2027 Infiniti QX65 First Drive: It Wants to Be Sporty

And yet this two-row midsize SUV is happiest doing other things.

Revisiting a greatest hit is a good way to win back fans, and Infiniti is doing just that with the all-new 2027 Infiniti QX65. Channeling the gone but not forgotten FX, the QX65 presents sportier than the rest of the brand’s lineup. With big wheels and a tapered roofline, the new SUV doesn't get a euphoniously talented V-6 or V-8 but instead makes do with a less thirsty four-banger.

Does Infiniti’s newest SUV cash the check its athletic looks write?

The “Sporty” Accoutrement

To really sell the effect, engineers gave the QX65 a bunch of sporty characteristics. The transmission has been tuned for faster upshifts and to downshift sooner, especially after braking. They sharpened up the pedal response to make acceleration feel more immediate.

And there’s added sound enhancement: The SUV uses its front and rear speakers to pipe in “immersive sound” when driving. It’s loudest and most noticeable when the car is in Active driving mode and was developed using V-6 engine harmonics. This cannot be switched off.

Pleasant Cruiser, It's Not an FX

For the drive, Infiniti put us in a QX65 Autograph, the highest grade available. Apple CarPlay wouldn’t connect without a cable on the first try, but Android Auto connected wirelessly right away after we turned the car off and turned it back on.

At 4,700 pounds, the QX65 is a lot of vehicle to haul around. Remember, it’s essentially the three-row QX60 that’s lost its third row. The unchanged 268-hp 2.0-liter turbo-four performed as we expected: less-than-responsive acceleration that takes a beat to get up to highway speeds. Once there, though, the QX65 is a quiet and pleasant cruiser, its comfortable seats inviting you to settle in.

Our favorite feature, found in this and other Autograph-grade models, is the premium audio headrest speakers. This routes in-car navigation and call audio straight to the driver’s headrest speaker so the rest of the passengers are left undisturbed.

Around town, the QX65 operates like basically any midsize SUV, which is to say rather softly. The brakes grab in an effective but muted sort of way, and the steering is numb, rather slow, and predictably accurate. The standout feature is a surprisingly tight turning radius—good for small parking lots and cramped driveways.

Against the more family-oriented QX60, we get why Infiniti is pushing the QX65’s sportiness angle. But those efforts fall short as soon as you poke the QX65 to do something truly athletic. An FX for the modern age, with carlike driving dynamics, this is not.

There’s body roll in the corners, the eager throttle response makes the big and heavy body tippy when taking off from a stop. Floor it in Sport mode, and you get loopy-sounding rising and falling revs made all the more obvious by the sound “enhancement.” Keep the SUV at a constant speed while in Sport mode, and the transmission holds gears for way longer than it should, the artificial aural drone in the cabin akin to a CVT’s behavior. Perhaps the closest thing to behavior you might expect from a sportier model is the slight but persistent graininess felt through the floor, perhaps due to the Autograph’s bigger 21-inch wheels.

The QX65 might be taken more seriously as a sporty SUV if it had a little extra power, but that would diminish the 20/26/22 mpg city/highway/combined fuel economy.

By far, the QX65’s best asset is its reasonably capacious interior volume. That’s because, again, it is a three-row SUV that has had its third row removed to increase rear passenger and trunk space. The midsize SUV sports 35.8 cubic feet behind its second row, plus an additional 1.9 cubic feet of underfloor storage. That puts it ahead of the Lincoln Nautilus’ 36.4 cubic feet of trunk space but behind the four-cylinder Genesis GV80’s 38.7.

Priced Competitively?

Infiniti envisions QX65 buyers to come from either a pre- or post-family household and to be people who prefer a two-row layout. Competitors among midsize AWD luxury SUVs include the aforementioned GV80 and Nautilus, as well as the Lexus RX and Cadillac XT5. Prices of the three available QX65 grades begin at $55,535 for the Luxe, $57,235 for the Sport, and $64,135 for the Autograph.

The Autograph test car we drove came to a total MSRP of $71,355. Options included the $3,700 Technology package (including ProPilot Assist 2.1), $450 cargo scuff plates, and $1,900 for the gold-flecked Sunfire Red premium paint. Yes, that price will get you into the excellent BMW X5 xDrive40i. Would you choose the Infiniti over the BMW?

However, Infiniti said the midgrade Sport trim will account for half of all QX65 sales, and its price makes this model much more appealing. We didn’t get a chance to experience the Sport during this first drive event, though in the past, we’ve enjoyed the QX80 Sport over the QX80 Autograph. Perhaps that’ll be the case here, too. At the very least, the Sport rides on 20-inch wheels instead of the 21s, which should help settle the ride.

We figure the QX65’s biggest rival will be the Genesis GV80. Stickers for those are somewhat higher than the Infiniti, but you get the option of the V-6, as well as MotorTrend-approved cabin materials. Conversely, some of the high-touch plastics in the QX65, such as the window controls, felt flimsy considering how the SUV is priced.

It’s immediately clear the QX65 prefers cruising over cantering. On a nice highway, it rides quietly. It’s agreeable around town. The big screen is clear and easy to use. The climate controls are located conveniently on a separate panel. There are good creature comforts inside.

Just don’t expect a true FX successor, and you might end up satisfied.