Infiniti debuts new QX60 "Vacation" ad campaign

• Infiniti recreates famous scene from "National Lampoon's Vacation" in 30-second commercial with 2015 QX60 Luxury Crossover
• Commercial stars Christie Brinkley and Ethan Embry
• Campaign includes extensions in digital and social media

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Infiniti has released a new campaign for the 2015 QX60, inspired by the 1983 classic "National Lampoon's Vacation" which coincides with the July 29 release of Warner Bros. Studio's remake. The campaign begins with a TV commercial starring the original movie's car-loving blonde bombshell and supermodel, Christie Brinkley, and puts a spin on the famous movie scene as the modern day family heads to Walley World.

In the national spot titled "Vacation," Ethan Embry (who notably starred as Rusty in "Vegas Vacation") loads his family in the roomy 3-row QX60 and hits the road for Walley World. While on the road trip, Ethan looks in his side view mirror and sees an attractive blonde in a sports car fast approaching. As Ethan and the blonde keep up with each other on the highway, Christie Brinkley is revealed as his wife who catches this action and ends the scene with an ironic response: "Honey, a blonde in a convertible? Seriously?"

The popular Infiniti QX60 continues to stand out in the premium crossover segment, excelling in the areas that luxury crossover buyers desire most – interior versatility, roominess, available safety, and available advanced hospitality features. Ending with the tagline "Built for Families, Designed for Drivers," the commercial captures nostalgia of family vacations but also the functionality of the family-friendly QX60.

"The QX60 is the ideal choice for families needing versatility but who also don't want to sacrifice a thrilling and empowering drive. The ‘Vacation' scene is so iconic, and we wanted to recreate it through the lens of a modern day family in a luxury SUV," said Allyson Witherspoon, director of Marketing Communications and Media, Infiniti USA. "We knew we might have struck an interesting cultural moment, but having Christie and Ethan involved really elevated the concept given their history with the movie franchise. It was a pleasure to work with them."

Available in both front-wheel drive and with Intelligent All-Wheel Drive, the QX60 features a standard 3.5-liter DOHC V6 which produces 265 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 248 lb-ft of torque at 4,400 rpm. Starting at just $42,400 MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price, actual price set by Infiniti retailers) and featuring spacious accommodations for seven people, the 2015 QX60 is the ultimate family vacation vehicle.

The 30-second commercial, created by Infiniti's advertising agency of record CP+B, airs nationally beginning July 9, 2015 and can be viewed at https://youtu.be/PLEbr5Hnop8.

Source: http://infinitinews.com/

Infiniti QX80 named Best-In-Class for luxury segment in AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Awards

Franklin, Tenn. - Infiniti has announced that for the third year in a row its QX80 full-size luxury SUV was recognized as best-in-class in the 2015 AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Awards (VSA) for the Luxury/Large SUV segment.

Now in its 19th year, AutoPacific's VSA identifies the most satisfying vehicles on the market. An industry benchmark for measuring how satisfied an owner is with his/her new vehicle, VSAs are based on survey responses from over 66,000 owners of new 2015 model year cars and light trucks.

"We're honored to be recognized for the third year by AutoPacific for the QX80," said Randy Parker, vice president, Infiniti Americas. "This award is particularly important to us as it's solely based on owner input for satisfaction which is a direct result of Infiniti's passion in creating the most luxurious and reliable offerings for our owners."

"By surveying a substantial number of owners who have purchased a new 2015 model year vehicle, AutoPacific's VSA provides an objective measurement of how well the makers are doing," said George Peterson, president, AutoPacific. "2015 represents a year of diversity and the competition was fierce."

The QX80 offers a unique combination of inspired design and performance that makes it stand out in the luxury performance SUV class. Offering accompaniments such as the standard Infiniti Hard Drive Navigation System, available Around View® Monitor with Moving Object Detection (MOD) system, available Bose® 13-speaker Premium Audio System and available Bose® Cabin Surround® Sound System with digital 5.1 decoding and 15 speakers. The QX80 also has a rugged practicality that comes with a 400-horsepower 5.6-liter V8 engine capable of hauling up to eight passengers and towing up to 8,500 pounds.

For more information on the QX80 and Infiniti's Total Ownership Experience, please visit www.Infiniti.com.

Source: http://infinitinews.com/

5 Spring Maintenance Tips for Your Car

Here are Five Spring Car Maintenance Tips to Keep in Mind

1. Remove leftover salt

Salt, used on roads to melt ice and snow, can cause serious damage to cars, especially their undercarriages where metal can rust. Take your car to a highly rated car wash to eliminate salt, and check that the business has sprayers that clean the undercarriage.

