Compare the2024 Lincoln NautilusVS 2023 Honda Passport

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. The Honda Passport doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

Both the Nautilus and Passport have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Nautilus has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Passport’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

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 Passport doesn’t offer knee airbags.

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 Passport 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.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Nautilus has standard Reverse Brake Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Passport doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Nautilus has a standard 360-Degree Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Passport 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 Passport have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Nautilus has Rear Cross Traffic Braking (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Passport’s Cross Traffic Monitor doesn’t automatically brake.

The Nautilus’ driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Passport doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

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

The Nautilus comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck. The Passport’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 Honda covers the Passport. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 6 years or 70,000 miles. Coverage on the Passport ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Nautilus’ engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Passport’s camshafts. If the Passport’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Lincoln vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Lincoln above average in long-term dependability. With 12 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Honda is rated below average.

The Nautilus’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 13 lbs.-ft. more torque (275 vs. 262) than the Passport’s 3.5 SOHC V6. The Nautilus’ optional 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 30 more horsepower (310 vs. 280) than the Passport’s 3.5 SOHC V6.

The Nautilus has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Passport doesn’t offer a CVT.

For better stopping power the Nautilus’ front brake rotors are larger than those on the Passport:

For better traction, the Nautilus has larger tires than the Passport (255/60R19 vs. 245/60R18).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Nautilus has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Passport TrailSport. The Nautilus’ optional 22-inch wheels are larger than the 20-inch wheels on the Passport EX-L/Elite.

The Nautilus has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Passport’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The Nautilus offers an optional driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Passport’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Nautilus’ wheelbase is 3.3 inches longer than on the Passport (114.2 inches vs. 110.9 inches).

For better maneuverability, the Nautilus’ turning circle is 1.8 feet tighter than the Passport AWD’s (37.5 feet vs. 39.3 feet).

The Nautilus has .1 inches more front headroom, 2.6 inches more front legroom and 3.5 inches more rear legroom than the Passport.

The Nautilus’ power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Passport’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 Passport’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 Passport doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its HondaLink Assist can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

The Nautilus’ rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Passport’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the Nautilus has standard cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Passport doesn’t offer cornering lights. The Nautilus also has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle.

The Nautilus has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel is only available on the Passport Elite.

The Nautilus’ Active Park Assist 2.0 can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Passport doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Nautilus is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Passport doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.