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.
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