{"id":33433,"date":"2024-10-03T08:32:12","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T12:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=33433"},"modified":"2024-10-03T08:32:12","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T12:32:12","slug":"payne-road-trippin-in-the-screen-tastic-lincoln-nautilus-robot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/payne-road-trippin-in-the-screen-tastic-lincoln-nautilus-robot","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Road trippin’ in the screen-tastic Lincoln Nautilus robot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watkins Glen, New York<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 A modern luxury SUV and a race car are automotive bookends. So I drove the Lincoln Nautilus to Watkins Glen Raceway this fall where I would be racing my Lola sportscar.<\/p>\n

At 2.5 G-load in the lightweight, 1,335-pound Lola around Watkins Glen\u2019s 180-degree high-speed Turn 5, my arms strained to maintain the car\u2019s trajectory while my helmeted head threatened to pop off my neck.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure the handsome 4,554-pound Nautilus land yacht has ever experienced a G-load.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On I-86 in West New York, the 2025 Lincoln Nautilus drove itself for miles while Payne rested his hands on his knees, ate dinner, and checked text messages.<\/em><\/div>\n
Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n

Rolling quietly down I-86 in eastern New York on my way home from The Glen, I relaxed for miles \u2014 hands on my knees while Lincoln\u2019s Blue Cruise driver assistance system drove \u2014 in Redwood Venetian leather seats, as if lounging in my TV room. Indeed, the 48-inch screen that sprawled from A-pillar to A-pillar beneath the windshield is just seven inches smaller than my home\u2019s 55-inch jumbotron. Blue Cruise asked only that I not look away from the road for very long.<\/p>\n

The Lola also has a digital screen, a tiny unit that requires my undivided attention lest I miss a shift and blow the 2.0-liter engine sky-high while traveling at 140 mph between The Glen\u2019s blue tunnel of guardrails. My race seat? Like sitting in Cedar Point\u2019s upside-down Raptor coaster ride\u2019s five-point body harness (the race car has a six-point harness for good measure, plus twin forearm restraints).<\/p>\n

Ahhhh, the escape of Lincoln luxury.<\/p>\n

The brand for years tried to play catch-up to German and Japanese luxe-makers with trendy alphanumeric badges like MKZ, MKS, MKC and WXYZ (kidding about the last one). Argh. Lincoln finally came to its senses and realized proper names are as American as, well, Lincoln.<\/p>\n

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On a road trip to a race weekend at Watkins Glen, the 2025 Lincoln Nautilus proved roomy and eager to self-drive on long interstate stretches.<\/em><\/div>\n
Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

They rebooted with the Lincoln Navigator mega-ute, kicked sedans to the curb and rebooted as the posh boulevard-cruisers that made Ford\u2019s premium brand a post-WW2 icon. Navigator is the unmistakable outsize-personality, Shaq O\u2019Neal-like captain of the team \u2014 but it\u2019s the 2024 Nautilus that sets the tone for what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n