The company’s recent decision of changing its entire naming strategy will still take some more time to be fully understood by everyone, but QX’s case turns out to be one of the easiest to follow. What Infiniti did, basically, was to reduce the information concentrated on each name. The old strategy used one letter to identify the car’s position in the lineup (according to the alphabet), the numbers were related to each engine (like what BMW and Mercedes-Benz do, but with only two digits), and the occasional extra “X” in the middle of all that accounted for a crossover (showing to which car it was intended to relate). Today, the variable letter became a permanent “Q” and the numbers became multiples of ten and the new responsible of indicating the “lineup level”.
In other words, names like EX30, EX35 and EX37 became multiple trim levels of the very same QX50, to give an example. Given that this article’s SUV was already born with a QX, the only work here was to converge QX56 to QX80. And this is by which the luxury variation of Nissan Patrol goes now. Infiniti’s flagship vehicle appeared at this year’s New York Auto Show with an interesting facelift, whose updates seem bigger than they really are because they were concentrated on some key points. The most obvious is the front fascia, whose inspiration is claimed to be Q50’s. Both upper and lower grille were redesigned, as well as the lights. The first include sonar sensors for the electronic safety systems, and the latter now use LEDs even for the turn signals.
There are more LEDs at the tail lights, but this is the only significant change there. The sides received brand new 22” forged aluminum wheels as one of the options, and there are some new colors. Entering the roomy cabin, on the other hand, reveals new trim elements and a very interesting equipment list: there are GPS navigation, leather upholstery, premium audio system, panoramic sunroof and two optional packages: Driver Assistance and Deluxe Technology – the latter adds 15-speaker Bose surround-sound system, adaptive front lighting, the new Stratford Burl trim and climate control with Plasmacuster air purifier and grape polyphenol filter. Is it enough for you? Because if it’s not, the Infiniti salesclerk with which you’ll talk will make a huge smile.
The refreshed QX80 added a Limited trim, which defends its flagship position with dark-finish headlight lenses rear lamps and external chrome inserts, brushed-finish running boards with special lighting, standard 22” wheels and three other colors exclusive for this variation. It carries seven passengers just like the regular version, but its cabin coating features the exclusive Truffle Brown, paired to ash wood trim. Not to mention the entire optional list of the regular versions packed as standard here. The entire powertrain was carried over once again, meaning the 5.6L V8 appears once again. This engine reaches 400 hp and 413 lb-ft, is paired to a seven-speed automatic transmission and can be asked with rear-wheel-drive or an optional AWD.