2027 Infiniti QX65 First Drive Review: Showing Up Isn’t Enough

Infiniti has a bold plan to get back into the public consciousness, and that plan includes rear-wheel-drive, manual sport sedans and body-on-frame luxury off-roaders. Before we can get to the truly mouthwatering stuff, though, the brand has got to appease the masses. The QX65 is an attempt to take the QX60‘s all-purpose appeal and concentrate that into a stylish, high-riding crossover for five, with a svelte silhouette. It looks pretty, but it’s more show than go—and that’s probably the point.

The Basics

The QX65 is expected to hit dealers early this summer, and when it does, it’ll start at $55,535. Like the Murano with which it shares its underpinnings, it’s powered by a 2.0-liter VC-Turbo four-cylinder, except the QX65’s sends 268 horsepower and 286 lb-ft of torque through all four wheels. Those are healthy figures, and they’re paired with not a CVT, but a 9-speed automatic transmission that the engineers tinkered with, to offer more responsive power delivery and a “sportier shift schedule.”

The base QX65—called “Luxe”—comes with plenty of standard amenities, like a moonroof, ProPilot driver-assist tech, and a pair of 12.3-inch displays for the instrument cluster and infotainment. Step up to the Sport grade for just $1,700 more, and you get ventilated front seats, an upgraded 16-speaker Klipsch sound system, and a 3D around-view monitor. Infiniti expects this to be the one most buyers go for, and for a modest price increase, it’s not hard to see why.

The Autograph label, at the top of the food chain, is decidedly not a modest increase. It starts at $64,135, bringing with it bigger, 21-inch wheels, semi-aniline leather, front seats that massage, an even better audio system that includes speakers in the front headrests, a heads-up display, and an exclusive burgundy interior colorway that frankly feels unfair to restrict to this grade, because it makes this interior. That’s the car you see in this review.

Design-wise, the QX65 really commits no fouls inside or out, but it doesn’t stand out, either. The brand says it was trying to channel the soul of the old FX45 here—some would argue, the very first luxury crossover—but I don’t see it. It lacks the FX45’s long hood and low, wide stature that earned it attention in the first place. Visually, the QX65 is another high-riding SUV with a coupe roofline, employing the very same tricks, like a black roof and sills, to slim down, just like practically everything else in the category. I will give Infiniti points for the available Sunfire Red paint, though, for its baked-in gold flakes that look stunning when sunlight strikes them.

Much like the Murano my colleague Caleb drove a while back, the QX65 doesn’t offer many physical inputs to adjust the climate, but it does at least have a separate stack of very large, generously labeled touch-sensitive keys. Real buttons would be better, but hey, at least you don’t have to tap a tiny icon on the touchscreen to tinker with fan speed. Nissan’s best-in-the-business Qi2 wireless charger is here, too, and frankly, it’s the only one I ever care to use in any modern car.

Overall, it’s a fine cabin. The Autograph appointments aren’t world-class or anything, but the materials are nice, and the splash of wood and quilted dash lend an appropriate varnish of prestige to one of Infiniti’s more stylish models. I wouldn’t say it’s $64,000 worth of prestige, but it also leaves me with nothing to point to and complain.

Perhaps the QX65’s unlikeliest and best strength is its cargo capacity. I know that sounds like faint praise, but trust me, it isn’t. There’s a tremendous amount of room behind the second row—35.8 cubic feet, to be exact—and it takes you by surprise, given the roofline, and everything Infiniti’s done to visually downsize this vehicle.

Driving the Infiniti QX65

Until that rebadged Skyline shows up, Infiniti wants you to think that the QX65 is where you should go to get your kicks in this lineup. It’ll likely come as no surprise that it simply isn’t. This SUV isn’t terrible to drive by any means, but it feels like your average crossover, with little tweaks and software adjustments to give it more bark than bite.

Take the steering, for example. It’s shockingly heavy for a car like this; a car that, for all intents and purposes, is a Nissan Murano with better stitching. The ride is obviously tuned for comfort, but not stunning at quashing bumps and light potholes. And the powertrain, for its “sportier” shifting behavior, really just feels touchier on light throttle.

There was clearly an effort here to give the QX65 a vivacious, eager personality, and it can feel that way off the line. But once your right foot’s to the floor, it becomes very quickly evident that the ceiling is pretty low. And sometimes, you don’t even get that far. In one surprising instance, I was attempting a right turn from a stop at an intersection up a hill. I went for a rare gap in traffic with liberal pressure on the accelerator, but the transmission was off in another area code.

Now, you might say that’s not what the QX65 is about, and I’d agree with you. But then Infiniti is singing a different tune. The QX65’s Sport mode presents another example. Every car’s got to have one, and the setting here not only makes the steering even more laborious, but also floods the cabin with an almost comical volume of manufactured sound for a vehicle like this.

The especially ironic thing is that, for all of Infiniti’s focus on a premium audio experience and on listening to music the way it was intended to be heard, you can’t switch off Sport mode’s fake grunt. So, if you want a more responsive powertrain, you’ll have to concede the jams. Shame, since the Klipsch package is pretty heady.

Early Verdict

The Infiniti QX65 supplies Nissan’s luxury arm with a contender in the crowded space of style-forward midsize luxury SUVs. A full, healthy lineup, like Infiniti is trying to cultivate, needs that. Points for attendance, I guess, but just showing up isn’t enough.

The QX65 is still missing that draw—a singular thing it excels in that’s going to lure anyone away from the competition, like the power and presence of any of the Genesis SUVs, or the serene comfort and accessible tech of the Lincoln Nautilus. Its sporty pretense is skin deep, and in this era of easy torque courtesy of forced induction, it’s rare to drive a car that uniquely feels like it underperforms its spec sheet.

Some will say Infiniti’s target buyer won’t care, and maybe they won’t. But I’m not exactly sure what they’ll notice instead. If the FX45 represented Infiniti’s glory days, they were only glorious because the products were memorable. What will anyone remember about the QX65?

Infiniti provided The Drive with travel and accommodations, along with the use of a vehicle for the purpose of writing this review.

2027 Infiniti QX65 Specs

Quick Take

The Infiniti QX65 is a fairly handsome but otherwise unremarkable five-seat luxury SUV that isn’t as sporty as it pretends to be, and best had mid-spec, under $60K.