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On the Road with the 2015 Infiniti QX60

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I've been waiting to bond with the Q60 for 6 days, 23 hours and 30 minutes.

It suddenly occurs to me it isn't going to happen.

"Get with it,"  I say to myself. "Look at that for-real wood on the dash! Smell that new-car smell. Look at how much room there is in the back seats AND the trunk. Feel that smooth-as-silk ride, those imperceptable gear changes! If someone gave you this thing as a gift, you would be stoked."

Well, they have given it to me, for a week, and I am not stoked. I'm sitting in the car looking around and asking "Why would someone choose this over Audi , BMW, Acura?" The QX60 is the Ensign Pulver of SUVS. It came and went and I hardly noticed, and neither did anyone else. Not one "Wow," "Nice wheels," or even "Aww, that's cute!" One seeks to be knocked over, and I wasn't.

What was the problem? Let's talk.

It rolls, sure. But it's neither spirited nor sluggish via a V-6, 265 horsepower engine, especially when passing. Its handling isn't sharp - it's just ok. It also suffers from ever-so-generic looks; finding it in parking lots wasn't always a quick matter. It also does not, as its brethren do, have the keyless entry mechanism whereby you approach the car and the driver's door unlocks. This complaint may sound like a large dose of brat-dom, but when rivals in the same price range offer this feature, its absence is a demerit.  If the 4 Seasons is offering a free genie in a bottle in every room and the Ritz-Carlton doesn't, well, the Ritz is going to hear "What, no genie?" pretty soon.

Then there is car's name, although this gripe isn't limited to Infiniti.  But I'm tired of cars with letters and numbers. The QX 60's base price is $43,800, $56,090 loaded. Pick a name, guys. This isn't Europe, where that trend started. You want to look in your driveway and see the "Infiniti Yeaaa I Got A New Car," not the "1234567." Imagine starting a band and calling it "FD-34" or naming your dog "ABC- 34." ("BR-549," the retro band who enjoyed brief fame in the late 90s, took their name from "Hee-Haw," so they get a pass.)

On the plus side, the QX60 has acres of interior room, and maybe you don't need such a ferocious ride when packing it with your children as you will with this ride. It's nice and quiet on the road, too, making it good for nervous passengers or those you need to impress. Its interface is mod and easy to use, although the cheap plastic center console is clunky to open and close and half the time you end up opening its top rather than what you're trying to get to in the deeper part.

A clunker the QX60 is definitely not, but "not a clunker" doesn't cut it any more than telling your wife her new dress "isn't ugly."

-Josh Max