2. Check alignment and suspension
Driving over potholes can damage your car’s alignment and suspension. You might have a problem if you notice that the car pulls to one side or the steering wheel vibrates as you drive. An alignment check typically costs $25 to $40.

3. Change oil and check fluids

“If your last oil change was before winter, then this is a great time to do it, spring is also an ideal time to flush your transmission fluid. It’s one of the most neglected services. Mechanics say spring is a good time to check your car's fluid levels. Waiting too long to change your fluids can lead to a costly repair. Mechanics recommend changing your car’s oil every 3,000 to 5,000 miles.Don’t forget to check window washing fluid levels, as well as your brake and cooling system fluids.

4. Rotate tires and check air pressure
You should check the tire pressure, including the spare should you ever need it. Your car’s tires affect the ride, handling, traction and safety.Mechanics recommend tire rotation every 5,000 miles to keep tread wear even.One of the biggest issues we see is the front tires wearing out prematurely.

5. Inspect brakes
Nothing, perhaps, is more important than having brakes that function properly. Have a technician check the pads and rotors to ensure there are no safety issues. Neglecting them can lead to a costlier repair down the line.

Infiniti Vision GT displayed outside its online world for the first time

SHANGHAI, China – Last week at the 2015 Shanghai auto show, Infiniti held its inaugural Infiniti Design Night ahead of Auto Shanghai 2015. The evening occasion took place at the Shanghai Himalayas Art Museum.

Under the theme of "Aesthetics of Contrast," Infiniti Design Night showcased three design concepts showing an exciting path to Infiniti's future: the Q80 Inspiration (first shown in Paris, October 2014), Q60 Concept (Detroit, January 2015), and the Vision Gran Turismo designed especially for the latest Gran Turismo® 6™ video game.

This was the first time the Vision GT was displayed as a real "flesh and bones" concept car, having only been seen and experienced digitally in GT6 prior to this event.

The dramatic Infiniti Concept Vision Gran Turismo

The Infiniti Concept Vision Gran Turismo is a vision of what a high performance Infiniti could look like in the future. Available for download in GT6 exclusively on the PlayStation®3 system, it was created through close collaboration with the creators of Gran Turismo®, the racing game franchise developed by Polyphony Digital Inc. that has sold more than 72 million copies worldwide.

The virtual concept car began as an ambitious global Infiniti Design competition to "design a pure Infiniti GT car," which Infiniti's Design team in Beijing won. Part beauty, part beast, its shape is powerful, sensual and audacious – articulating the team's ambitious racing language for Infiniti.

The team kept to Infiniti's design language and added some Chinese influences to the Infiniti Concept Vision Gran Turismo. The fluid movement and the delicate gradation of the body are inspired by traditional Chinese calligraphy and landscape paintings, while the character lines uninhibitedly flowing through the car reflect the dynamism of China.

Up front, the Infiniti Concept Vision Gran Turismo sports a sharp visage and a wide grille, giving it a wild and powerful look. The curves of the fenders wrap around the tires, and the car appears ready to pounce.

The design development of the Infiniti Concept Vision Gran Turismo started with hand sketching, then refined digitally, refined again by hand sculpting, and then returned to digital for final refinement.

"The Q80 Inspiration, the Q60 Concept and the Infiniti Concept Vision Gran Turismo are all thematically different," said Alfonso Albaisa, Infiniti Executive Design Director. "Yet the same thread of handcrafted artistry weaves through them, and they all speak with one Infiniti design language."

2015 Infiniti QX70's performance pays off

Porsche, Audi and others blend performance sedan and sport utility truck, but few deliver as stylish a blend as the Infiniti QX70.

The sporty QX with bulging fenders and long muscular sports car-style hood was formerly known as the FX37. The former moniker was tied to this sport-oriented SUV's engine size, a 3.7-liter V6 that cranks out 325 horsepower. Regardless of the name, the QX70 is a beast.

That can cut both ways.

The V6 delivers strong power to all four wheels in the test model. Step on the gas and you'll growl up to highway speeds in short order. That's real power needed to haul a heavy feeling SUV up to 65 mph. The QX weighs 4,321 lbs., but feels much heavier.

It's beastly in its ride as well. The sport-tuned suspension delivers an incredibly stiff ride that borders on severe at times, especially surprising considering it rides on a 113.6-inch wheelbase. The ride's stiffness seems to contribute to the QX rocking side to side on uneven roads. It's not what the average luxury SUV buyer who appreciates a soft, smooth, controlled ride would expect and for a truck that carried a final price of $59,535, I was surprised there was no electronic way to soften the ride.

