Infiniti QX65 SUVOTY Review: Great Design, Disappointing Powertrain
The QX65’s gorgeous interior and standout features can’t overcome the powertrain holding it back.
Pros
- Premium interior trim
- Roomy rear seat and cargo hold
- Awesome phone charging
Cons
- Segment-inappropriate powertrain
- Middling dynamics
- Subpar tech stack
Can someone please promise us this 2027 Infiniti QX65 will be the very last new product ever introduced with the 2.0-liter VC-Turbo engine? Pretty please with sugar on top? We feel like the narrator in the Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham. We do not like it in a simple Nissan. We do not like it in a fancy Infiniti. We do not like it with a CVT. We do not like it with a nine-speed. We do not like it here or there. We do not like it anywhere. If Nissan Corp. has any serious ambitions for the future of its premium brand, this powertrain must be expelled. Stat.
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The idea was so cool. Vary the compression ratio to optimize efficiency when cruising and maximize power when accelerating. But to date no engine control system has been able to manage these transitions in a timely fashion, with the end result being laggy, grossly non-linear acceleration made worse by its sluggish and indecisive transmission. Insult to injury: The QX65’s fuel economy is only midpack among the SUV coupe class—bad news for both our engineering excellence and efficiency criteria.
Even when accelerating gently, this powertrain manages to transmit excessive vibration to make the rearview mirror and the accelerator pedal tremble. The sound quality is similarly unrefined and utterly unbefitting for a luxury vehicle. One judge likened it to “an old buzz saw at full chat.”
It’s an especially unfortunate pairing with our top Autograph model’s beautifully appointed interior. Our judges appreciated the fancy diamond quilting, contrast stitching and welting, deep-grain wood, and other trim choices inside the cabin, both in front and in the roomy, reclining back seat.
Perhaps the kindest thing we can say about the chassis tuning is that it’s well matched to the powertrain. Sadly, it fails to deliver on the “bargain BMW X6,” German SUV coupe, “spiritual successor to the FX50” promise that its hornet-tailed bodywork attempts to make. Judges noted excessive body roll and smoking brake fade after modest runs, quipping, “Handling is accomplished only under duress.”
Out on the highway, the QX65’s ProPilot Assist 2.1 system offers hands-free operation on certain HD-mapped divided highways. It even includes lane change assist, though you must put a hand on the wheel, which is neither steering nor resisting steering during the maneuver. It trails the leaders in this area.
A QX65 feature that is world class is the cooled magnetic, high-powered inductive phone charger, which manages to hold a phone securely, charge it meaningfully, and keep it from overheating. More like this everywhere, please.
Its new Klipsch sound system was largely well received, especially its ability to isolate an incoming phone call to the driver’s headrest speakers. The idea is to be able to continue playing music for the rest of the occupants, though we found the calls hard to hear, suggesting the rest of the cabin needed the volume dropped a bit.
On the performance of intended function front, customers planning to venture off pavement will find an all-wheel-drive system and off-road mode capable of handling sandy trails and slick hills (simulated by rollers) about as well as or better than some other luxury contenders.
But at the end of three days of repeatable, scientific proving ground evaluations, most judges felt the QX65 fell short of its competitive set—the Audi Q8, BMW X6, Genesis GV80 Coupe, and Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class coupe—in many areas, despite undercutting most in terms of base price (which starts at $55,565).
