{"id":73616,"date":"2024-06-24T09:03:36","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T13:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=73616"},"modified":"2024-06-24T09:03:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T13:03:36","slug":"2025-infiniti-qx80-first-drive-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=73616","title":{"rendered":"2025 Infiniti QX80 First Drive Review: So close to being great – Autoblog"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAPA, Calif. \u2013 Confession time. I kind of forgot that the Infiniti QX80<\/a> exists. Sure, it\u2019s gotten a refresh or two in the past few years, but it’s essentially been the same big ol\u2019 three-row SUV since 2010. I\u2019m pretty sure I used to call it Fudgie the Whale. Or maybe it was Pudgie the Whale. Like I said, it\u2019s been a minute.<\/p>\n

Now I\u2019ve gotten a taste of the 2025 QX80 and hey, what do you know, there is a lot to like. The third-generation of the body-on-frame SUV goes big on tech, style and comfort, making it a respectable triple into the right-center gap. However, its ride quality keeps the QX80 from being a home run.<\/p>\n

Fudgie\u2019s V8 was nixed in favor of a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 good for 450 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. Sure, it doesn\u2019t sound quite as good as the older powerplant, but it produces more power and better fuel economy<\/a> to boot \u2013 18 mpg combined with rear-wheel drive and 17 with four-wheel drive. The old one managed only 15 mpg with four-wheel drive. With low-mpg numbers like these, that\u2019s actually a huge difference. The new turbo V6 is well-mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission, putting the power down to the rear wheels as standard in Pure and Luxe trims, or all four wheels as an option with those trims or as standard with the higher Sensory and Autograph.<\/p>\n

There are no complaints about power delivery. It has more than enough grunt for merging and the transmission downshifts readily for easy passing. There are five drive modes as well as a Personal setting, but I spend my time alternating between Standard and Sport. The latter tightens up the steering and powertrain, allowing the SUV to hustle fairly well on a twisty road without much body roll. It\u2019s no Mercedes-AMG GLS, but starting at under $85,000 including destination, it\u2019s not nearly as expensive either.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s when you\u2019re just toddling around town that the ride quality becomes a problem. All but the base Pure trim comes equipped with an \u201cElectronic Air<\/a> Suspension\u201d and \u201cDynamic Digital Suspension,\u201d the latter function monitoring the QX80\u2019s motions to electronically apply damping forces. This isn\u2019t necessarily anything new in the automotive world, but other manufacturers just do it better. Up and down motions are well-controlled, but I\u2019ve been in row boats with more side-to-side stability. My head gets tossed around like I\u2019m piloting a Jeep<\/a> on a dusty back road, and all I\u2019m doing is driving the paved streets of Napa Valley, California.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d be curious to drive the base Pure model without the Digital Dynamic Suspension to see if the standard coil-spring suspension makes any difference. Unfortunately, there weren\u2019t any available at this press event. As it stands, I wouldn\u2019t buy an SUV that makes me vaguely queasy, let alone $112,590 for the Autograph trim I drove.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame too, because there are so many other things that Infiniti<\/a> got so very right. The styling is 100% on point and I\u2019d put it up next to the Range Rover<\/a> or Cadillac Escalade<\/a> any day. Infiniti says the grille was inspired by a bamboo forest \u2013 if they say so, but the QX80 has a very handsome face. The segmented daytime running lights are up high and narrow while the headlamps are lower, forming a bit of a dimple on either side of the grille. There is even some cool negative space going on here as part of the aerodynamics, funneling air around the wheel wells.<\/p>\n

Twenty-inch wheels are the smallest you\u2019ll get, but the 22s on my tester look right at home on the QX80. Door handles are flush with the body, popping out when you approach the rig, but it\u2019s the rear end that really seals the deal here. The horizontal LED light bar spans the full 83 inches of width, and it\u2019s segmented like the running lights up front. However, the bar is narrower in the middle, giving it a cool, edgy look. Strong work, Infiniti.<\/p>\n

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The excellent design continues inside with open-pore wood trim and aluminum accents, semi-aniline quilted leather seats and plenty of soft-touch surfaces. The seats are supremely comfy with all trims getting heated in all three rows. Most trims get cooled first- and second-row seats, and there is even an available massage function in the first and second rows. It\u2019s not the most refreshing massage on the face of the planet, but massage is like pizza \u2013 even bad massage is still massage.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s plenty roomy, too. The third row is actually comfortable for full-sized adults, which hasn\u2019t been a given for full-size SUVs, and they even recline a bit. The second-row seats take a bit of time to move out of the way, but once they are moved forward, it\u2019s easy enough to get into that third row. All rows get USB-C charge ports with up to 15 watts of power for quick device charging.<\/p>\n

