QX-60 Unique

QX 60 Infinity – A family wagon that feels cavernous inside in van-like proportions; and handles like a car.

     What’s to like about this vehicle? 

     With lots of family utility vehicles marketed, it is questionable why we make another competitor to elicit portions of our car market from the former – Big Three – auto makers.  But Infinity technology speaks for itself.  Makers of sleek luxury performance vehicles, they left no rough edges on its only CVT, UTV vehicle marketed for highway driving.  That means spontaneous speed; a constant thrust to upper speed limits.  It delivers performance with smooth acceleration and about a one second speed difference, behind Infinity sedans – sixty in about seven seconds – sixteen second quarter miles.  Nothing spectacular when compared with many of today’s cars; except for quicker, quitter, smoother acceleration; because of the constant CVT single speed transmission.       Handling is, ho-hum uneventful.  Steering is spontaneously supple with input.  Light and agile, the ride seems effortless.  The sport-tuned suspension connects the road while ironing out bumps; and the quiet interior environment, comforts as many as eight passengers.

     Except for exceptional quiet ride and spontaneous handling, it feels like any other car, but with a lot more accessories than most.  A superb navigation unit instructs and communicates.  In fact, almost all functions except actual driving can be done with voice control.  The fully automatic does everything from adjust temperature and seat settings upon entrance, to taking pictures and noticing lane changes.  It uses both sonar and radar to detect vehicle movements both front and rear. 

    Parking is easy.  The camera assists, showing all angles, and advising which way to turn the leather wrapped steering wheel. 

     Leather covers much of the interior.  A stitched dash board blends with seats and other refinements like ceiling and arm rests.  It is pleasing to smell and exceedingly comfortable. 

     Pleasant looks draw passengers and viewers alike; but, the real car purpose is purely performance.  An aerodynamic design adds speed; and with better gas mileage than most vans, SUV’s, and even many cars.  Performance depends on driver and mood.  Press a start button.  There are no car keys.  An inconspicuous fop can be anywhere inside the vehicle; that includes a jacket or shirt pocket.  In fact, everything including steering, gas pedal and transmission shift happens by remote control; so handle them lightly.  The shift is a modular unit that costs one-thousand dollars or so, if you ever need to replace it, should it break or malfunction.  It’s hard to imagine that you’re driving a vehicle that is almost completely void of any mechanical input from the driver, other than thousands of electric pulses, sensed by driver impulse, and sent to each wheel.   

     The floor console shifter consist of reverse, neutral and drive, with a type of manual mode that imitates shifting.  These controls and others including radio, are also set into the steering wheel; small buttons with hieroglyphic impressions, and easily understood.  But there is too much to gloat about or describe in a few sentences.  In short, QX has everything contained in any other car, and more than most; like having an office inside your car.   It can be with an optional computer and built in internet reception.

     Reclining seats, both front and rear offer rest and even a short nap to some between commutes.   If you are used to hemi growls, and sharp thrusting, this vehicle falls short of expectations; until you factor in facts.  Pound for pound, QX 60 out performs most power vehicles – remember, this is a station wagon that resembles other UTV’s in looks.   The boxy front end, traditional on most is sculpted and curvaceous, designed to be aerodynamic.  It gets between 22 and 26 miles per gallon – I averaged about twenty six, in normal mode, driving normal.  But the price will floor you – base price around 45G; the top edition gets closer to sixty thousand, with tax included, and that includes the navigation and lane change controls.  In fact, there is so much built into this vehicle, I’d recommend sitting and reading the manual; which I did not.  If you’re a normal driver just interested in safe arrival to a destination, it delivers you albeit in style, without being pretentious.  Set the seats for comfort and they return to that position, next time you start the car.  It is a good ride for a family of two to four children.

     But the difference between QX60 and its competitors, is simply speed and agility.  The five-thousand- plus pound vehicle will out maneuver most comparably priced cars; even keeping up with and passing some faster .  In addition to an automatic shifter, it has a dial in mode for snow driving, economy, normal and sport style.  The ergo mode sounds weaker, like a lesser four cylinder, but performance is marginally better.  Sport mode emits tunes – little growls – that increase in volume with speed and RPM’s.  It feels a bit quicker initially, as if there is more thrust.  But, if you like the quiet car effect, stick with Normal, as I did.  Normal is impressive.  Other similar looking vehicles look limp in comparison, weaving through highway traffic.  There you control everything.  Most vehicles are governed to speeds anywhere from eighty miles per hour, to around the 110 speedometer mark.  Hit that speed and the vehicle does weird things, pitching violently, and coughing and sputtering while speed takes a nose dive, and you look foolish with everybody passing you, the show-off want-to-be.  Not so with QX60.  In eighty mile per hour traffic, just floor the gas pedal and it instantly accelerates past everybody, with a speedometer that can read 160mph; forget the governor, most people will never get to find it.  They will pass lots of cars while trying.

