Compare the2023 Lincoln NautilusVS 2023 Dodge Durango

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Lincoln Nautilus have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Dodge Durango doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Nautilus are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Durango doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Lincoln Nautilus has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Durango doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The Nautilus has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Durango doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

The Nautilus’ standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Durango and is not available with SXT.

The Nautilus (except Standard) offers an optional 360-Degree Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Durango only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the Nautilus and the Durango have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available all wheel drive.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Lincoln Nautilus is safer than the Dodge Durango:

	Nautilus	Durango
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	22.4%	34%
Neck Stress	229 lbs.	236 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	282	295
Chest Compression	.4 inches	.8 inches
Neck Compression	44 lbs.	86 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Lincoln Nautilus is safer than the Durango:

	Nautilus	Durango
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Restraints	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Head Neck Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Head injury index	69	119
Peak Head Forces	0 G’s	0 G’s
Steering Column Movement Rearward	2 cm	9 cm
Chest Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Max Chest Compression	26 cm	26 cm
Hip & Thigh Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Femur Force R/L	.8/.6 kN	5.3/2.5 kN
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L	0%/0%	6%/0%
Lower Leg Evaluation	GOOD	POOR
Tibia index R/L	.4/.37	1.53/.59
Tibia forces R/L	1.4/.8 kN	1.9/1.4 kN

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Lincoln Nautilus is safer than the Dodge Durango:

	Nautilus	Durango
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	1.1 inches	1.1 inches
Hip Force	192 lbs.	236 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	38 G’s	43 G’s
Hip Force	425 lbs.	714 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Nautilus is 4.3% to 5.7% less likely to roll over than the Durango.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Nautilus the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 53 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Durango is not a “Top Safety Pick.”

Warranty

The Nautilus comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck. The Durango’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

Lincoln’s powertrain warranty covers the Nautilus 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Dodge covers the Durango. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 6 years or 70,000 miles. Coverage on the Durango ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

Reliability

For smoother operation, better efficiency and fewer moving parts, the engines in the Nautilus have an overhead cam design, rather than the old pushrod design of the 5.7 V8 in the Durango.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Nautilus’ reliability 30 points higher than the Durango.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Nautilus first among midsize premium suvs in their 2022 Initial Quality Study. The Durango isn’t in the top three in its category.

Engine

The Nautilus has more powerful engines than the Durango:

	Torque
Nautilus 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder	280 lbs.-ft.
Nautilus 2.7 turbo V6	380 lbs.-ft.
Durango 3.6 DOHC V6	260 lbs.-ft.
Durango 3.6 DOHC V6	260 lbs.-ft.

As tested in Motor Trend the Lincoln Nautilus turbo 4 cyl. is faster than the Dodge Durango V6:

	Nautilus	Durango
Zero to 60 MPH	7.3 sec	8 sec
Quarter Mile	15.6 sec	16.1 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	88.8 MPH	86.9 MPH

As tested in Motor Trend the Lincoln Nautilus 2.7 is faster than the Dodge Durango 5.7:

	Nautilus	Durango
Zero to 60 MPH	5.8 sec	6.6 sec
Quarter Mile	14.4 sec	15 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	95.8 MPH	93.2 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Nautilus gets better mileage than the Durango:

			MPG
Nautilus
	FWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	21 city/26 hwy
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	20 city/25 hwy
		2.7 turbo V6	19 city/25 hwy
Durango
	RWD	3.6 DOHC V6	19 city/26 hwy
		5.7 OHV V8	14 city/22 hwy
	AWD	3.6 DOHC V6	18 city/25 hwy
		5.7 OHV V8	14 city/22 hwy

Regardless of its engine, the Nautilus’ engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. Dodge only offers an automatic engine start/stop system on the Durango V6.

The Nautilus has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Durango doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

The Nautilus stops much shorter than the Durango:

	Nautilus	Durango
60 to 0 MPH	117 feet	127 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

The Nautilus’ optional tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Durango R/T’s optional 45 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Nautilus offers optional 21-inch wheels. The Durango’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

Suspension and Handling

The Nautilus has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Nautilus flat and controlled during cornering. The Durango’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The Nautilus Reserve AWD handles at .83 G’s, while the Durango GT 4x4 pulls only .74 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Nautilus Reserve AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.7 seconds quicker than the Durango GT 4x4 (27.1 seconds @ .68 average G’s vs. 28.8 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Nautilus’ turning circle is 1.7 feet tighter than the Durango’s (39.3 feet vs. 41 feet).

Chassis

The Lincoln Nautilus may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 600 to 850 pounds less than the Dodge Durango.

The Nautilus is 10.8 inches shorter than the Durango, making the Nautilus easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Nautilus uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Durango doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Nautilus has 2.5 inches more front legroom, .4 inches more front shoulder room, 1 inch more rear legroom, .1 inches more rear hip room and 1.3 inches more rear shoulder room than the Durango.

The front step up height for the Nautilus is 2.2 inches lower than the Durango (17.5” vs. 19.7”). The Nautilus’ rear step up height is 1.7 inches lower than the Durango’s (18” vs. 19.7”).

Cargo Capacity

The Nautilus has a much larger cargo volume than the Durango with its rear seat up (37.2 vs. 17.2 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Nautilus easier. The Nautilus’ cargo hatch lift-over height is 30 inches, while the Durango’s liftover is 31.4 inches.

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Nautilus’ rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Durango doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Nautilus’ available liftgate can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Durango doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

Ergonomics

The Nautilus’ standard easy entry system raises the steering wheel and glides the driver’s seat back, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. An easy entry system costs extra on the Durango, and is not available on all models.

The Nautilus’ power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Durango’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The Nautilus’ front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Durango’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Nautilus’ exterior PIN entry system. The Durango doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Nautilus’ headlights were rated “Good” to “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the Durango’s headlights are rated “Marginal.”

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the Nautilus offers optional cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Durango doesn’t offer cornering lights. The Nautilus (except Standard) also offers optional adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle.

The Nautilus Reserve/Black Label offers optional massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Durango.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Lincoln Nautilus Reserve/Black Label has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Durango doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The Nautilus (except Standard)’s optional Enhanced Active Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Durango doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Nautilus is less expensive to operate than the Durango because it costs $163 less to do the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance for 50,000 miles. Typical repairs cost much less on the Nautilus than the Durango, including $26 less for front brake pads, $320 less for a starter, $27 less for fuel injection, $157 less for a fuel pump and $177 less for front struts.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends the Lincoln Nautilus, based on reliability, safety and performance. The Dodge Durango isn't recommended.