Our Opinion - 2024 Lincoln Aviator Review The 2024 Aviator is based on Lincoln’s most famous luxury cars from the company’s golden age. It has a 400-horsepower twin-turbo V-6 engine, a smooth cabin hidden behind its big doors, and a suspension that’s meant to smooth out bumps in the road. It stands out from the others because it is an SUV with three rows of seats and a lot of current multimedia and driver-assistance features. As the second-to-top-of-the-line Lincoln, the Aviator goes up against mid-size luxury SUVs like the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE-class, and Volvo XC90 by offering a similarly luxurious ride in a more manageable package. Even though some other names may be more well-known, the Lincoln is all about pure luxury. Top-of-the-line Black Label cars come with luxurious interiors, unique features, and even extra perks like free car washes and pick-up and delivery for maintenance appointments. What's New? For 2024, Lincoln has cut down on the Aviator lineup by getting rid of the plug-in hybrid engine and the Grand Touring trim level that went with it. At the moment, only the 400-hp twin-turbo V-6 engine is offered for the year. The only big difference is that the base model’s name has changed from “Standard” to “Premiere.” More changes will be made to Lincoln’s mid-size three-row SUV for the 2025 model year. Pros and Cons Pros A big cabin. Excellent quality of the ride. A lot of strength. Cons Less than average gas mileage. The third row is squished. There were fewer options than there were last year. Engine, Transmission, and Performance The base engine in the Lincoln Aviator has 400 horsepower and is one of the most powerful in the medium luxury SUV class. The refined 3.0-liter V-6 engine and the smooth-shifting 10-speed automatic gearbox make for a comfortable ride and quick acceleration. An Aviator Reserve with rear-wheel drive went from 0 to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds on our test track, while an Aviator Black Label with all-wheel drive needed 6 seconds. The Audi Q7, Mercedes-Benz GLE450, and Genesis GV80 3.5T set better times for us, but other cars are even faster. The basic suspension in the Aviator makes the ride smooth and easy, which is what people who buy Lincoln cars today expect. Even though the Aviator isn’t fun to drive, it’s stable when making turns and doesn’t react badly to bumps in the road. We found that the optional Dynamic Handling package, which has air springs, variable-assist steering, and an adjustable suspension system, didn’t make a big difference between the two versions. Safety The Co-Pilot360 driver-assistance system that comes standard with the Aviator has automatic high beams, blind-spot tracking, lane-keeping assistance, forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian recognition, and a camera for the rearview. The optional Co-Pilot360 1.5 Plus package comes with adaptive cruise control, a system that can read traffic signs, and a self-parking system that can steer the car into both parallel and perpendicular spots. Visit the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) webpages to learn more about the Aviator’s crash test scores. Some important safety factors are: There is a standard feature that includes automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning. Regularly help stay in your lane and watch for blind spots. Adaptive speed control is a feature that can help you keep your vehicle in the middle of its lane. Internal and External Cargo Capacity You can get the 2024 Aviator with either six or seven seats. Customers who choose second-row captain’s chairs will have two choices for center consoles. One of them makes it easier to move from those seats to the third row. For trips longer than a few minutes, only very young children should ride in the back row. In exchange, there is more space for goods when all the seats are upright. The Lincoln has 18 cubic feet more space for storage than the Cadillac XT6. The Perfect Position chairs, which are extra, can be adjusted in 30 different ways and can rub you. If you are ready to pay a little more, there is an image sensor behind the windshield that can find cracks and other flaws in the road. It then tells the adaptive dampers how to adjust to make the ride smoother. Fuel Economy and Actual MPG The EPA says that the Lincoln Aviator with all-wheel drive gets 17 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway. The Lincoln Aviator with rear-wheel drive gets 18 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. From these numbers, we can see that the Aviator uses more gas than all-wheel-drive cars like the Volvo XC90 B5 and the BMW X5 xDrive40i. On our highway test route for gas mileage, the Aviator Reserve with rear-wheel drive only got 22 mpg. Infotainment and Connectivity It has a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel, a 10.1-inch touchscreen, satellite radio, and a Wi-Fi hotspot, and it works with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Many other car brands have rotary controllers or multiple touchscreens that are harder to learn and use than Lincoln’s single-screen interface and traditional climate settings. On higher trims, the Bluetooth signal from your phone can be used to start and open the Aviator without a key. The high-end Revel Ultima 3D sound system has 28 speakers, some of which are at the top. Price and How to Choose The Reserve trim, which is in the middle of the range, is the best deal because it has all the luxury features that most people want without breaking the bank. The Reserve grade comes with a 14-speaker sound system, a panoramic sunroof, and a camera system that can see in all directions. You can get all-wheel drive, but it costs more than rear-wheel drive.