     A sad point limiting normal SUV performance in twisting turns, is their top heavy stature.  Infinity is lighter on top and more weight gets distributed closer to ground, with a wider wheel width than many, giving greater agility around corners; and adding to ho-hum uneventful deception that one can get even more courageous in twisties, all-wheel-drive wheels adjusting and individually breaking upon sensing slipping.   Too close to a forward vehicle earns the same respect, almost to a complete stop.  That sounds scary.  Imagine riding on the trunk of a fast car you wish passing when the sonar kicks in and the car automatically applies your brakes.  Now somebody is on your tail.  But it doesn’t act that way.  You don’t need to crowd those you plan passing.  That’s the beauty of Infinity.  Stay back and enjoy the ride.  Follow the road or track rules and be forgiving.  There is plenty of time to be impressed.  The throttle is always ready to please any driver with instant inputting rewards.  Cars disappear rearward.  Even slower vehicles tend to move over as you approach; maybe because it has a subtle police car look about it; I’m not sure why, they just do.  When you do accelerate, that speedometer heads beyond triple digits in seconds, and hopefully there are no police to witness the performance; probably a good reason to use your own radar and detect them first. 

     Tires mean everything in performance.  Best tires are not uniform for each vehicle.  Gas mileage and tire miles can hinge on the design function.  Tires are rated as on and off road.  Those tires are designed and rated for speed and handling capabilities; the best off-road tires perform poorest on highways, they weren’t made for it.  Put an off-road tire on a vehicle with that intention and it will amaze you; climbing over rocks and tree stumps, and plowing through mud and water.  Infinity works best in highway and some city driving.  Michelin all-weather tires work much better on that car.  It was made for the road.

     Cavernous was my best word for the inside, until viewed from rear-view mirror.  For as spacious as it feels, you can sit upright and front and side vision is great, rear vision is tunnel vision.  It gets narrower, the further back you go.  Four doors make easy access for four or five passengers.  You need to bend for the rear seat.   Although adults can comfortably use the third row, it might not be for an extended time period.  Personally, I’d fold that seat and forget about it; stowage my main concern.  There’s plenty of it; not quite as much as a pickup truck, but enough to haul family and cargo, and power to tow one and a half tons behind you; more than most trucks might haul.  That and the standard sunroof could eliminate need for a truck costing half as much, with roll down windows and canvas seats.  It’s the lifetime question, do you want the truck or a lifetime opportunity to abandon crass country for sophistication?  Make that decision, and the truck is historical until first payment comes on a new vehicle.  Then you might ask if it were worth it.  That’s a tough decision to choose between, two good products; each with similar purpose perhaps, but not quite the same.   Pricewise, if it amounts to about the same, the family crossbreed might make sense.  Loners or empty nesters could opt for the pickup bed; something strictly used for hauling but nothing else.  Gas mileage could range from 12 to 20mpg with regular formula; while the wagon would get almost ten miles per gallon more with normal driving.  Premium fuel carries a steeper price.  Is it really worth spending twice as much on a vehicle that uses more expensive gasoline?  That cuts into the gas guzzling pickup theory.  A unit costing half as much, getting eighteen miles per gallon, using regular gas, becomes cheaper to operate than the upscale UTV.  Is speed and performance really a factor for factory commuting?  Common sense says that’s a myth.  Following rules of the road, observing speed limits, being courteous takes time; maybe a few seconds or minutes, but never hours.  Think about it.  Assuming everybody gets to work on time, perhaps it makes little difference what you drive there.  Some people want more than that.  They can spend extra money for refinements and performance, and might refrain from hauling their own trash; but need something roomier than a car, and QX60 becomes practical.  Lots of cars have similar characteristics mimicking more luxurious makes.  For half the price and manual functions, you get canvas seats and cheaper carpet.  For a couple thousand dollars, they’ll undercoat and weatherproof it.  Keep oiling it every couple thousand miles and keep it clean.  It will last a lifetime.  That’s the car you want.  Backup cameras and other fashionable implements can be applied later.  But, if you enjoy wearing a suit on occasion, traveling and meeting people, that Infinity might be an ice breaker.