The 2025 Lincoln Aviator is the mid-sized option from Ford’s luxury arm–sitting on the same platform as the Ford Explorer. It’s spacious, packed with technology, and sporting the kind of comfort features you would expect from something in the $60,000 and up price bracket.
On paper, it’s an ideal daily commuter for someone who likes a bit of comfort. But nobody drives on paper. To test it out thoroughly, I took it on a fairly major trip from New York’s Capital Region to the tip of Long Island and back. This involved between eight and ten hours of driving through a couple of towns, highways, the interstate, and a busy part of New York city.
In a way, it’s pretty much the ultimate driving test for this kind of vehicle. The sort of trip where, if the car falls short, you’ll have to stop to stretch your legs a few times. Something that gives you a chance to try out all of the vehicle’s features.
This may be the most comfortable Lincoln I’ve ever sat in
You can talk about looks and specs all you want, but in terms of actual driving feeling, the Aviator is absolutely superb. It rides well, the V6 has plenty of kick when you need to pull ahead on the motorway, the infotainment screen is reasonably large, there are lots of options when you want to charge a phone, and you can wirelessly connect to either Android Auto or Apple Car Play. Lincoln has done a superb job with the suspension, too, with the Aviator being noticeably more comfortable than its less premium alternatives.
And then you have the interior. There’s plenty of leather, wood, and metal inside an Aviator, which really adds to the premium experience. The seat is very comfortable and easily adjustable to your needs. Features like heated seats, a heated steering wheel, and ventilated seats are also present.
Lincoln arguably has some of the best massage seats on the market, too. They still use airbags, like many manufacturers, but said bags can hit the right spot firmly and consistently. Several settings are available, as are a number of intensity levels. Unlike efforts from other manufacturers, Lincoln’s massage function doesn’t turn itself off too quickly, either. So you won’t find yourself having to re-navigate the menus every 10 minutes in the hope of keeping the back rubs going.
As for the long-distance comfort. My bum did not go numb. The Aviator kept me content, and (not counting an early fuel stop) I did the return leg as one clean shot back.
BlueCruise and other features come in very handy
If you’re taking a long trip, like I am, you will start to flag eventually. That’s the time to pull in at the next rest stop, down some coffee, and possibly take a brief nap until the caffeine hits your system. But you could be miles from your next stopping point when fatigue hits, or the tiredness could come on very suddenly.
That’s where BlueCruise, Ford’s level 2 self-driving system, really comes into its own. It allows you to take your hands off the wheel and your feet off the pedals while the car handles pretty much everything on major roads. When you’re tired, it serves two functions: it means the car is likely to stay in lane should you pass out for a split second, and it will definitely shout at you as soon as your eyes stop looking at the road. You certainly shouldn’t drive while tired, but if you find yourself in a bad spot without much warning, then this almost becomes a vital safety feature.
Like other 2025 Lincolns, the equipment you need for BlueCruise comes as standard. You’ll also get four years of the service included with your purchase of the vehicle, so you don’t have to worry about monthly or annual fees for a long time. I’ve went hands-off with Ford’s self driving system a number of times, and the most it has impressed me so far was in the 2025 Aviator.
The Aviator is still playing it safe by Lincoln’s standards
While the Luxury elements of the 2025 Aviator are very much on point, especially with the Black Label trim, you aren’t getting some of the more experimental and exciting things Lincoln is doing these days. Those are mostly on the Nautilus. So, there are no digital scents or dash-sized displays here.
Despite this, the Aviator has its plus points. It feels more spacious, and a bit more stable, and has that third row available for people who really need the two extra seats. Even if the people in those seats may find it a bit of a tight fit.
There’s something about the way it looks that sets people off
I noticed something a bit weird during my time with the Aviator. Other road users repeatedly attempted to race me in it for reasons I can not fathom. This happens more than it does when I’m in a Porsche, or a Mustang, or a Maserati. There’s something about the Aviator that makes the folks in the lane next to you get the hammer down.
It could be the fact it looks a bit governmental, though if officials are in a Lincoln it’s usually a Navigator. It may be the more aggressive styling options, like the angry looking headlights, who knows? It doesn’t happen with the Ford Explorer, it doesn’t happen with the Lincoln Nautilus, in fact I don’t recall it happening with any other SUV. This remains one of the biggest mysteries of my career.
There is another thing to note about the Aviator’s looks. I was taking it to one of the most exclusive car shows in the world, and it would ultimately share a parking lot with some very high-end vehicles. I spotted several M5s, a Porsche or two, and a Rolls-Royce Spectre while walking to the shuttle bus. The Aviator may suffer from SUV Sameyness syndrome to a degree, but it didn’t look out of place either. There’s a definite classiness to it, especially in the dark “cenote green” paint the test vehicle was clad in.
That V6 is powerful, but it absolutely chugs gas
Obviously, when the people beside me got the hammer down, I was responsible and sensible and stuck to going 2 mph under the speed limit. But if I wanted to blast off, the 2025 Aviator is one of the better vehicles to do it in. It packs the same V6 you’ll find in the Explorer ST or as an option on the Platinum trim. That turbocharged 3.0 liter, six-cylinder powertrain is also present in several of Ford’s trucks and some of Lincoln’s bigger vehicles. And it can’t half pull. 400 horsepower and 415 lb-ft of torque may seem a bit meh when compared to some of the sillier vehicles of the modern era, but it’s still a tremendous amount of power. It will get you from 0-60 in under 5.5 seconds in the right circumstances.
There is a bit of a downside, it does chug gas quite aggressively. If you’re calm, and select the right drive mode, you can expect a fuel economy of around 20 mpg. If you drive like a person with somewhere to be, it ends up as thirsty as an early 2000s pickup truck.
It’s a fine long-distance cruiser, but it’ll cost you
I took the 2025 Aviator from Upstate New York to The Bridge and back–and the trip confirmed a few things for me. Firstly, it’s the sort of thing you can turn up to an event full of incredibly rich people in without feeling self-conscious. It was in the same parking lot as someone with a Rolls-Royce Spectre, and while it didn’t stand out like the Spectre, it didn’t look out of place either.
It was also comfortable enough to make eight hours of driving in a single day bearable, which is saying something. I didn’t have to stop and stretch my legs, BlueCruise took the edge off at several points, and the massage seats worked a lot of tension out of my upper back towards the end. In terms of handling, it made it through a busy part of New York City without someone taking the side off it, so the thing is pretty maneuverable, and the blind spot sensors do their job perfectly. It also handled well enough to tackle some narrow country lanes on the way down.
As for the less-than-impressive fuel economy, it may be a stickler for some, and it’s not ideal for long trips. But if you can afford a luxury SUV, especially a Black Label, you’re probably not too concerned about the price you’ll pay at the pump. And the extra power more than makes up for it when you need to merge onto a motorway or hop in a gap before your exit approaches. All in all, it’s a solid luxury mid-sized SUV and possibly one of the best long-distance cruisers on the market at the moment if you’re comfortable with the initial price tag and not too fussed about your fuel bill.
