2018 Mkz/zephyr Reserve Hibrid 4dr Sedan on 2040-cars

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Dodge Dart falls short of Consumer Reports Recommended, Caddy XTS and Lincoln MKS, too

The Dodge Dart, Cadillac XTS and Lincoln MKS all failed to earn a "Recommended" rating from Consumer Reports. When it came to the compact Dart, the organization's testers thought the vehicle offered a quiet cabin, solid-feeling chassis and nimble suspension, but the new model ultimately fell short of the coveted rating due to powertrain issues. The institute's reviewers found the base 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine to be underpowered and noted "drivability issues" when the available turbocharged 1.4-liter four was paired with the optional dual-clutch transmission (some of our editors disliked it paired with the six-speed manual). CR also dinged the latter powerplant for sounding "raspy." For what it's worth, we think the forced-induction engine offers an excellent and playful exhaust note, but that's just us.
As for the XTS, CR lauded the car for its luxurious cabin, but the vehicle's experience was dulled by its finicky CUE infotainment interface. Overall, the big Cadillac scored much higher than its cross-town rival from Lincoln. While testers found the American luxury sedan to offer a quiet ride and quality fit and finish, they felt the MKS delivered a "cramped driving position, ungainly handling, uncomposed ride, and limited visibility." Ouch. At the end of the day, both cars fell short of rivals from Japan, Germany and Korea. Check out the full press release below with more details, along with CR's musings on the Chevrolet Spark and Lexus ES.

2019 Lincoln Nautilus First Drive Review | A refresh that's more than skin deep

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Its name is new, but the 2019 Lincoln Nautilus is really a rebranded, restyled and updated version of the second-generation Lincoln MKX, which has been on sale since 2016. Renaming your bestselling vehicle is risky, but Lincoln has been struggling, and it feels the names of its vehicles are partly to blame. Recall that since 2007, Ford's luxury brand has used letters to name some models, including MKZ and MKX, and traditional names on others like Navigator and Continental. Well, now it's ditching the letters and renaming those vehicles. The MKX is now the Nautilus. The smaller MKC is rumored to become the Corsair, which was a name used by Edsel back in the 1950s. The seven-passenger Aviator will go on sale in 2019, and the MKZ's new name is anybody's guess. Zephyr again, maybe? NordicTrack is already taken. Lincoln has also been rolling out a new grille design, which debuted on the Continental in 2017 and replaces the unloved winged look that was supposed to remind luxury buyers of the elegance of the 1939 Lincoln Continental — but didn't. Fitting the new grille to the 2019 Nautilus completes that rollout, and the five-passenger SUV is certainly more handsome than before. Its mesh is a repetition of the Lincoln Star logo, and it works. The SUV's front fascia, headlamps and hood are new as well, and the hood has grown a sizable and attractive center peak. Underneath that hood is a new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with direct injection. It's the same engine used in the smaller MKC and the Ford Edge, which shares the Nautilus' chassis, but Lincoln doesn't use the name EcoBoost for this and its other powerplants. The 2.0-liter replaces the naturally aspirated 3.7-liter V6 as the standard engine, and it's rated 250 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 280 lb-ft of torque at 3,000 rpm on 93 octane fuel. Those numbers are down from the V6, which was rated 303 hp at 6,500 rpm and 278 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm. But Lincoln has also replaced the antiquated six-speed automatic transmission with an eight-speed, so overall performance is comparable, and city fuel economy is up significantly. With the V6 and front-wheel drive, the MKX was rated 17 mpg city and 25 mpg highway. The new combination has a 21 mpg city rating. The considerably more powerful twin-turbo 2.7-liter V6 remains optional, rated 335 hp at 5500 rpm and 380 lb-ft of torque at 3250 rpm.

2022 Lincoln Navigator priced at just $5 more than last year

The 2022 Lincoln Navigator still isn't listed on the Lincoln site at the time of writing, but Ford Authority says it has a price — one you'll not be surprised to hear is higher than that of the 2021 Navigator. The 2022 Navigator Standard sets the baseline with an MSRP of $76,710, or $78,405 with destination, a trifle of an up-charge at just $5 more than last year's trim. After that, premiums for the tech and feature updates given to the new Navigator climb quickly except in the case of the lengthened Standard L in rear-wheel-drive guise. That trim comes down by $200 on its MSRP, going up overall by $200 because of the updated destination fee, totaling $81,400.    2022 Navigator prices and their differences from last year are: Standard: $78,405 ($5) Standard L: $81,400 ($200) Reserve: $89,100 ($4,955) Reserve L: $91,770 ($4,760) Standard 4WD: $81,405 ($735) Standard L 4WD: $84,400 ($530) Reserve 4WD: $91,440 ($1,760) Reserve L 4WD: $94,465 ($4,785) Black Label 4WD: $104,675 ($4,725) Black Label L 4WD: $107,720 ($4,570) All Navigators will benefit from Lincoln Enhance, the brand name for Lincoln's over-the-air software update capability, and the improved Amazon Alexa integration that can respond to more natural language. The substantial rises on the Reserve and Black Label trims pay for ActiveGlide and CoPilot360 2.0. ActiveGlide is the advanced driver assistance tech that allows hands-free highway driving if the right conditions are met (it's known as BlueCruise on Fords). Using adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, lane centering and traffic sign recognition, the system can be activated on more than 130,000 miles of divided highways in North America. To help ensure hands-free doesn't turn into attention-free, ActiveGlide monitors the driverÂ’s head and eye positions with a driver-facing camera. Lincoln Co-Pilot360 2.0 bundles more ADAS like forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, and dynamic brake support, and for 2022 adds Intersection Assist and Active Sense Park Assist 2.0. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.