Numerical characteristics of implicit upwind schemes, such as upwind ADI, line Gauss-Seidel (LGS) and point Gauss-Seidel (LU) algorithms, for Navier-Stokes equations have been investigated. Time-derivative preconditioning method was applied for efficient convergence at low Mach/Reynolds number regime as well as at large grid aspect ratios. All the algorithms were expressed in approximate factorization form and von Neumann stability analysis was performed to identify stability characteristics of the above algorithms in the presence of high grid aspect ratios. Stability analysis showed that for high aspect ratio computations, the ADI and LGS algorithms showed efficient damping effect up to moderate aspect ratio if we adopt viscous preconditioning based on min-CFL/max-VNN time-step definition. The LU algorithm, on the other hand, showed serious deterioration in stability characteristics as the grid aspect ratio increases. Computations for several practical applications also verified these results.