The 5.0-liter V8 pulls this car off the line using all four wheels, and first gear goes by in a wink, so have your hand ready on that right paddle shifter. It makes a helluva sound, too, like a muscle car. And those paddle shifters, they’re on the column. So if you have a preference, make sure that jibes with what you want.
I kept the suspension in sport mode my entire time with the car. It keeps tight and planted, but still soaks up most of the big bumps. The steering wheel is weighted perfectly for this car and provides a nearly direct connection to the wheels.
The interior all seems up to par. The front leather seats provide a decent amount of support, and I appreciated the under-knee adjustment to take a little pressure off the legs. The self-retracting seats are a great option as well. The Infiniti radio setup has been good for years now and this is one is no different. It’s plenty loud, too.
The only problem is that there isn’t a ton of room for heads or otherwise. After the back seat, the roof just dips to the floor, leaving only a few feet of depth. Surely you can fold down the back row, but if I’m buying an SUV, or CUV, I want room for four and some cargo.
I’m digging the sheetmetal that has been referred to by some as a bionic cheetah, but I agree with that sentiment. The slit headlights and rounded nose give it cat-like feel, and the shoulder and belt lines make it look supremely muscular.
Overall, I like this car a lot. I’m not sure about the buyers, though. I wouldn’t buy one, but just as a car enthusiast, I’m a fan.
Yet this vehicle seems better suited to straight-line speed or expressway cruising than tackling a twisty road. Part of that is its height (emphasized by a high seating position), and the 4,562-pound curb weight (a couple hundred more pounds than the ’13 FX37), I’m sure, but the addition of AWD doesn’t exactly set the car up for fluid cornering, either.
Steering feel is also very heavy and artificial — shockingly so at first, but you do get used to it after a while. At times it made it seem like I was wielding the car, not driving it, which is at odds with its sedan/sport crossover feel. I may have missed it, but I’m not sure that there was any way to tone this down (some cars, like Hyundais, at least let you tone down the dialed-in steering weight).
None of this is to detract from the clean, well-built interior or the vehicle’s distinctiveness, which has carried over despite the name change. The QX70 remains a standout, but at close to $70K, it definitely isn’t for everyone. Any benefits to the pocketbook aside, I’m curious to try the more basic versions to see if they retain the fun that I remember from the FX37.
