Infinity/Provided photo
I think the premium SUV I’ve driven the most in the last few years was the huge three-row Infiniti QX80, which is based on the equally huge Nissan Armada. Despite its luster and heavy metal presence, the QX80 has remained largely unchanged over the years.
So the arrival of the truly all-new 2025 QX80, which is actually bigger, faster, and more expensive, is a family-friendly ultra-mega SUV that isn’t a BMW X7 or Mercedes GLS or one of several. It will probably be a blessing to those looking for it. Escalade or Yukon Denali variants.
All the hype about the QX80 turned out to be completely true, but when the flu hit me hard, I had to limit my driving to a few days on vacation on Front Range roads free of snowstorms. It didn’t happen. The results of my time have confirmed that the physical, stylistic, and technical changes have helped create a more competitive three-row monster.
The monster may be right. The QX80 has a new dark, striking grille, blacked-out windows and pillars (giving it a floating roof effect, reminiscent of a Range Rover twice its size), and new lighting settings (daytimer, rear brake lamp, knee-level LED) etc. All the self-popping door handles give a very creepy look.
The standard model currently costs close to $86,000, but I got the Autograph Edition, which has all the options and comes with a whopping $115,000 of equipment.
To justify its pricing, it’s not that the previous QX80 was any less small or underpowered, it actually increased ratios everywhere. The vehicle has an overall length of 211 inches, a wheelbase of 121 inches, a width of over 83 inches, and a height of almost 80 inches, with air suspension and huge 22-inch wheels for even more lift, up to these wheels. You can have almost a foot of articulation space on top, or you can crouch the entire vehicle to the ground to make it easier to load passengers.
The second- or third-row seats have also been reconfigured to provide a little more cargo space by folding them electrically flat. They added a weird shelving system to maximize the utility behind the third row, but don’t leave bags of groceries up there unless you have to.
The QX80 is a turbocharged beast with 450 horsepower from its twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 engine. That’s 50 horsepower more than the old (very old) V8 engine, and 516 pound-feet of torque, which is a huge increase over the previous engine.
You can certainly fly with this machine, and despite the mass, physics, 22-inch tires, etc., it handles suspiciously competently. The added boost also means the QX80 can tow trailers up to 8,500 pounds. And amazingly, its fuel economy is better than the 2024 model, with a highway rating of 19 mpg.
The Autograph edition also highlights a range of technology treatments that will arrive in slightly diluted form on the new Nissan Murano and the latest Armada, both of which we’ll cover later in January.
The showcase here includes the auto industry’s first Klipsch audio system, a 24-speaker, 1,200-watt setup with metal speakers in the headrests. Listening to Metallica’s “And Justice for All” gave me ringing in my ears for a week. Mission accomplished.
A block away from the front row of seats, the instrument panel and center touchscreen are twin 14.3-inch displays with built-in Google or a slightly smaller broadcast of Apple CarPlay Maps.
This screen also does double duty as it provides six parking and maneuvering views, including a see-through display under the hood. It also provides both recordable interior and exterior dash cam views. Seeing yourself from an introverted perspective is certainly very strange.
Infiniti has added yet another small touchscreen underneath to control temperature and adjust ride height and driving modes, and yet another touchscreen in the second row to control passenger seats. , we have chosen to offer massage and sunshade control. Oh, there’s also a cooler box in the center console.
There’s also apparently a new infrared-based system that measures the body temperature of rear-seat passengers and can extremely cool or warm guests far away, as if they were in a different time zone. The second-row captain’s chairs flip forward electrically to provide access to a small but reasonably spacious third-row bench.
Overall features include super-perforated semi-aniline leather and suede throughout the Autograph trim and signature metal-infused open-pore wood. Physical controls are limited, with the audio knob reaching far and the transmit controls being an overwhelming number of glossy black buttons.
The Autograph also features a significantly updated ProPILOT Assist 2.1 system, which competes with Ford’s BlueCruise and GM’s Super Cruise systems for near-legal hands-free driving. I’m a car driver in Colorado and the weather is still too scary to use them for more than a few minutes, but the Infiniti car maintains a good following distance and takes curves except when it doesn’t. There is sufficient ability to. In my opinion, there are a lot of vehicles here that should be left alone.
Andy Stonehouse’s column “Mountain Wheel” appears in Saturday’s Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive reporting since 2004. I live in Golden. Please contact us at summitmountainwheels@gmail.com.
