If you are going to market a car with the slogan ‘First Class. Everyday’ you have to be absolutely sure that it lives up to the boast because if it doesn’t you are setting yourself up to be shot down.
Confidence in their product is not something Infiniti lack and rightly so after becoming the fastest growing premium automotive brand in the region and they are barrelling along the road to greater success with the launch of the impressive Q50 saloon and now their luxury SUV, the QX80.
This is Infiniti’s flagship vehicle and essentially it’s a posh version of the Nissan Patrol. It has always been an extremely nice piece of kit but it somehow lacked real presence and the masculine appeal of the mega-successful Patrol. Not anymore.
The new QX80 has had a facelift and a charisma boost and is now a truly magnificent looking beast with real attitude. The main difference is the ultra-modern design of the front which has a new bigger upper mesh grille shape and an added lower grille. The visual effect is quite striking and really sets off the new LED high/low beam headlights which appear to be sitting lower than on the predecessor although this is probably an optical illusion.
There are also superb new wheels and the redesign works brilliantly, giving the QX80 a new bold and confident look in line with its fresh superior attitude.
Inside, the car really lives up to its first class billing. It is a plethora of quality leather, wood veneers, wood trimmed steering wheel with new optional colour choices.
The infotainment and driver assist technology is as good as you would expect from a premium vehicle and now includes High Beam Assist and Predictive Forward Collision Warning. High Beam Assist uses a camera to read oncoming or upcoming traffic and automatically dips high beam to low beam and restores it once the traffic has passed.
Predictive Forward Collision Warning is a system which monitors risks beyond the driver’s forward field of vision. It senses speeds and distances of not only the vehicle directly in front of you but also the one in front of that and can predict a likely crash scenario. It also has braking intervention to help avoid a crash, blind spot warning, lane departure warning and lane departure prevention to keep you from straying off line.
So, all nicely packaged and ready to hit the road or sand, or other challenging terrain because versatility is this car’s forte. I got the chance to see just how capable the QX80 was in the spectacular surroundings of Oman’s mountain roads, rock-strewn wadi’s and desert and I was not disappointed.
On the road this vehicle behaves impeccably. It is powered by a 5.6 litre V8 with 400bhp and for a heavy SUV it is impressively responsive. The power is delivered via an electronically controlled seven-speed automatic which senses your driving style and shifts the gears accordingly. It dealt with the Oman’s steep mountain roads admirably.
I’m not sure many people would take this vehicle into off-road territory but it is equipped to deal with it and I thoroughly enjoyed blasting along the desert and negotiating my way though the wadi’s. It handled everything thrown at it with perfect poise, but for me, it’s more of a high luxury family cruiser for the highway than a dune-basher.
The new QX80 is fabulous but does it deliver First Class, Everyday? Well, yes it does, although I have one tiny complaint – the front seats were not as comfortable as you might expect. My colleague, who admittedly was a tall guy, was sliding around in the front passenger seat and the adjustors didn’t help. They just need to be a tad more supportive. But overall, the QX80 is a triumph, both in appearance and performance.
Verdict
After spending a couple of days driving this luxury SUV I came away very impressed. The redesigned front gives the QX80 a more distinct, aggressive personality which it desperately needed. It’s great to drive and the new safety features are also important as this vehicle will be hugely popular with families. Another success story for Infiniti.
Rating- 9/10