Yet the QX70s performance bent pays off in other ways. Handling along with crisp shifts from its 7-speed automatic are strong points.

Steering is responsive with moderate wheel effort, and the Infiniti turns into corners well and stays planted. Its AWD system surely helps when the roads turn sloppy, which they did early in my drive. There's also a Snow setting on the console to help all the SUV's systems work better when the roads are bad.

The crisp transmission has a manual mode controlled by tall paddle shifters on the back of the steering wheel, but those are merely for fun as the shift points are already well handled. Another plus is excellent braking from large discs at all four wheels.

My white test unit's interior was black leather and the seats, dash and steering wheel featured purple stitching to give the cockpit some personality. Doors and center armrests featured a pillow-like soft leather feel and the seats are well shaped for comfort. The test truck also added power back and hip bolsters on the driver's seat along with two memory settings and a manual lower cushion extension on both front seats that aids long-legged drivers.

Dash layout is good, but Infiniti loads this center stack with buttons, as it does in several other models. I counted 43 buttons and knobs to control a touchscreen navigation and radio system. The good news is the system sounds great and includes six small channel selection buttons, avoiding a few clunky touchscreen problems that I've found in many vehicles. These old-tech buttons work, even when you're wearing gloves.

You'd expect this sort of power and luxury to push the cost envelope. At its base the tested QX70 AWD lists at $47,300 and adds a $995 delivery fee. But this one ladled on the pricey option packages to give it the luxury features most high-end crossover and sport-SUV buyers would expect.

These included a Technology Package for $2,950 that adds intelligent cruise control, lane departure warning, intelligent brake assist with forward collision warning, adaptive front lighting, rain-sensing wipers and front pre-crash seatbelts. I'd pass on this one just because the lane departure warning must be manually turned off each time you start the car. It defaults to "on" and beeps incessantly when you get near a center line.

More valuable is the Premium Package with its navigation system with easy-to-see 8-inch VGA color display. The system includes voice recognition, NavTraffic, NavWeather and Infiniti's Around View monitor that uses four cameras to show you all around the vehicle. The system also includes moving object detection and front and rear sonar, which is helpful in busy parking lots.

The premium package also includes a Bluetooth system, in-dash CD/DVD player, dual occupant memory system and entry/exit assist for the driver's seat and steering wheel. That means they power up and back when you turn the ignition off to ease driver access. Infiniti also includes outside mirrors with a reverse tilt-down feature, a power tilt/telescope steering wheel and aluminum roof rails in the package, which costs $4,300.

This one included a $3,550 Sport Package too that boosts the 18-inch tires to giant 21-inchers with 6-spoke dark finish wheels. The dark finish also includes the grille, roof rails, fog lamp surrounds, outside mirror housing, side air vents, lower side moldings and trunk finishers.

Other features of the sport package include that purple contrast stitching, a dark headliner, climate-controlled front sport seats with the power bolsters mentioned earlier, plus magnesium paddle shifters and aluminum pedals. Illuminated kick plates added another $440.

Standard features include a sunroof, power hatch, fog lights, HomeLink, sliding visors and power folding side mirrors. Its rear seat will split and fold flat to increase storage room too and there's a full-size spare under the cargo floor.

A downside of the QX's size and weight is paltry gas mileage. I got just 17 mpg in about 60% city driving and with a couple really cold days during my week's drive. The EPA rates the QX70 at 16 mpg city and 22 highway and it prefers premium unleaded.

IPrice is nearly identical between the tested AWD QX70 and the QX60 hybrid. A rear-drive QX70 is available starting at $46,845, including delivery.

Jean Knows Cars: 2015 Infiniti QX60 offers artful luxury

The Infiniti QX60 3.5 looks like a big SUV (it's actually midsize), but it is surprisingly easy to drive and to live with, for a three-row crossover.

It helps that the QX60 has just a ton more style than cars of this ilk. The side profile is quite lovely, and both front and rear views aren't the locomotives we've become used to seeing. And it helps that the interior is a beautifully, thoughtfully trimmed luxury palace, even without the $11,000-plus in options, which took our test car from a base price of $43,395 to $54,690.

In addition to the standard features you would expect (heated front seats, a good audio system, all of the necessary ports and jacks for your electronics and a full complement of front, side and curtain airbags), you'll be pleased to find leather-appointed seats, a power sliding and tilting glass moonroof and a Bluetooth hands-free phone system.

