Add this to its seven passenger luxurious cabin and attractive pricing and the result is a competitive crossover with promise for growing families.
Pros: Stylish interior, heavy duty suspension, comfortable ride, lots of standard equipment
Cons: Pricey option packages, fussy adaptive cruise, no Apple Car Play or Android Auto, lacks hybrid option
The QX 60 slots just below the company's much larger QX80 and above its sibling QX30 and 50. Four trim levels are available with the QX60 - Pure with or without all-wheel-drive and Luxe, same division. In addition a new Limited package is added to the options list however the Luxe trim is required to add options.
Base prices range from near $45-65,000 which puts the Infiniti Luxe up against some high-end imports that may lead to some head-scratching for some. Still, the Infiniti undercuts others like the Mercedes-Benz GLS and Land Rover Discovery. Sheet metal is unchanged from last year.
If the Infiniti QX60 is on your short list, we'd recommend looking at the Pure trim with front or all-wheel-drive depending on your geographic location.
Our Luxe tester was spirited on the open road utilizing its D-Step logic system that imitates gear shifts through its continuously variable transmission. Manual shifting is also built-in for the competitive minded.
Four driving modes are available — Snow, Sport, Standard and Eco — switchable through a rotary dial at center console. While Standard is the default setting, Eco has a new twist that adds resistance to the pedal, nudging the driver to ease up.
Sport mode is the choice for performance and, while engaged, will move this 2.2 ton SUV to 60 miles per hour in 7.2 seconds in our independent testing. Infiniti requests premium fuel for all trim levels.
For those following Infiniti's Q branding unveiled in 2014, the QX60 was formerly known as the JX35.
Interior appointments are luxurious for the most part rivaling Lexus, however we did notice some hard plastics on door panels and dashboard that diminish an otherwise stellar interior.
Under nit-picking, we noticed the running boards(optional) seem to be at odds with ease of entry and exit causing some ankle knocking. Third row seat access is easy enough but like most SUVs, this space is best suited for small children or additional cargo space.
Infiniti has added an impressive list of standard safety features to prevent accidents or injury including forward emergency braking, blind spot monitoring and pedestrian detection. Its adaptive cruise works well although we were annoyed with its full stop feature that releases after three seconds seemingly defeating the purpose of full stop.
Overall we like the Infiniti lineup and the QX60 offers an impressive show of acceleration, refinements, precision steering and a compliant ride.
Contact independent automotive columnist Len Ingrassia at lenscarcorner@comcast.net.
Crash test ratings: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) awarded the Infiniti QX60 five out of a possible five stars for overall safety with five stars for overall side impact - side barrier and pole rating; five stars for passenger side frontal and four stars for driver side frontal and rollover protection. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) awarded the QX60 its highest rating of “Good” in moderate and small overlap frontal offset for passenger; second best "Acceptable" for driver and "Good" for side impact, roof strength protection in rollover accident