How the Lincoln Nautilus surprisingly won me over with its ride, huge screen

Enlarge / In the past, car companies engaged in "horsepower wars." Now it seems they're competing in a screen size war. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

It's important to try to approach a review car with an open mind, but I'll admit my preconceptions were stacked against the Lincoln Nautilus. It's on the larger end of the midsize SUV segment, bigger than I like them, and my last encounter with a Lincoln wasn't entirely positive. And then there's the whole giant screen. Not to be outdone by Cadillac and its 33-inch display, Nautilus has a 48-inch screen that stretches between the A pillars, which sounds like a recipe for distraction. And yet, this hybrid SUV won me over rapidly.

We tested the hybrid Nautilus, a $1,500 option for a model that starts at $50,415. The hybrid system combines a 2.0 L turbocharged four-cylinder direct-injection engine with an electric motor in parallel, sending torque to all four wheels via a continuously variable transmission. Total output is 310 hp (231 kW), with a maximum output of 300 hp (223 kW) from the internal combustion engine, or 134 hp (100 kW) from the electric motor.

It's quite efficient, too. The EPA rates the hybrid Nautilus at a combined 30 mpg (7.84 L/100 km), although a combination of 22-inch wheels and oppressive Washington, DC, summer temperatures meant that I averaged a little bit less than that.