Compare the2025 Lincoln NautilusVS 2025 Porsche Cayenne

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 Porsche Cayenne doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear 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 Cayenne doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

Both the Nautilus and the Cayenne have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

The Lincoln Nautilus has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2025 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Cayenne has not yet been evaluated by the IIHS for 2025.

Lincoln’s powertrain warranty covers the Nautilus 2 years and 20,000 miles longer than Porsche covers the Cayenne. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 6 years or 70,000 miles. Coverage on the Cayenne ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are almost 3 times as many Lincoln dealers as there are Porsche dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Nautilus’ warranty.

The Nautilus has a standard “limp home system” to keep drivers from being stranded if most or all of the engine’s coolant is lost. The engine will run on only half of its cylinders at a time, reduce its power and light a warning lamp on the dashboard so the driver can get to a service station for repairs. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

On the EPA test cycle the Nautilus gets better mileage than the Cayenne running its gasoline engine:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Lincoln Nautilus uses regular unleaded gasoline (premium recommended for maximum performance). The Cayenne requires premium, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

The Nautilus Hybrid’s standard fuel tank has 1.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Cayenne E-Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (20.1 vs. 18.4 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

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 Cayenne doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

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 Cayenne doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Nautilus’ drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The Cayenne doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For better maneuverability, the Nautilus’ turning circle is 2.2 feet tighter than the Cayenne’s (37.5 feet vs. 39.7 feet).

The Lincoln Nautilus may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 350 to 950 pounds less than the Porsche Cayenne.

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

The Nautilus has .6 inches more front headroom, 2.4 inches more front legroom, .8 inches more rear headroom, 2.8 inches more rear legroom and 1.5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Cayenne.

The Nautilus has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Cayenne with its rear seat up (36.4 vs. 27.3 cubic feet). The Nautilus has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Cayenne with its rear seat folded (71.3 vs. 60.3 cubic feet).

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

The Nautilus Hybrid can be flat towed on all four wheels (dinghy towed), allowing recreational vehicle owners to bring it with them on the road. When they reach their destination, the Nautilus can be unhitched and driven around locally. The Cayenne can’t be towed flat on the ground.

The Nautilus has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

If the windows are left open on the Nautilus the driver can close them all from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Cayenne can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

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 Cayenne doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its Porsche Connect can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Nautilus has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Cayenne only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

The Nautilus’ standard oscillating air vents move back and forth and distribute air evenly inside the vehicle, making everyone more comfortable. The Cayenne doesn’t offer oscillating vents.

The Nautilus offers an optional 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Cayenne doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its October 2024 issue and they ranked the Lincoln Nautilus Black Label first. They ranked the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid third.

Motor Trend selected the Nautilus as their 2025 Sport Utility of the Year. The Cayenne has never been chosen.

The Lincoln Nautilus outsold the Porsche Cayenne by 51% during 2024.