Automotive Trends

Comfort And Utility In Near Perfect Harmony    

     In 1997 Lincoln made its best decision in several decades by debuting a leather-lined, dripping-with-chrome version of the Ford Expedition. Lincoln’s marketers called it the Navigator and their bean counters called it the cash cow. Buyers flocked to their local Lincoln showrooms and happily forked over piles of cash for the chance to drive the biggest—and only—luxury sport utility vehicle on the road. Fast forward to 2003 when seemingly every manufacturer offers a luxury SUV, nearly all of which had eclipsed the first generation Navigator in both content and power. What’s a manufacturer to do? Raise the bar in every area, of course; and that’s precisely what Lincoln has done with the 2003 Navigator.     The second generation Navigator again borrows heavily from its Ford Expedition brother, riding on the same fully boxed frame, although the Lincoln picks up air-ride springs. Standard 18” wheels and tires not only look great but also increase traction, which comes in handy when hauling this near three-ton luxo-bus down from speed. Big, vented discs at all corners are squeezed by twin piston calipers up front and single piston calipers on the rear axle. You have to depress the whoa pedal too far before any deceleration happens but at least stops are consistently sure and straight. The independent rear suspension helps keep the ride on the plush side and affords the third row passengers best in class room. Six footers will even be ok in the far back although there may be a fight for the luxurious front seat accommodations, we’ll elaborate on that later.
     Lincoln’s flagship is powered by a 5.4 liter 32-valve V8, which produces 355lb-ft of torque and 300hp. On paper 300hp sounds generous but on the road it ends up being just adequate. Our favorite feature on this engine is probably the noise it makes. At about 3,000rpm this thing has a better engine growl than the Thunderbird I drove last week! Another impression you’ll get while piloting a Navigator is that it does weigh 5,900 pounds. Keeping that in mind, what impresses us most is how well the thing drives. Despite its pavement busting mass the steering is notably direct and nicely weighted. The Navigator also resists leaning excessively in corners, something we wish could be said of more SUVs.

      A four-speed automatic transfers the power from the engine bay to the ground. It features overdrive lockout and a standard oil cooler, a good thing to have if you plan on towing frequently. The transmission shifts smoothly, sometimes undetectably, and it will drop a gear when passing, although you still wont find much acceleration. 0-60mph will take you about 10 seconds so if you’re in a hurry better leave this at home and drive anything else. In all actuality though, it doesn’t seem that slow when driving, no doubt helped by the extremely aggressive throttle tip-in. We found it hard when accelerating from a stop not to make the rear end squat and bring the nose up six inches.

     We spent a week in a fully loaded Ultimate model, which features everything this side of a kitchen sink. Standard equipment includes climate controlled front seats that won high praise when the temperatures soared. Seemingly everything in the Navigator is power operated to make your life easier. Don’t bother wrestling with that heavy rear liftgate, just tap a button on the key fob or on the overhead console and it powers open or closed. Owners can also say goodbye to injuring their backs while removing heavy, and clumsy third row seats. Just depress a button and they motor down to form a flat load floor. Ford’s AdvanceTrac system is also included and does its best to help a driver keep the repair bills down when navigating in extreme weather. High Intensity Discharge Headlamps also come on all Ultimate models. Checking boxes on the order form can be an expensive venture as our $7,000 worth of options proves. The one option that never ceases to amaze people are the power deployable running boards. Open the door and they slide out to assist in entry and exit, close the doors and they tuck up under the vehicle for a cleaner appearance. The vertically challenged will appreciate them but the longer legged among us could apply that $1095 toward next week’s gas. The tire pressure sensor is a nice safety net and it even monitors the full size spare. As far as navigation systems go, this is one of the better ones. For $2495 you get a DVD-based 6.5-inch screen with voice recognition capability. We tested it several times and it worked perfectly during each test. We even tried to trick it by bypassing the upcoming turn; it simply recalculated a new route and never skipped a beat. Unlike other systems even operating the radio is a simple task and when you load CDs the screen tilts down which produces audible “oohhs” and “aahhs” from all passengers. Our tester had the option $895 chrome wheels that looked fantastic but quickly get coated with heavy brake dust. The rear seat DVD entertainment system garnered many fans and if your to-do list includes shuttling members of the Barney fan club it will be well worth the $1415 asking price. The Navigator’s luxurious interior garnered praise from everyone who saw it. It is still lagging Lexus in quality but there are plenty of soft-touch materials and everything worked well during our week with the vehicle.

     The second generation Navigator is so much improved over the first generation as to render it utterly undesirable. Not to say the new model is perfect, fuel economy could stand to be improved, but then if you can afford the $61,315 sticker on our tester, you’re probably not worried about finding gas money. The 2003 Lincoln Navigator combines uncompromising comfort for seven adults and their luggage, it will tow 8,300 pounds without trouble, and it has a style that gets approval from almost everyone. We can sum up the Navigator by declaring it provides comfort and utility in near perfect harmony.