2024 Lincoln Nautilus vs 2023 Dodge Hornet

The 2023 Dodge Hornet showcased a front end that unmistakably displayed Dodge DNA, featuring muscle-car styling cues like the wide, mean “raccoon mask” face, bulging hood, dual extractors, and the classic Dodge “mail slot” beneath the illuminated Rhombi logo. From the rear, the Hornet’s taillights spanned the vehicle’s width, making it easily recognizable. However, from the side and rear quarter, the Hornet resembled a Porsche Macan or Cayenne, with upward-pointing windows that felt more premium than traditionally Dodge. This design choice, influenced by its Alfa Romeo Tonale roots, might have been a shift for Dodge loyalists, but it added a premium touch to the family vehicle.

The standard silver 17-inch wheels on the Hornet were perhaps more divisive, appearing cheap from afar despite their merits up close. The Blacktop package offered an upgrade to 18-inch black alloy wheels and other blacked-out elements, while the Track Pack provided 20-inch wheels and performance enhancements. Dodge continued its tradition of “High Impact Paint” with seven vibrant color options. Inside, the Hornet featured standard red stitching and a flat-bottomed steering wheel, with various seat options ranging from manual-adjust black cloth to power-adjustable perforated leather. The red seats were particularly striking, and the Alcantara seats in the Track Pack added a racy touch.

The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus debuted with a sophisticated and streamlined exterior, hinting at a new direction in Lincoln design. The new grille, reminiscent of Mercedes Benz, featured LED lighting that extended through the grille and illuminated the Lincoln star logo, creating a stunning visual. The rear mirrored this horizontal aesthetic with a full-width animated LED light bar and dual exhaust ports. A unique design twist placed the door handles high and incorporated them into the beltline, adding to the vehicle’s sleek profile.

Inside, the Nautilus truly shone. The full-width screen was the crown jewel, but the rest of the interior was equally impressive, with high-quality materials, ambient lighting, and textures like open-pore wood and fine leather. The piano key shifter, a Lincoln tradition since the mid-1950s, might not have been to everyone’s taste, but it added a nostalgic touch. For an extra $3,000, the Jet Appearance Package offered two-tone paint, black exterior trim, and unique interior elements, enhancing the vehicle’s luxurious feel.

The 2023 Dodge Hornet boasted “best-in-class performance” with its Hurricane 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four engine, producing 268 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. This power output significantly outperformed competitors like the Chevy Trailblazer, Honda HR-V, and Hyundai Kona. The Mazda CX-30 came close with 250 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque but couldn’t match the Hornet’s menacing rumble. The Hornet’s Sport mode sharpened throttle responses, tightened steering, and optimized upshifts, achieving a zero-to-60 time of 6.5 seconds. While not staggering, it outpaced the competition, and performance enthusiasts could further enhance it with the Track Pack or Direct Connection parts.

The base Hornet GT was peppy from a standstill, though it exhibited a noticeable lag when accelerating from cruising speeds. This contrast between its rowdy low-speed performance and labored high-speed pickup was somewhat disappointing. However, the Hornet R/T’s hybrid powertrain improved the pickup pace, offering a more balanced performance.

The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus featured a standard turbocharged four-cylinder engine with 250 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque, paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. This setup provided smooth power delivery and unobtrusive shifts. For an additional $1,500, the hybrid setup offered 310 horsepower, 295 lb-ft of torque, and an impressive 30 mpg combined, compared to 24 mpg for the gas-only engine. The hybrid’s range exceeded 600 miles, making it ideal for long drives. However, the Lexus RX hybrid offered better fuel economy at 36 mpg combined.

Every Nautilus came with all-wheel drive and five drive modes, with the adaptive suspension available for optimal performance. Normal mode provided a cushy ride, while Excite mode tightened steering and reduced body roll. The hybrid’s continuously variable transmission (CVT) avoided the typical droning, offering a pleasant driving experience. While not a driver’s car like the Porsche Cayenne or BMW X5, the Nautilus could still satisfy occasional performance cravings.

The 2023 Dodge Hornet’s GT Plus trim featured leather seats with four-way powered lumbar adjustment and two memory settings, enhancing comfort. These seats were not available on the base GT trim, but the Track Pack offered Alcantara versions with similar features. The front passenger seat matched the driver’s for adjustability, though without memory function. Both seats were heated and ventilated by default on the GT Plus, with heating available on the GT through the Cold Weather package.

The driver-oriented cockpit layout favored the driver, with screen positioning and control placements feeling natural. Visibility was generally good, though the A-pillar’s angle occasionally obstructed the view of traffic from the right. This quirk was situational and dependent on the driver’s position, but it was worth noting for potential buyers.

The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus offered power-adjustable, heated, and cooled front seats across all trims, with the Black Label model featuring 24-way Perfect Position front seats. These seats, possibly the most comfortable in the mid-size luxury SUV class, included a massage function that remained active until manually turned off. The rear seats, while not as luxurious, provided 43 inches of legroom, accommodating even tall passengers comfortably.

The Lincoln Rejuvenate feature combined massage, lighting, and screen images to create different moods, offering a relaxing experience. The Nautilus provided 36 cubic feet of cargo space behind the second row and 71 cubic feet with the seats folded down in the Premiere trim, slightly less in the Reserve and Black Label trims. While it only seated five, the Nautilus offered more cargo space than the Lexus RX and avoided the cramped third-row seats found in some competitors.

The 2023 Dodge Hornet’s cockpit emphasized the driver with a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, larger than the 10.25-inch center display. The center stack and physical controls were angled toward the driver, with advanced features accessible through the touchscreen. The Uconnect 5 system was intuitive and easy to use, with the wide screen making Apple CarPlay more accessible. The GT Plus trim included a 14-speaker Harman Kardon system, while all trims featured wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, SiriusXM, dual-phone Bluetooth connectivity, and Amazon Alexa. The GT Plus also added a wireless charging pad and navigation, though the nav system occasionally continued giving instructions after ending the route.

The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus featured a stunning 48-inch curved display, with a digital dash for the driver and customizable sections for weather, audio, fuel economy, tire pressure, or trip mileage. The center console housed an 11.1-inch touchscreen for basic infotainment, with permanent HVAC icons for easy access. However, adjusting the vents required navigating through menus, which was distracting. The unlabelled steering wheel controls also posed a distraction, as precise thumb placement was needed to access audio or ADAS controls.

Despite these drawbacks, the Nautilus included Google maps, Alexa Built-in, gaming, web browsing, and over-the-air updates. Wireless charging was standard, with USB-A and -C ports throughout the cabin, ensuring connectivity and convenience.

The 2023 Dodge Hornet came standard with advanced driver-assistance features, including blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-path detection, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, forward-collision warning, a rear backup camera, and rear park-assist. The Tech Pack added front, side, and rear park-assist, driver-attention monitoring, and a 360-degree surround-view camera, enabling Level 2 autonomous driving with lane-centering, intelligent speed assist, and adaptive cruise control with traffic-sign recognition and stop & go functionality. The Hornet had not yet been rated by the IIHS or NHTSA.

The 2024 Lincoln Nautilus included the Lincoln CoPilot 360 suite of ADAS features, such as lane-keeping assist, park assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, and emergency braking. The Blue Cruise 1.2 technology, offering hands-free driving on pre-mapped highways, was available on all trims, with a 90-day trial for Premiere and Reserve trims and four years included for the Black Label. After the trial, the cost was $75 per month or $800 per year. The 2023 Nautilus received five stars from the NHTSA for frontal and side crash protection and four stars for rollover protection. The 2024 model had not yet been rated by the NHTSA but received top scores from the IIHS for crashworthiness.