First Drive: 2022 Infiniti QX55

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Infiniti is giving its crossover portfolio a major shakeup. Later this year, the QX60 three-row crossover will arrive . First, however, is the 2022 QX55. It’s an aggressive-looking piece with a much sharper rake to the rear roofline. The look was inspired by the original FX that debuted almost twenty years ago; it introduced the world to the notion of a “couped” crossover.

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Behind the QX55’s strong outward visage sits a cabin that’s class all the way. It’s well-equipped in Luxe form with a standard power moonroof, heated seats and steering wheel, although the thought of leatherette upholstery is somewhat off-putting. The mid-range Essential ProAssist adds navigation, leather-appointed seats, an Around View Monitor with moving object detection and a solid Bose audio system with 16 speakers, as well as adaptive LED headlights and intelligent cruise control. The Sensory model, tested here, brings all of this plus real wood accents, an available Monaco red and black two-tone finish, and a nine-inch head-up display. It is a polished presentation.

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The layout gives two colour displays pride of place. The top eight-inch screen looks after navigation and phone functions including standard wireless Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto and Wi-Fi connectivity for up to seven devices. The lower seven-inch screen looks like everything else and is flanked on three sides by hard buttons. These give quick and easy access to the key functions, the heated/cooled seat switches, and so on. It is a coordinated approach that’s quickly mastered.

The QX55 arrives with the expected driver assistance systems, including predictive forward collision warning with pedestrian detection, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and rear auto braking, lane departure warning, and auto high beams. The Essential ProAssist adds adaptive cruise, lane departure protection, and blind spot intervention. The annoying part is the lane departure warning system vibrates the steering wheel and dabs the brakes anytime the driver encroaches on the lane markings.

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The Sensory caps that lot off with a more advanced cruise control with stop/go functionality and ProPilot Assist, which gives the QX55 a semi-autonomous capability. It proved to be pretty good at keeping the 55 in the lane and at a driver-adjustable distance from the car ahead.

Comfort is well up there with the front seats providing generous amounts of comfort and lateral support. The rearward seats slide to maximize leg-space or cargo volume and they recline. There’s also enough room, both head- and leg-wise, to accommodate a pair of six-footers with ease.

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While the raked rear roofline adds some undeniable style, it does so at the expense of cargo capacity. Where the QX50 delivers 1,822-litres of space with the seats folded, the QX55 is capped at 1,532L. The 290L difference could be enough to dissuade those not in love with the 55’s bolder look. In fairness, this is something that touches all couped crossovers.

Pop the hood and there sits Infiniti’s variable compression ratio engine — it was the first of its kind when it went into production in 2019. The 2.0-litre VC-Turbo alters the compression ratio anywhere between 8:1 and 14:1. While it sounds complicated, the principle behind the workings is simple. When running on the low compression ratio the turbocharger blows a gale to deliver V6-like performance — the output is rated at 268 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque at 4,400 rpm. At the opposite end, the high compression ratio delivers much better fuel efficiency.

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The blended abilities delivered a run from rest to 100 kilometres an hour of 6.7 seconds and an average economy of 8.9 litres per 100 kilometres; both of which are decent numbers for a sporty all-wheel-drive ride. Interestingly, the test average economy actually bettered the QX55’s posted average fuel economy of 9.5 L/100 km.

The engine works with Infiniti’s Xtronic continuously variable transmission. The plus is it upshifts during hard acceleration in a similar fashion to a regular automatic. This minimizes the monotonous motorboating so many hate. It also has eight pre-selected ratios when the manual mode is selected. It is well-suited to the engine — just don’t pick the Eco driving mode. It puts economy so far ahead of everything else it positively neuters the performance. Standard mode, however, is just fine; Sport is better.

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All QX55s arrive with all-wheel-drive. The system powers the front wheels under most driving conditions, but it can send up to 50 per cent of the drive rearward to prevent wheel spin — hard acceleration from a standstill sees the system split the power evenly to provide an uneventful launch. Its action proved to be invisible during the drive.

A hard and fast run proved the QX55 to be nimble and it reacted to driver input quickly. The stiff platform gives the suspension a solid base of operations. The damping then walks a fine line. It soaks up the rigors of a rough road, while limiting the amount of body roll when the QX is tossed into a corner. The Direct Adaptive Steering (DAS), which is found in the Sensory model, is a steer-by-wire setup that changes how it feels based on vehicle speed and the drive mode selected by the driver.

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Aside from the Eco, Standard and Sport driving modes comes Personal — for this driver, it was the best mode, as it allows each facet to be customized. This is important for steering feel. In Standard mode it has a high assist rate, so it’s lacking in terms of on-centre feel. Here, Personal allows the driver to pick Sport mode and then either of the Dynamic or Dynamic+ response sub-modes. These proved to be much better, as both settings sharpen things, bring a better on-centre feel, and proved the QX55 was faster when turned off centre. The suspension, AWD and faster steering makes the QX55 feel rewardingly sporty. Throw in the P255/45R20 tires and brake-based torque vectoring, and the QX55 goes where it’s pointed nicely. The end result is a drive that’s more in line with a sporty sedan than a crossover.

The 2022 Infiniti QX55 is hitting Canadian roads now. Pricing starts at $51,995 for the Luxe and $56,998 for the Essential ProAssist. It tops out at $60,998 for the as-tested Sensory.