Larger than life
2016 Infiniti QX80 Limited seeks to offer unlimited space and capability
A large luxury sport ute like the QX80 is in a class of vehicle that has a specific audience, one which doesn’t worry much about the state of the economy, or wring their hands about whether they should drive such a large vehicle.
For them, buying this luxury truck is because it has the capability that they want to have. It carries a lot of people or things, and can probably pull tree stumps: or at least tow them. In addition, it is comfortable with features comparable to luxury cars.
Granted they give up a great deal in handling, but luxury sport utes like this Infiniti are the most comfortable trucks in the world. Partly this is because sitting up high makes many people feel more secure, and that is certainly a big part of being comfortable in a vehicle.
The Infiniti QX80 was refreshed in 2015. It was renamed from the QX56 and now is evolving its style to a quite distinctive look, with a design that emphasizes its height and brawn. Granted that’s pretty easy in a vehicle as large as this one, but Infiniti makes it clear that it imagines its customers like things big.
The 2016 Infiniti QX80 is a truck with seating for seven, or you prefer the bench middle row seat, you can add another. The QX80 comes in five trims: base, Signature Edition, AWD, AWD Signature Edition, and Limited. The base model starts at $63,250, or $66,350 for the four-wheel drive model while the top trim level, the Limited starts life at $88,850.
The QX80’s standard features include a power moonroof, tri-zone automatic climate control, I really like the QX80’s standard Around View Monitor tied in with the front and rear sonar which detects moving objects behind and to the side of the car. The system also includes four small wide-angle cameras that are presented as a top-view of the space around the truck. This is great for both parking garages and boulders halfway up a mountain.
The model I tested was the Limited. Granted this is the top-of-the-line, but it was very nice, thank you. This furniture-finish wood on dash and doors of it set the tone for the car’s upscale and plush interior. Seats are big and snuggle you right in to hold you in place without seeming to do so. Even the power folding seats work well – and from the driver’s seat.
This new Limited Package is available only on fully equipped QX80 AWD models. With it you get features that let other Q X80 owners know you’re in the top trim level.
It features dark chrome 22inch aluminum-alloy wheels, dark chrome interior trim, stainless steel running board caps with rubber grips, under running-board welcome lighting, darkened headlight inner lens, darkened taillight inner lens, dark chrome A-pillar covers and three of its six exterior colors – Imperial Black, Mocha Almond and Dakar Bronze – are exclusive to the Limited Package.
Inside the Limited model gets rich semi-aniline “Truffle Brown.” leather appointments with a unique quilted pattern, open-pore matte finish ash wood trim. The foodie in me guesses that this name is for chocolate truffles, since the ones pigs find under the trees in Italy and France are either black, or more rarely, white – but that’s just me. Above your head Ultrasuede covers the headliner and pillars, even the grab handles and speaker grilles are leather-covered. The floor and trunk mats are specific to the model.
A decent stereo from Bose with 13 speakers fills this huge space with excellent sound, infotainment and telematics first class. If you wish you can upgrade to a 15-speaker Bose audio system, a rear-seat entertainment system. All the necessary telematics and connectivity features are there, letting you use your smartphone through Bluetooth or hardwired, as well as anything else that can attach through USB ports.
Other options include blindspot monitoring, forward collision warning, backup collision intervention, forward emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and lane departure warning.
Comfort level is high, as this truck is quiet and smooth when acting as a car, but with plenty of off-road capability should you find that interesting.
This begins with the engine which remains the 5.6-liter V8 engine which uses both variable valve-timing and direct gasoline injection to generate 400 hp. and 413 lb.-ft. of peak torque. Fuel economy is rated at 14 mpg city, 20 mpg highway for both the 2WD and AWD models.
I got just over 15 mpg driving mostly suburban roads, although with some highway travel. If you are buying a large truck-based luxury sports ute, you probably don’t worry about that. Frankly if you are worried about fuel costs, you probably can’t make the payments on this vehicle.
There is only one transmission, a seven-speed automatic, which is shiftable, and even uses rev-matching when its down-shifting. My tester was all-wheel drive, and it works well, with an on-road safety assist in truly bad weather, and plenty of off-road capability for those who want to do more than tow their boat down a dirt road.
This is a really large vehicle, but drives much smaller. It is easy to maneuver in a parking lot, and on the highway you forget that you are driving a truck. The suspension is an independent double-wishbone design front and rear, with twin tube shock absorbers and an automatic rear leveling system that seeks to maintain uniform ground clearance and departure angle, even when towing or carrying cargo, by automatically adjusting the air pressure in the system’s air bladders.
The model I drove had Infiniti’s Hydraulic Body Motion Control, which reduces body lean when turning or braking. It also reacts to the bumps one faces on the road, if not on the journey of life – a little much to ask of a utility vehicle