Dominating the dash are two 14.3-inch displays. The gauge cluster is configurable three ways, and the center display comes with Google Built-in. That means integrated Google Maps with greater functionality than the CarPlay norm, downloadable apps from Google Play, and voice control courtesy of Google Assistant. What\u2019s really cool is that navigation directions, music and phone calls can be set to play just through the driver\u2019s side headrest speaker, the most novel of 24 other speakers included with the Klipsch Reference sound system (Sensory and Autograph trims). Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard as well, but you won\u2019t get the individual audio function.<\/p>\n

Under the infotainment screen is a 9-inch touchscreen for HVAC and drive mode controls. This one uses haptic feedback to tell you you\u2019ve successfully selected a feature, but it takes quite the stab to get it done \u2013 a light tap or swipe won\u2019t do it. Just below this screen is the push-button transmission selector surrounded by a piano black surface. Be prepared for lots of fingerprints in this section of the dash.<\/p>\n

However, my favorite feature here is the Autograph\u2019s cooling center console box. It\u2019s big enough for a six-pack of soda and tall enough to accommodate larger bottles of water and whatnot. The \u201cCool Box\u201d available in the Lexus GX<\/a> is much smaller. At the onset of my ride, I immediately put two bottles of Diet Dr Pepper inside the box and they were chilled to perfection within 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

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Although I question the utility of some of the QX80\u2019s technology, I can\u2019t deny the practicality of the 170-degree front wide view camera feature. In an Infiniti-designed demonstration, the camera was able to see a child\u2019s bicycle hidden behind another SUV parked just forward and to my right. It was not visible to me in the driver\u2019s seat. The tech is even more impressive when displayed across both screens.<\/p>\n

Other cool camera tricks are an invisible hood feature that projects an image of what is under the car to the two interior screens as well as a 360-degree camera that can detect moving objects and comes with eight pre-selected viewing angles. I\u2019m also here for the rear camera mirror, which provides a wide-angle video feed of the view behind the car directly to the rear view mirror. It\u2019s particularly helpful when your rearview would otherwise be filled with the heads and luggage of passengers.<\/p>\n

The QX80 Sensory and Autograph have a built-in dashcam that can automatically record any traffic events. Drivers can also manually hit the record button in case of, say, their friend making a fool out of themselves by dancing in front of the SUV to demonstrate the feature. Not that my friends would do that. My friends are more likely to use the in-car camera to take a selfie photo or record a podcast with the video recording feature. It\u2019s certainly a neat little gizmo and you can access the camera through the Infiniti app and get an interior cabin look in real time. However, this still seems like novelty tech.<\/p>\n

The least serviceable tech feature has got to be the biometric cooling also found in the top two trims. In theory this infrared sensor detects when a second-row passenger is overheated and automatically adjusts the zoned climate control to max cooling. I mean, it\u2019s handy that the driver doesn\u2019t have to do anything but how hard is it to just set the HVAC for 65 and hit the Auto button? Not very.<\/p>\n

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As for advanced driver\u2019s aids, all the usual suspects are here, including blind-spot monitoring that works when towing<\/a> a trailer up to 33 feet in length. ProPilot Assist is here in both hands-on and hands-off guise. The more advanced ProPilot Assist 2.1 even has a two-mode lane-change feature. The driver can initiate a lane change by signaling and then let the car make the steering and throttle inputs. However, I let the car decide when to change lanes based on surrounding traffic and my set speed. As the driver, I have to accept the lane change, but the maneuver is accomplished cleanly.<\/p>\n

The QX80 can tow up to 8,500 pounds and cargo space has expanded considerably to better haul kids and their required detritus. Behind the third row is now 22 cubic-feet of space (quite a lot among full-size SUVs), expanding to 59 cubes with the third row folded flat, then to 101 with both rows folded. The air suspension can lower the QX80 nearly 3 inches for easy loading of cargo as well as passengers.<\/p>\n

In all, I\u2019m very impressed with the 2025 Infiniti QX80. Its design is stellar, the powertrain is on point, and the features and technology are all a huge improvement over the previous generation. I wish the ride quality were a bit more sorted, but that might be something the company can address in next year\u2019s model or through an over-the-air update.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAPA, Calif. \u2013 Confession time. I kind of forgot that the Infiniti QX80 exists. Sure, it\u2019s gotten a refresh or two in the past few years, but it’s essentially been the same big ol\u2019 three-row SUV since 2010. I\u2019m pretty sure I used to call it Fudgie the Whale. Or maybe it was Pudgie the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73617,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/73617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}