Drivers of smaller stature (and I with my demolition derby-damaged neck) will especially appreciate the standard power tilting and telescoping steering column, the power rear liftgate and a rearview monitor, which together make the QX60 less daunting. All part of the price of entry.

Options? Oh, buddy, are there options! You are on your own there, but bring your checkbook. The Deluxe Touring package is $3,450 (it's where you find the air-conditioned front seats and the power-up folding third row). The Premium package is $1,550, and that's where my beloved heated steering wheel lives. There is also the Premium Plus package ($3,000) with the magic AroundView Monitor with its moving object detection and front and rear sonar. You can sort it and your budget out on Infiniti's online configurator.

Our test car had all of that razzmatazz and, frankly, I liked it, yes I did. But the only must-have in my book is the Technology package ($2,800). That's where most all of the advanced safety resides, those technologies that are the precursors to fully autonomous cars: full-speed-range intelligent cruise control, lane departure warning and prevention, blind spot warning and intervention, intelligent brake assist with forward collision warning and backup collision intervention. You'll notice that most of these are more than warnings and alerts; they actually intervene when you're just not cutting it behind the wheel.

And isn't that what autonomous cars are all about?

You'll still be doing the driving in the 2015 QX60, so it's good to know that the 3.5-liter V-6 produces 265 horsepower — not a barnstormer off the line, but it will take you easily to 80 mph. It has a continuously variable automatic transmission, which Infiniti is very big on, and there are Standard, Sport, Snow and Eco drive modes. The main CVT benefit is that there are no gears to mesh and gnash and make loud noises while straining to up- and downshift. CVTs do a better job of maintaining optimum engine revs. And that pretty much works. The QX60's CVT tends to hem and haw a little at higher speeds but probably not enough to bother most drivers. You can ameliorate it by changing the drive mode switch to Sport.

More things in life should have a Sport option.

Three-row crossovers attract a specific clientele that are not me. I have no children, I don't have that many friends that need carting around, and the ones I have would rather walk than crawl into the wayback of an SUV.

I tested the QX60's cargo area by bringing everything I owned and my husband's golf clubs for a 1,100-mile trip across Florida. With midsize utility vehicles, you have to give up cargo to get that third row of seats. We did the opposite, accessing maximum cargo space with the power liftgate and power buttons that flipped down the 50/50 split-folding third-row bench. The low-load floor is a boon to women of the world with girly amounts of shoulder strength.

Three rollerboards went in upright, followed by the bag of clubs, four stuffed duffels, a few hatboxes, two garment bags and, yes, more. And you could still see out the rear window from the rearview mirror. Without those clubs, we could have left 50 percent of the bench in the upright position for a passenger.

When you don't need room for antiquing, that third row is pretty plush, with plenty of knee room and backs that recline. Getting back there is made easier by a clever forward flip of the outboard second-row seat behind the driver. This sets it up to slide forward on the same tracks that allow second-row passengers to fine-tune legroom. Even cooler is the ability to leave a child seat attached in place while accessing the third row. You won't have to make your kids crawl in through the rear and scale the back seat from behind.

There's an overhead handhold and an indentation in the sill to give you a boost. I gave it a go, got my 6-foot frame up and through the generous opening, and was impressed. However, getting out of the third seat almost crippled me. I'd recommend calling dibs on that second row with its cushy reclining and sliding seats and its own climate controller, complete with precise temperature settings.

2014 Infiniti Q50 Review | Infiniti of Ardmore

All-new sedan and hybrid replace Infiniti G.

Sporting a fresh design, new technology and a new name, the all-new 2014 Infiniti Q50 is a rear-wheel-drive compact luxury four-door that replaces the Infiniti G37 sedan.

The new nomenclature is the brainchild of erstwhile Infiniti president Johan De Nysschen, the former Audi executive who stuck around just long enough to shake up the company's naming scheme before heading out the door to Cadillac. While the concept of using a single letter across the brand is logical on paper, the change has left some confused. When you tell someone you're driving a Q50, expect the response to be, 'Is that an SUV?'

Name aside, the Infiniti Q50 sedan has much to offer someone looking for a unique alternative to usual German suspects: Sophisticated design, a powerful V6 engine and plentiful technology features. And while it might not perform like a BMW 3 Series sedan, the Q50 is more engaging to drive than its Mercedes-Benz C-Class counterpart.

For those looking for a unique alternative to more popular compact luxury sedans, the 2014 Infiniti Q50 is a solid choice. It offers elegant design, many technology features, and a powerful V6 engine. However, it fails to measure up to some competitors when it comes to ride and handling.