It’s not exciting, but it accomplishes what it needs to do.
The all-new QX60 is kind of a big deal for Infiniti. If you need proof, just look at the full-court press of public relations and marketing efforts the brand has put into promoting the midsize crossover. There’s a commercial featuring sports reporter Erin Andrews, a joint venture with celebrity-attention-seeking social media platform Cameo featuring the chance to chat with notables like Gabby Douglas, a short film promoting the car starring Kate Hudson (which received not one but two teasers), a multimedia profile on four of the women who played key roles in the car’s development, even a story about Sharon Watkins, the retired U.S. service member who bought the first customer QX60. All told, the Infiniti USA press website features no fewer than 24 press releases dedicated to the new SUV. For context: the revolutionary F-150 Lightning only scores six releases about it on the Ford website.
Why is Infiniti making such a fuss over one new vehicle? Well, keep in mind that 16 of the top 25 best-selling cars in America last year were SUVs — most of them not far off the QX60’s size. Even though the new model didn’t arrive until around Thanksgiving, the QX60 was still the best-selling vehicle in the Infiniti lineup in 2021 —just as it was the best-seller in 2019 and 2018 by a large margin. Sleek ruby Q60 coupes with 400-horsepower twin-turbo engines may woo people into the brand’s dealerships, but this midsize crossover is what keeps the lights on.
The Infiniti QX60 doesn’t break much new ground
Mechanically speaking, the guts and bones of the QX60 would seem familiar to anyone pulling apart a luxury crossover 10 or 15 years ago. Beneath the hood lies a very traditional engine: a naturally-aspirated 3.5-liter V6, the same engine found in the previous QX60 (and the current Nissan Pathfinder, the QX60’s mainstream twin) and closely related to the V6s gracing Nissans and Infinitis all the way back to the mid-Aughts. It’s connected to your choice of the front wheels or all four via a nine-speed automatic.
The nine-speed is the highlight here, as much as there can be one; in replacing the much-maligned continuously-variable gearbox that Nissan depended on across its lineup for years, it does a lot to make the QX feel more mature. First gear is short enough to make the V6 feel aggressive off the line, even though its 270 lb-ft of torque don’t arrive until 4,800 rpm; more importantly, the overall refinement of the drive is greatly improved over the likes of, say, the still-CVT-afflicted QX55.
The QX60 does manage to be luxurious and stylish, however
Styling has been Infiniti’s strong suit for a while — long after the carmaker gave up on the “Japanese BMW” vibe that brought an entire generation of Gen-Xers and elder millenials to dealerships in pursuit of G35s and FX crossovers. The QX60 carries that tradition on well — especially outside, where its flowing lines give it a futuristic, almost oceanic look that does indeed manage to stand out from the crowd of generic SUVs populating America’s parking lots.
Inside, front row occupants are greeted by a high, prominent dashboard that manages to disguise its size with contrasting colors and materials. The digital instrument panel is nice, if a bit un-imaginitive — it basically just recreates Infiniti’s old analog setup — and the infotainment screen a massive improvement over the old dual-display setup that paired a modern touchscreen with an ancient map display.
The seats are comfortable — say what you will about Nissan, they can make a good front seat — and room is certainly reasonable; I was able to squeeze six adults, three of them six feet tall or more, into the car’s three-row Pathfinder twin. As with most crossovers of this size, however, that third row is meant more for occasional use than regular occupancy — both due to its level of comfort and the chunk it takes out of cargo space. The QX60 packs 14.5 cubic feet behind the third row, but it’s a tall, narrow space, which isn’t ideal for most things we lug in the back of SUVs.
…and maybe that’s enough
Here’s the thing, though: the QX60 may not need to be anything more than it is to succeed. After all, for as much as gearheads rave about steering feel and driving dynamics and futurists talk up the importance of electrification, the most popular cars in America remain conventional gas-powered machines — and mostly tall-riding two-box ones.
A very, very large percentage of American families don’t care about what powers their car, how quick it can run laps at the Nurburgring or how steep an incline it can scramble up. For them, a car is a laundry machine, a refrigerator, a kitchen range — an appliance. They want their car to be safe, to reward the gaze (and, let’s face it, inspire envy), to be comfortable — and, in many cases, come from a brand that other people will recognize as being upscale. For those folks, the QX60 will surely satisfy…even if the rest of us wind up chasing after Broncos, Teslas and Supras.
2022 Infiniti QX60 AWD
Base Price: $49,875
Powertrain: 3.5-liter V6; nine-speed automatic; all-wheel-drive
Horsepower: 295
Torque: 270 lb-ft
EPA Fuel Economy: 20 mpg city, 25 mpg highway
Seats: Five to seven
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Keyword: The 2022 Infiniti QX60 Breaks Little New Ground, But It Does the Job