• Year: 1998
• Make: Lincoln
• Model: Navigator
• Trim:
• Body style: SUV 4X4
• Mileage: 132948
• Engine: V-8 5.4
• Trans: Automatic with Overdrive
• Exterior Color: Dark Blue
• Interior Color: Gray
• Stock: J11080
• VIN: 5LMPU28L0WLJ11080

As you'd expect of a sport-utility vehicle, the driver's seat affords a commanding view of the road, and driver sightlines are above average in all directions, thanks to the Navigator's vast glass area. A wide range of power adjustability for the seat--as well as height-adjustable seatbelts--should make just about anyone comfortable here, and the seats themselves afford lots of room for wriggling around during long hauls.

High, wide and handsome.

The Navigator has some excellent competitors in the luxury sport-utility field, in particular the Range Rovers, the Lexus LX450 and Toyota Land Cruiser twins. The Range Rovers lead the league in posh appointments and off-road capability, but their pricing starts in the mid $50,000 range. LX 450 pricing starts under the $50,000 frontier, but it lacks the power and roominess of the Navigator, as do the Range Rovers.

Thus the Navigator looks like a good idea. It has the feel and features of luxury, with more muscle and more room than its key competitors. Add off-road competence to the mix and you have an excellent recipe for success.

If you're thinking of roughing it in high style--and comfort--the Navigator shapes up as the best buy of an exclusive bunch.

The Navigator team obviously didn't have to design from scratch. The starting point was Ford's Expedition, a newcomer that's rewritten the full-size sport-ute rulebook.

A little bigger than the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon four-doors, but easier to garage than GM's even bigger Suburban, the Expedition blends surprising backwoods capability with equally surprising maneuverability and ride quality that sets high standards on surfaces ranging from smooth pavement to lumpy Forest Service trails.

Building from these strengths, the Navigator adds generous dollops of luxury, inside and out. The wide grille is unmistakably Lincoln, the illuminated running boards--optional on the Expedition--are standard, and the body shell is packed with extra sound deadening materials.

From a cosmetic point of view, the only element that seems inconsistent to us is the raised white lettering on the tires, something we associate with Jeep Wranglers rather than luxury vehicles.

From a mechanical point of view, there's nothing even remotely inconsistent. Quite the contrary. The Navigator employs the same beefy frame as the Expedition, and the same suspension: independent front, live axle with air springs and automatic load leveling in the rear. Four-wheel drive models like our tester add air shocks at the front, and the system automatically raises the vehicle's ride height at low speeds for an additional inch of ground clearance.

When forward motion stops, the system automatically settles down to its lowest height to facilitate ingress and egress. The standard running boards also help out in this respect; so do passenger assist grab handles inside the vehicle.

Power is supplied by a 5.4-liter V8 engine, one of Ford's new family of ovrhead cam truck engines. Like the Expedition, the Navigator's V8 is allied with a four-speed automatic transmission that includes an overdrive lockout feature for occasions when a little extra oomph is required.

There's plenty of oomph here, enough to give the Navigator good all-around performance, and a maximum towing capability of 8000 pounds. That's significantly higher than the max for the Tahoe and Yukon, although some Suburban powertrain combinations yield even higher ratings.

Like the Expedition, the Navigator offers the option of Ford's new Control-Trac 4WD system, operated by an easy-to-use dashboard switch. The settings include an automatic 4WD mode that functions essentially as an all-wheel drive system--basically 2WD when traction is plentiful, apportioning torque to the front wheels when system sensors detect slippage at the rear.

The system also includes a high-range 4WD setting, and low-range 4WD for max traction in creepy-crawly situations, like muddy forest trails.

Although its dimensions stop short of the brobdignagian Suburban, the Navigator is a big vehicle. The curb weight of the 4x4 version tops 5500 pounds, which is a lot of mass to move.

With mass in mind, we found this vehicle's all-around performance to be a very pleasant surprise. The 5.4-liter V8 gets the Navigator moving without straining, and it thrives on freeway cruising. Our 4x4 tester logged a steady 17 mpg during some extended mountain driving in California--impressive for a vehicle in this size class--and the interior noise levels were lower than any sport-utility in our experience.

Handling and all-around ride quality were also pleasantly surprising. We think the Navigator is the smoothest operator in its class, but it still manages quick maneuvers without excessive rock and roll, and its steering is best in class. Braking performance, with disc brakes and standard ABS, is also remarkable, both for power and resistance to fade.

Our California travels also included a trek through the rocky wastes of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and we were impressed once again with how well this big vehicle handled off-road trundling, particularly when the 4WD system was called on to claw its way up stretches covered with deep, loose sand.

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