redesigned qx50 is Infinity's latest entrant in a crowded class of small
luxury SUVs it brings a decent amount of quality utility and value but it has
some obvious warts along the way styling is pretty much a stone's throw
from - infinity concepts that preceded this I don't know that it really moves
the bar for infinity but it's attractive enough overall with a lot of kind of
contours that blend together to really make these openings whether they're
these vents here below the headlights or reflectors below the taillights not to
seem too busy another plus the profile preserves 8.6 inches of ground clearance
that's up about two inches versus the prior generation qx50 and pretty good
for this class really lush cabin materials here in our qx50 essential
test car that's the top trim level of be SUV you got three-dimensional stitching
in a lot of areas where your arms and your elbows land real leather or vinyl
wrappings around the dashboard in the upper doors according to infinity and it
looks very convincing to does a nice job of hiding some of the cheaper stuff down
below where you really don't care cuz it's kind of out of sight storage areas
here we wish there was a little bit more open storage there's only a small cubby
here ahead of the cupholders and that fills up pretty quickly but nice big bin
here underneath the center armrest you see there's two water bottles and even
an iPad in there now the dash board has two screens here an 8-inch upper screen
and a 7-inch lower screen should be pretty familiar if you've been in the
q50 or the q60 before they're both touchscreens you can also operate the
top one with this control knob down here near the armrests kind of only makes
sense if you've got navigation so the top screen can always show the map
unfortunately only the top trim level of three trim levels on the qx50 has
navigation it might work a little better if that was the map area for say apple
carplay or android auto but the qx50 offers neither system nor does it offer
wireless phone charging or even a tuning knob so clearly overall kind of a low
point for this interior at least there's lots of USB ports for total in our test
car including one back here for rear passengers speaking of the back seat a
pretty good room overall I'm six feet tall that's where I would sit to drive
and as you can see lots of knee room room
nice high seating position and good Headroom leftover as well one other nice
thing the back seat it doesn't just recline it actually slides forward and
backwards as well that's a fairly rare feature among smallish luxury SUVs let's
see a maximize space between passengers or cargo so under the hood is a 2-liter
turbocharged four-cylinder with a variable piston stroke that actually
changes compression ratios between power and efficiency what does that all mean
well it means decent power 268 horsepower 280 pound-feet of torque with
impressive fuel efficiency and EPA 26 miles per gallon combined with all wheel
drive pretty good for this segment unfortunately the drivetrain employs a
continuously variable automatic transmission to help get there now the
CVT does simulate up shifts and down shifts like a conventional steped
automatic transmission might do once you get going and there's a sport mode that
helps with that but especially starting out you always get that kind of telltale
nonlinear and a rubber band sensation even in sport mode where you don't feel
like your right foot it's really in step with engine revs just really not a very
natural feeling their overall power just kind of comes in fits and starts to
whether it's accelerator tuning or the transmission they're just some
old-school turbo lag the qx50 starts out sleepy and then suddenly Wallops you
with power again just really not the most natural experience in our test car
has infinities direct adaptive steering system essentially a steer-by-wire
system it makes for very very easy driving at low speeds and parking
maneuvers where there's just tons and tons of power assist but it does feel
kind of Numb on twisty mountain roads now chances are you're going to spend a
lot more time not on those mountain roads but sitting in traffic on the
highway where a direct adaptive steering is a prerequisite for the QX 50s also
optional Pro pilot assist system now pro pilot assist essentially mixes adaptive
cruise control with a lane centering steering system not a hands-free
steering system but Lane centering where you just have to keep a few fingers on
the wheel and it really centers you in your lane all the way down to a stop by
reading lane markings same thing with adaptive cruise control that works down
to a stop - we've tested it it's one of the more natural systems out there as
he's sort of my autonomous systems go it could
negotiate mild curves it responds pretty well when a car kind of merges ahead of
you a pretty natural overall definitely worth getting though it is only an
option when you get to the highest trim level on the qx50 so a mix of
interesting technology and functionality in the qx50 but with a crowded class of
rivals some of them really good it's hard to get too excited about infinities
latest SUV it cleans up nice and its top trim levels but there's a lot that holds
it back especially if your budget doesn't accommodate one with all these
bells and whistles you can find out in person when it goes on sale in a few
weeks but make sure you drive the competition too
you