First drive: Infiniti QX80 offers off-road cred and luxury

Big Japanese offroader is civilised in the city and capable in the bush.

Infiniti’s rugged QX80 is struggling to make a mark in Australia despite success overseas. Picture: Supplied.

Jazzing up a Nissan Patrol to transform it into a luxury SUV hasn’t worked to date in Australia. That’s despite Infiniti’s version of the big seven-seat four-wheel-drive doing big business globally, especially in its core market of North America.

Infiniti has radically redesigned the front end of this QX80 to improve its looks but even with the appreciable improvements the updated version is still going to struggle to attract attention against the likes of the Mercedes-Benz GLS and Lexus LS.

The unchanged price of $110,900 before on-roads will help its cause and sales should improve beyond the 83 vehicles sold last year. To put that into perspective, Bentley sold 84 of its $335,000 Bentaygas in 2017.

With Nissan Patrol underpinnings, the QX80 has serious off-road cred. Picture: Supplied.

Comfort and off-road compliance is what the Infiniti does well and this upgrade has softened the suspension by 30 per cent to suit its worldwide audience. The result is a large luxury SUV that handles reasonably well on-road and respectably well off it.

Infiniti global product strategy boss Francois Bancon says the changes reflect existing owners’ desire for the car to feel more luxurious. The trouble for Infiniti is few local buyers are going to explore the extensive off-road remit this seven-seater SUV provides and will compare it against its more road-oriented opposition.

Few buyers are going to venture more off-road than a dirt track. Picture: Supplied.

Driving around urban environs or on flat highways, the QX80 rolls into corners more than its rivals and you can feel the hefty 5.6-litre V8 pushing the front end wide. Put it on back roads with cambered corners and the interlinked hydraulic suspension is much more impressive — but it will literally be a road less travelled for many owners.

Existing QX80 owners will appreciate the improvements — the exterior is a tougher, more angular and assertive look and the interior is a big step up, despite still retaining buttons that will be familiar to Patrol owners.

The Infiniti feels refined around town.

Beyond the substantial sheet-metal and soft-touch changes, Infiniti has followed its innovative approach by introducing active blind-spot and lane-departure intervention, meaning the car will brake the requisite wheels to avoid approaching vehicles and unintentional lane changes.

ON THE ROAD

Drive at a pace suited to a seven-seat SUV and the Infiniti prioritises comfort over cornering. The suspension is more adaptable than its Nissan donor vehicle but still exhibits body roll and fore-aft pitch.

The cabin is big and luxurious. Picture: Supplied.

Point it at serious off-road work and the low range-equipped QX80 is admirably adept — but owners are then going to fret about damaging the paintwork on their prestige toy.

Infiniti says buyers are 45-something males who use the 3500kg towing capacity to haul a boat from the inner suburbs to the foreshore. In that context it makes sense.