digits are used to unlock the vehicle with the keypad and the full code is used to start the car on the touchscreen. The next time you unlock the vehicle with the phone or fob, the code is canceled and can’t be used again.

Unlike most media drives, we didn’t get keys when we set out, instead we were just handed an iphone that had already been linked to the Aviator we were driving. Once inside, we just slid the phone into the wireless charger in one of the center console bins that also has both type A and C USB ports. If you are out and about and your phone runs out of juice, you always have the option of using the keypad to get in and then once the phone is on the charger you can start the engine.

Suspension dynamics

While Lincoln doesn’t get dedicated platforms, the new rear-drive unibody platform that the Explorer and Aviator share does have suspension flexibility built in. Both use the same type of integral link rear architecture used on the Mustang, but the Explorer has Macpherson struts at the front. The Aviator instead gets a dual control arm layout that allows for increased suspension travel and reduced friction. When combined with the air suspension and dynamic dampers, this setup makes for an excellent combination of smooth ride and precise handling.

We spent the day driving through a nearly 200 mile loop in the region north of Yountville that took us along some highway stretches, but was surprisingly dominated by twisting mountain roads. It was really more the type of route you would expect for a Mustang drive than a three-row luxury crossover. But unlike the old days when a six or seven passenger SUV would be falling all over itself in this kind of environment, modern utilities like the Aviator are up to the task in a way that would have required a sports car in decades past.

At two and a half tons and nearly 17 feet long, the Aviator is hardly svelte. Nevertheless, the ample low end torque (don’t even get me started on the plug-in hybrid) moves this machine with authority. Sage canyon and other areas of our drive route are predominantly twisting two-lane roads climbing and descending through the mountains and not everyone is capable or comfortable going the same speed.

Periodically on uphill stretches where there is room, an additional passing lane will open up. At one point we were in a train of several vehicles when we came upon a passing zone. As soon as the older Nissan Sentra in front of us moved over, a squeeze of the throttle had us hurtling past going uphill. Once clear, the brakes were able to haul that mass down heading into the next corner.

The extra power and the rear-drive based architecture of the Aviator also give it a significant advantage in towing capability over the Cadillac. The front/all-wheel-drive XT6 is limited to 4,000 pounds of towing while the Aviator can haul up to 6,700 pounds with the 400-hp gas V6.

The roads in that part of California aren’t always the smoothest and the terrain makes regular repaving a challenge. Nonetheless, the Aviator kept things on an even keel even when cornering at surprisingly brisk speeds. The air springs and dynamic dampers soaked up the pavement irregularities without ever feeling floaty. The meaty 275/40R22 tires were kept working even while chasing down much lighter vehicles.

The steering was relatively precise and guided the Aviator exactly where pointed, but it didn’t provide any significant feedback to my fingertips. While this probably won’t bother most Lincoln customers, given the performance capability of this machine, some extra feedback would be appreciated by those of a more enthusiastic bent.

The Aviator also features a system that utilizes the front camera to look for speed bumps and other obstacles and make proactive adjustments to the dampers and springs for a smoother ride. We didn’t encounter any of these on our drive, but when I get an Aviator at home, I’ll definitely be testing it on the neighborhood speed bumps.

Audio system

As has been the case with all Lincolns of late, the cabin is an exceptionally serene place to spend time even when hustling through the mountains. Some engine sound is allowed to pass through under hard acceleration, but it’s more subdued than the Explorer ST. Cruising on the highway or around town, this is a great place to decompress after a long day at the office.

That also makes it a great place to appreciate the latest Revel premium audio system. It features 28 speakers spread throughout the cabin including 4 in the ceiling. It’s all driven by Revel’s Ultima 3D audio processing system. In addition to the usual stereo sound field, you can also select in the audience or on-stage modes. The latter surrounds you in music that sounds like you are in the middle of the band or orchestra. The overhead drivers are used replicate the sort of reverb you would hear in a concert venue. An on-screen slider allows you to choose the amount of the effect you prefer. Overall, the system sounded great to my ears, although they admittedly don’t have the audio acuity they did in my younger days.

Overall, after a day of driving, the 2020 Aviator comes across in most respects, as the best vehicle Lincoln has ever produced. Starting at $52,840 delivered, it’s comparably priced to the Cadillac and Audi Q7. With usable seating for up to seven and 18.3 cubic feet behind the third row, it’s very practical for those with lots of friends or family. As tested our AWD Reserve came to just shy of $75,000 which is a bit more than the premium luxury XT6 tested a few weeks back, but frankly, you get more for that price and a better, more enjoyable vehicle overall that is also a viable challenger to the brands that Cadillac has been trying to tackle for all these years.

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