The 2027 Infiniti QX65 arrives carrying a burden: It borrows its looks from the Infiniti FX, sold from 2003 through 2013 and later as the QX70 through 2019. It looked like somebody had combined an SUV with a sports car and then refused to worry about whether the result made practical sense. It was tall, fast and strange.
The QX65 gets the strange-looking part. But underneath, it’s considerably more conventional.
What the 2027 Infiniti QX65 Is
The 2027 Infiniti QX65 uses Nissan’s midsize D platform, the same basic architecture found beneath the Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan Murano, Infiniti QX60 and a few Renaults. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, although the contrast is hard to miss. The QX65 looks like the spiritual successor to one of Infiniti’s most distinctive vehicles, but underneath lurks the hardware of a family crossover.
The old FX had the engine to match its appearance: a 390-horsepower 5.0-liter V8. The QX65 uses a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder producing 268 horsepower and 286 pound-feet of torque. A nine-speed automatic sends the power to all four wheels.
OK, The QX65 Sports Clever Technology
The QX65 employs Nissan’s Variable Compression Turbocharged Engine, which can change its compression ratio while it’s running from 8:1, when the priority is power, to 14:1, when the priority is efficiency. So literally, the engine can change its mind. The problem is that all that cleverness doesn’t amount to much.
The 2027 Infiniti QX65 is EPA-rated at 22 mpg in combined driving. A Nissan Pathfinder with its 3.5-liter V6 gets 25 mpg combined. The Infiniti also requires premium fuel, while the Pathfinder doesn’t. Meanwhile, the QX65 is slower to 60 mph than both the Pathfinder and the two-row Murano. That’s particularly interesting because the Infiniti has 28 more horsepower than the Murano. So, you pay more, buy more expensive gasoline and get less performance.
How It Drives
That wouldn’t be a big deal if the 2027 Infiniti QX65 was fun to drive. It isn’t, but it’s perfectly competent. It’s composed on the highway and handles corners without complaint. But it doesn’t feel particularly athletic. Sharp pavement makes itself known, too, and there is enough small body motion to remind you that the QX65 is not a sports car hiding inside an SUV body. It’s an SUV wearing sports-car clothes.
Meanwhile, the nine-speed automatic isn’t exactly an accomplice to speed. In normal driving, it shifts early and hustles toward the highest gear it can find, apparently convinced that every trip is an economy run. Put it in Sport mode and it holds the gears longer, as though somebody has reminded it that this is an Infiniti.
Sadly, Infiniti pipes synthesized engine sound into the cabin. This is becoming common, but it’s strange to hear a computer supplying the soundtrack rather than the engine. It’s automotive lip-syncing.
The Cabin Is the Strong Part
Inside, the QX65 makes a much better argument. The cabin is nicely finished and shares its basic design language with the larger QX60. There are 12.3-inch digital displays for the instruments and infotainment system, along with a physical control knob on the center console. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard. There are four USB-C ports and a wireless charging pad with a cooling fan, which is the sort of small, useful detail you appreciate once you have it. An optional Klipsch audio system provides as many as 20 speakers and 1,100 watts.
The front seats are excellent. They heat, cool and massage. Rear passengers get heated seats, although they also get the consequences of the sloping roofline, which reduces headroom. The quilted leather looks appropriately expensive, although it does give the cabin the faint appearance of a very comfortable handbag.
There is a noticeable vibration at idle through the driver’s seat, as well. That seems less like a deliberate luxury-car feature and more like something Infiniti would prefer you not notice.
The Upshot
The 2027 Infiniti QX65 looks like it wants to go fast and then settles into being a comfortable crossover. There is nothing wrong with that, it’s just misleading. The QX65’s biggest challenge is not that it’s a bad vehicle. It’s that less expensive Nissans are pretty good vehicles, too. The Pathfinder has more power, better fuel economy and a third row. The Murano has two rows, costs less and shares much of the QX65’s mechanical foundation.
Nevertheless, for buyers who want a comfortable, well-equipped luxury that looks distinctive, the 2027 Infiniti QX65 makes a reasonable case for itself. While the old FX might have been an automotive sneaker, the QX65 is the sneaker after it has grown up, gotten a job in managements and become a tassel loafer.
