2025 Infiniti QX80 SUVOTY Review: Is Better Than Ever Good Enough?
On paper, the new QX80 has everything a big luxury SUV needs. What’s still missing?
Pros
- Upscale, feature-rich interior
- Hands-free driving tech available
- Easy third-row access
Cons
- Drives as big as it is
- Attention-to-detail oversights
- Still too similar to the Nissan Armada
Full-size luxury three-row SUVs aren’t only about comfort and versatility. For these boxy brutes, projecting status and prestige is equally as important. In this segment, the Infiniti QX80 has stumbled as its competitors have swaggered upward; swaths of leather and shiny metal accents have never sufficiently differentiated it from the more pedestrian Nissan Armada sharing its fundamentals. Infiniti desperately needed to change the narrative with its new 2025 QX80, and in many ways it has, as it’s clearly the best version yet of the big SUV. But unfortunately, as we found out, some things never change.
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What was evident from the outset is that Infiniti didn’t hold back with the new QX80’s redesign. “It’s quite a significant upgrade over the outgoing model, and within its segment it gives a good impression,” Mexico editor Miguel Cortina said. “There’s a lot of advancement in design, as the exterior gets a standout makeover, and the interior gains high-quality touches.”
Indeed, the QX80’s exterior and interior design allures at first glance. But look closer, and unbecoming vagaries become apparent. Digital director Erik Johnson found “too many minor attention-to-detail-style problems for something that costs $113,000” in the range-topping QX80 Autograph we assessed. “Leather on the steering wheel is wrinkled. Aluminum inlays in the wood are inlaid at different depths. Fit and finish behind the steering wheel, where wood meets plastic and piano black, is pretty appalling.”
Tech in the QX80 abounds and helps make up for the quality demerits. Dual 14.0-inch displays stretch across the dashboard, with a touchscreen for climate and vehicle controls farther down. Second-row passengers also get a touchscreen of their own between the Autograph’s heated, ventilated, and massaging captain’s chairs. An audio upgrade distributes 24 speakers through the cabin, including in the headrests. All lovely stuff but not quite innovative. “The big screens look nice,” technical director Frank Markus said, “if a bit derivative of nearly everybody else at the moment.”
A key change to the QX80 is its new powertrain: a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 connected to a nine-speed automatic transmission. Compared to the old V-8 and seven-speed, the smaller engine makes 50 hp and 103 lb-ft more—yet, awkwardly, its 0–60 time is half a second slower than before. Even though the transmission (Markus called it “a true slushbox”) gains ratios, city fuel economy improves 2–3 mpg, highway economy is unchanged, and combined is up 2 mpg for both RWD and AWD models.
From behind the wheel, there’s no escaping the QX80’s size. That’s appreciable on the open road, where the QX80 makes for a nice land yacht thanks both to an optional air suspension that soaks up chatter and to the confident hands-free cruising its ProPilot Assist tech provides. It feels less in its element around town, however, where abrupt impacts are unduly jarring and driver inputs are met with apathetic responses. Drivers eyeing it for outright capacity should ensure the easy-access third row is spacious enough for the whole crew.
In the wake of their evaluations, the QX80 could only muster faint praise from our judges. “It’s not great in any way but more befitting the class now,” buyers guide director Zach Gale said. And the hope from features editor Scott Evans that it wouldn’t be another “tarted-up Nissan truck” were dashed mere days after our assessments when Nissan revealed the 2025 Armada, which shares an engine, bodywork, three-row capacity, air suspension, tech, and more with the QX80—almost certainly for a lower price.
Ultimately, despite the improvements, when considered against its rivals or corporate counterpart, the 2025 QX80 was unable to rise above its competitive set sufficiently to be a finalist in our competition.
This review was conducted as part of our 2025 SUV of the Year (SUVOTY) testing, where each vehicle is evaluated on our six key criteria: efficiency, design, safety, engineering excellence, value, and performance of intended function. Eligible vehicles must be all-new or significantly revised.
Alex's earliest memory is of a teal 1993 Ford Aspire, the car that sparked his automotive obsession. He's never driven that tiny hatchback—at six feet, 10 inches tall, he likely wouldn't fit—but has assessed hundreds of other vehicles, sharing his insights on MotorTrend as a writer and video host.
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