Q the quality
Infiniti’s sport luxury crossover an athletic, esthetic marvel
SAN DIEGO, Calif.
You can forgive Infiniti engineers and designers for keeping their talented hands off the company’s sporty QX50 crossover.
They’ve been a little preoccupied of late with numerous all-new vehicle introductions — three for the 2015 model year and three more coming in the next few months — so it isn’t too surprising they kept their tinkering with the QX50 to a minimum for 2016.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing as the QX50 was arguably the sleeper among luxury crossovers with great looks, impressive power and handling and a cabin that easily held its own against the competition.
True, you paid for that privilege, but pricing was not out of line with its competitors — particularly the Germans.
When we say minimal changes, we’re referring to what typically takes place in a mid-cycle refresh.
In the case of the 2016 QX50, this includes exterior styling cues, a rejigged wheelbase, interior updates and some previous options migrating into the standard base package.
That first category gets the most work. The 2016 QX50 inherits the distinctive front grill that faces the Q50 sports sedan and the front and rear lights get a restyle with updates that include new LED daytime running lights and new side mirrors with integrated turn signals.
The front and rear bumpers also are tweaked to bring them into esthetic harmony with the grill and light fixture changes.
The silhouette of the new QX50 also looks different thanks mostly to a wheelbase that has been stretched by some 80 millimetres. This coincides with a longer overall vehicle length that has grown by 113 millimetres. Also new are optional 19-inch aluminum wheels.
Inside, the new pickings are slim with a redesigned shifter and enhanced stitching on the standard leather seating. That’s about it. This might seem a lazy way out for the cabin designers, but according to Infiniti, owner feedback from 2015 models indicated high satisfaction with most everything about the interior. Well, except maybe rear seat room, but that’s where the longer wheelbase comes in.
That extra length overall translates to 109 millimetres of more legroom and 100 millimetres of extra knee room. Yes, that’s a cheer — perhaps a sigh of relief — you hear coming from back-seat passengers.
One last new cabin add-on is front and rear cargo buttons that power up anddownthesecond-row60/40-split seats.
It’s a convenient feature and also a category first.
In terms of now-standard features that were once options, the power moonroof is most notable.
Reflecting these somewhat simple — though effective — updates is equally uncomplicated packaging. The proven 325-horsepower, 3.7-litre V-6, rated at 13.7 l/100 km in the city and 9.7 on the highway, is the only engine option. A seven-speed automatic with manual shift mode, downshift rev matching and adaptive shift control is the only available transmission. And in Canada, all 2016 QX50s are all-wheel drive.
And there are just three available trim packages outside of the wellappointed $37,900 base model: The mid-range Premium and Navigation trims start at $42,800 and $45,300, while the range-topping Technology tops out at $47,800.
As is the case with so many new vehicles these days — especially luxury models — there is no a-lacarte-style picking and choosing for options outside of what is in the three trims. In other words, if you want GPS navigation or the ability to stream audio via Bluetooth, you’ll need to select the Navigation or Technology models. You can’t simply add one or both to the base model.
Likewise, if you want Infiniti’s suite of advanced safety systems — things like lane-departure warning, intelligent brake assist and forward collision warning — the Technology trim is required. Frustrating as it might be, the automaker says it packages options this way to decrease the wait time for your vehicle, which could take months for delivery if it’s custom ordered.
Despite not being one of the brandnew objects in the 2016 Infiniti stable, the QX50 is of huge importance to the automaker. Consider that when the preceding EX debuted in 2007 as a 2008 model, just seven per cent of overall luxury vehicle sales came from the CUV category. Today that number is 26 per cent and climbing.
Our drive took us east from the Southern California coast into the desert foothills, an ideal place to stretch the QX50’s muscular legs. Infiniti’s claim of the QX50 being a “crossover with the soul of a coupe” does smack of marketing hyperbole, but after tackling the twisting, undulating and well-paved roads in this area, it’s true.
It isn’t often that you really get a sense a power plant is ideally suited to a chassis, but this 3.7-litre is perfect for the QX50. Power was always right there when required and the smooth but confident delivery worked seamlessly with the suspension to work out the kinks on the road.
Likewise, the sophisticated gearbox took most of the guesswork out of trying to do it yourself. That said, my driving partner did find himself reaching out for phantom paddle shifters on a couple of occasions.
It will be a shame if the MercedesBenz 2.0-litre turbo-four Infiniti is beginning to use appears in the QX50s of the future. The 325-horsepower 3.7-litre is the perfect engine for this platform.