News & Reviews- Make: Infiniti

Selling cars has become a tough business, with some manufacturers paring back their compact and mid-size four-door offerings in order to provide yet more crossover SUVs to a seemingly unquenchable utility market, but there's no such confusion at Infiniti. Certainly it does very well in the premium SUV sector, its QX60 accounting for more than a third of the brand's Canadian business so far this year, but it's Q50 sedan is second most popular in Canada and Infiniti's number one seller south of the border, so it's not about to abandon the car market.

In fact, an all-new Q60 sports coupe will soon be upon us, while a convertible version of the same model will no doubt show up at a major auto show this fall. The Q70 is not only bigger than the Q50 and Q60, but Infiniti's largest car and therefore its flagship sedan, although to be clear it doesn't compete directly with full-size models from its main competitors. Like a number of other premium brands, Infiniti no longer offers an Read Full Story

Talk about imposing. The QX80 makes a statement unlike any other SUV, or really any other vehicle on the road. It's big, massive actually. But its rounded curves make it seem smaller than it actually is.

To put it in perspective, at 5,305 millimeters (208.8 inches) the QX80 is significantly longer than any other regular wheelbase luxury SUV on the market, only coming up short when compared to the long-wheelbase Cadillac Escalade ESV and Lincoln Navigator L models. Ditto for its 3,075-mm (121.0-inch) wheelbase, although you'll need to add Land Rover's Range Rover LWB to that list. As for width, its 2,031 mm (79.9 inches) straddles the middle ground, although at 1,925 mm (75.8 inches) high it's one of the tallest in its big rig category. It's no lightweight either, the big Infiniti weighing in at 2,671 kilos (5,888 lbs), which means it's only lighter than the Lexus and two long-wheelbase domestics.

Fortunately it's also endowed with a very potent 5.6-litre V8 capable Read Full Story

Like what you see? It's the "new" QX50, which while implied as being new in the model's latest ad campaign, is merely a very mild mid-cycle refresh behind its restyled front and rear clips, which also involved the North American adoption of a stretched version previously unavailable here. While we could beat up Infiniti for a lack of investment in this model that has only had minor changes over its eight-year lifecycle, or probably more accurately take a jab at Nissan for failing to adequately invest in Infiniti on the whole since inception of the luxury brand, something I chose to do in a review of the base QX50 written previously, we'd miss the more important point that this compact luxury ute was nevertheless an excellent vehicle before this remake and is now an even better one, available for superb value compared to most competitors.

That's right, for just $37,900 plus freight and dealer fees you get a solidly built luxury crossover with numerous features that normally cost Read Full Story

This is an SUV that turns heads. Truly, even while driving through a BMW dealership for some business I needed to attend to, their own people snapped their necks around to take a closer look while one gave me the nod of approval.

I've always had a thing for the QX, even the first generation FX. I was in Phoenix, Arizona for the official launch of that wonderfully sporty ute and remember it vividly. The program was excellent, taking us high up South Mountain Park's lofty summit, which was good from a scenic perspective but daytime traffic limited many opportunities to safely test this 350Z-based model's performance credentials, so with permission from Infiniti's PR staff I woke up at sunrise on the day of my return flight and headed back up the mountain to flog it for all it was worth and get some sweet photos. It's hard to forget a memory like that, plus it left an indelible stamp on an enthusiast's heart and mind for any forthcoming version.

Over the years I've tried Read Full Story

By the way Nissan has treated its Infiniti brand over its quarter-century existence, the now Hong Kong, China-based luxury division might have a case for child abandonment. The majority of its models, which for the most part were style, performance and technology leaders when devised, have been left to languish far past their various shelf lives, the parent automaker seemingly crossing its collective fingers in hopes that premium buyers will purchase their outdated products on traditional luxury features and price. Granted, Infiniti often offers best-in-class value, but you're not going to attract the vast majority of premium buyers with bargain basement deals, this reality casting a shadow on a brand's cachet. True luxury buyers expect more than great pricing for good performance and the usual assortment of high-level features, they expect constant innovation across the board.

On this theme Infiniti should be lauded for introducing its EX35 way back in 2007 when very few premium Read Full Story