Filling a niche
David Booth gets behind the wheel of the 2015 Infiniti QX70 Sport
In case you haven’t noticed — as in you’ve been stuck in the proverbial cave for the past 10 years — SUVs are taking over the automotive world. What began as the fisherman’s friend has become the modern minivan, wagon and multi-purpose truck thingy all wrapped up in one quasi-offroad package. The lowly sedan doesn’t stand a chance against such versatility. The typical midsized sport utility vehicle offers the same roomy comfort but ups the ante with a higher riding position, greater cargo space and, for the adventurous, at least a smidgen of off-road ability.
Unless the SUV in question is Infiniti’s QX70 Sport.
Formerly known as the FX35/37, the QX70 Sport is neither commodious of trunk or rear-seat passenger perch, its rear seats cramped and its cargo-loading floor noticeably high. Nor does it offer any offroad ability beyond the ability of the average all-wheel-drive minivan. It doesn’t, truth be told, even ride particularly high. And yet it has a loyal following that borders on the cultish.
The question, then, is why they are so staunchly devoted when their ride is so obviously short of the utility that SUVdom is supposed to promise. Well, for one thing, the QX is long on the sport side of the equation, indeed occupying a fairly narrow niche in the automotive world — that of a sporty sport utility vehicle. More poignantly, despite BMW’s reputation for sporty SUVs, the QX70 is more dedicated to the cut and thrust of twisty roads than all but the M versions of BMW’s X series.
More stiffly suspended, more direct of steering and more generously tired than the X5 or X6, the QX70 Sport is quite the tool when the road gets curvy. Body roll, despite its relatively high centre of gravity, is minimal, mostly from suspension tuned just this side of Formula One firm. Seriously, even more than Porsche’s own Cayenne, it is the Infiniti QX70 Sport that best emulates a 911’s ability to scoot around corners.
Infiniti’s dedication to this cut and thrust is mirrored in its decision to drop the 5.0-litre V8 from the QX’s repertoire. To be sure, part of the reason was to meet future fuel consumption standards. But the FX50 was never the sweet-steering road rocket the FX 35/37 was, the lardier V8 putting too much weight on the front wheels. Infiniti’s 3.7L V6 offers plenty of get-up-and-go, its 328 horsepower good enough to haul the 2,087-kilogram QX to 100 kilometres an hour in around seven seconds.
There may be some backlash against its noise, vibration and harshness, however. Rev it hard and it’s busier than other V6s; Jaguar’s 3.0-litre supercharged V6 sounds positively melodic in comparison and BMW’s 3.0-litre in-line six is far more sophisticated. Inside, this sporting-at-all-costs theme continues unabridged. Despite being almost six years old, the QX’s interior remains almost fresh, mostly because Infiniti adopted a cockpit-like theme. Both frontseat occupants feel like they are enveloped in a racing-like cocoon, thanks to the sweeping dashboard that curves around. The QX’s interior feels more modern than many newer SUVs, but definitely more cramped. Oh, the front-seat passengers are well accommodated, there being leg- and headroom to spare. But the rear passengers will find things tight, there not being as much passenger space in the rear perch as in many much smaller compact SUVs.
And this is the QX70’s conundrum in a nutshell. It looks like an SUV but has none of its utilitarian abilities. On the other hand, it has all the attributes — both good and bad — of a sports car, but it looks like a truck. Little surprise then, the rather narrow market niche.
If you are looking for a comparatively inexpensive SUV that handles like a sports car, look no further than your Infiniti dealership. Yes, the QX70 Sport occupies a very narrow niche in an otherwise broad market, but it is the very best in that niche.