NAPA, CA -- The 2022 Infiniti QX60 was designed and built around the concept of a busy working mother named Claire. She has a busy life with family, work, friends and community and spends a lot of time on the road every day. The QX60 interior is meant to create a serene environment that is packed with Infiniti IQ technology and wrapped in a sleek exterior to provide comfort and ease of driving during that busy day. This concept is encapsulated by the Infiniti hashtag: #ConquerLifeInStyle.
The first impression of the QX60 interior is one of luxury and elegance. The stylish leather seats are comfortable and supportive even through six hours of driving on country curves and city congestion. The ride is quiet and provides good insulation from the traffic and weather outside.
Despite the extensive technology included in the QX60, the designers worked to provide access to the features without overwhelming the driver or passengers, and they mostly succeeded. The experience of driving through the Napa region of California provided ample opportunity to use many of those advanced elements.
However, it took a while to figure out the controls for navigation, maps and radio. There is an abundance of buttons in multiple locations for climate control, ADAS features and adaptive cruise control, as well as seat heating, cooling and massaging. Once up to speed on the interface, though, the controls were sensibly located but still not entirely intuitive.
The head-up display at the bottom of the windshield and the intelligent voice control allows the driver to keep their eyes on the road while accessing the technology, even if they don’t remember where that darn seat massager button is located.
The QX60 provides ample room for family and friends to ride in comfort, with seating for seven in its three rows. The third row is large enough for an adult of medium height, and is reasonably easy to get in and out of.
Handling and Responsiveness
Infiniti did a good job of disguising the size and weight of the QX60 through tweaks to the steering, motor, frame and suspension. One would not guess the QX60 weighs approximately 4,400 lbs (1,996 kg) by the way it handles. The QX60 is nimble on country curves and in city streets, providing a driving experience that feels secure and stable. The acceleration, steering response, braking and cornering resemble those of a smaller SUV.
The only negative handling experience was a slight hesitation when I put the pedal to the metal at low speeds. It too a second or two for the RPMs to catch up with the aggressive acceleration I asked the QX60 to provide when driving at speeds below 30 mph (48 kph).
The engineers thought this could be a factor of the time for the 9-speed transmission to downshift and engage. However, it felt and sounded more like the motor hesitated instead of smoothly adjusting to the large increase in fuel being provided.
ADAS Features
The driver assistance features took a little getting used to, but then were easy to control and are fairly intelligent. The driver must keep at least one hand on the steering wheel or the system will disable the ADAS technology.
The lane keeping assistance system (LKAS) works well on the few straight roads in Napa Valley, but sometimes struggles on curves, which is to be expected. The LKAS automatically disengages when it is not sure of the proper path, then re-engages when the way ahead is clearly understood.
The lane departure warning is quite active, and provides a minimum of two beeps whenever the QX60 ventures too far from the center of the lane – even when the LKAS is what caused it to stray. The adaptive cruise control performs flawlessly. It allows for full stops, then resumes cruising when traffic begins to move again, with a button to set the following distance from the car in front.
The rearview display is bright and crisp, but seems relatively too small to clearly see what’s behind the vehicle despite providing a wide-angle view. A slightly larger display would be welcomed and more useful.
Side and rear sensors alert the driver to vehicles or people beside or behind them on the road and in parking lots. When backing up in parking lots, in addition to the rear-view camera, you get a fairly realistic 3D birds-eye view of your vehicle and the surroundings that is generated on the fly based on camera and sensor data. This makes it a snap to safely back out and maneuver with less worry about hitting something or someone you can’t see.
Power to Spare
Except for the slight hesitation mentioned above when attempting rapid acceleration at low speeds, the QX60's 3.5L V-6 provides 295 hp and 270 lb-ft (366 Nm) of torque at 4,800 rpm. This power meets the road with 20-in. wheels sporting wide 255/50R20 all-season tires to provide excellent traction and stability for the QX60 Sensory and Autograph models. The less expensive Pure and Luxe models have 18-in. wheels with 255/60R18 tires.
Despite a curb weight of about 4,470 lbs. (2,028 kg), the QX60 has plenty of power for hills and highways and for towing heavy loads up to 6,000 lbs. (2,722 kg). The V-6 delivers an average combined fuel efficiency of 23 mpg (10.2 L/100 km) for the FWD and 22 mpg (10.7 L/100 km) for the AWD version.
Impressions
The overall impression is of a well-designed and built luxury SUV packed with advanced technology that provides a comfortable ride in style. QX60 is fun to drive, accelerates and brakes smoothly, remains flat on the curves, and provides an oasis from the traffic outside.
The QX60 is a solid choice for busy families with a budget that can afford prices that range from $46,850 for the FWD PURE model to $63,250 for the fully loaded AWD AUTOGRAPH edition.
Premium options include a performance audio package ($900), vision package ($1,500), tow package ($900) and premium paint ($695) and, if that’s not enough, there is a super premium paint package ($900).
The rich unique interior color options are a perfect complement to the exterior colors which are subtly beautiful. My favorite QX60 paint color is Warm Titanium which is a soft silver with a very slight touch of gold.
View more photos in the 2022 Infiniti QX60 gallery.
