[Infiniti QX80 News]

Tim Plouff, a columnist at The Ellsworth American has taken the 2016 QX 80 on a road trip and he’s found it more than adequate for four adults.

Spacious and luxurious, the QX80 comes with second row buckets seats that are just as comfortable as those in the front and they even come with rear heaters, climate controls, and a dual-screen entertainment system. The two back seat riders won’t be lacking in comfort at any point in time on their 700 mile road trip.

On their trip towards southern Massachusetts, they did a combination of highway and city driving and QX80 handled both beautifully. Fuel economy was as projected, city driving saw a return of 15 mpg and the rating went up to 19.9 mpg on the highway at the steady speed of 75 mph. It is recommended to fill up the tank with premium fuel if you want the 400 hp 5.6-liter V-8 engine to perform to its fullest.

The drive was smooth, quiet and thanks to its automatic load-leveling and Body Sway control the full size SUV that weighs almost 3 tons was able to nimbly move through traffic. His one gripe with its drive performance was the steering response which was not fast but the brakes did work very well.

As for cargo, once the third row seats were folded down there was enough space for all of their luggage and whatever they planned to purchase along the way. It just so happens to be a trip to Ikea just north of Brockton off Route 24 that put the cargo space to the test. After four hours, the four left with full shopping carts and they managed to fit everything into the QX80’s 49.6 cubic feet trunk (with the 3rd row down). They could have purchased more if a trailer was hooked onto the QX80 since it is able to pull 8,500 pounds.

Making their lives easier on this road trip was the 360-degree camera system which helped them squeeze into a tight spot between two luxury sedans in a restaurant’s parking lot. Unfortunately, he discovered a flaw with the lane-departure warning system as it kept beeping on narrow two-lanes until the feature was manually deactivated.

Other than that, the Infiniti proved to be a road trip worthy SUV.

 

[Luxurious]

Just looking at the abuse people put it through across the world in various situations and the trustworthiness they have in it, it goes to show how much of a well rounded product it is. It's usually this or the Toyota Land Cruiser that's used.