2025 Infiniti QX80 Review and Test Drive

Does the comfortable and quiet luxury SUV represent the revival of Infiniti?

Christian Wardlaw | 

Oct 31, 2024 | 7 min read

Christian Wardlaw

Infiniti builds the redesigned 2025 QX80 on a foundation engineered for towing, hauling, and heading off-road. However, this large luxury SUV lacks innovation and, in some ways, attention to detail. After living with one, I still find the flagship model's value proposition a mystery.

The 2025 Infiniti QX80 is available in Pure, Luxe, Sensory, and Autograph trim levels, and base prices range from the mid-$80,000s to the mid-$110,000s, including the destination charge to ship the luxury SUV from the Kyushu, Japan, factory that builds it to your local dealership.

For this QX80 review, I test-drove the Autograph in Southern California. It had extra-cost Dynamic Metal paint and no other options, and the manufacturer's suggested retail price was $112,590, including the $1,995 destination charge. Infiniti provided a pre-production QX80 for this review.

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Is the 2025 Infiniti QX80 a Good Luxury SUV?

Able to shuttle up to eight people, carry up to 101 cubic-feet of cargo, tow up to 8,500 pounds, and haul up to 1,455 pounds of payload, the 2025 Infiniti QX80 is a workhorse at heart. In addition, with four-wheel drive and up to 10 inches of ground clearance, it can travel further off-road than some luxury SUVs.

But what looks great on paper sometimes drives differently in the real world. That means the new 2025 QX80 has a rough road ahead, convincing BMW X7, Cadillac Escalade, Jeep Grand Wagoneer, Lexus LX, Lincoln Navigator, and Mercedes-Benz GLS owners and shoppers even to consider the Infiniti let alone buy it.

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Comfort Is King in the QX80

There is only so much a designer can do with the two-box shape of an SUV, especially when aerodynamic efficiency is essential to improving fuel economy and range. Nevertheless, the Infiniti QX80 wears a blunt, imposing, and technical face fading into clean flanks with flush-mounted door handles.

Black roof pillars make the top appear to float above the passenger and cargo compartments, while 22-inch wheels fill the fenders on all but the base Pure trim level. Necessary running boards span the distance between them, and in the back, the digital piano-key full-width lighting mimics the front running light pattern.

Only five paint colors are available, and you can get the interior's artificial or genuine leather in a Graphite color across all trim levels. Depending on which QX80 you choose, the other interior hues are Tuscan Beige, Sepia Brown, and Burgundy.

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Comfort is king in the QX80 Autograph. All three rows provide enough room for adults, and this top-shelf version of the SUV offers most passengers heating, ventilation, and massage. As is the trend, the QX80 has two 14.3-inch digital displays and lots of gloss-black interior trim. Few analog controls are available, but among them are a volume knob and tuning buttons.

Below the dashboard air vents, a third screen operates the climate system and other functions. It takes up space that could provide additional storage, which is limited. In the Autograph, rear passengers get another touchscreen containing redundant controls, which also reduces storage space.

Entering and exiting the third row is unexpectedly easy, and the seat is surprisingly accommodating. Fold it to expand cargo volume from 22 cubic-feet to a generous 59 cu-ft. The maximum cargo space is 101 cu-ft.

I noticed some quality issues, though it's unclear whether the test vehicle's pre-production status contributed to them. For example, the QX80's lightweight key fob looks and feels like what you'd get with a Nissan Sentra, not a high-end luxury SUV. Also, the hidden door handles whir and thunk as they nestle into the doors, prompting my teenager to liken the noises to an airplane preparing to take off. Slam any of the QX80's doors, and they sound hollow and tinny instead of solid and substantial.

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Impressive Infotainment but Frustrating Advanced Driving Aids

Infiniti delivers the technology you most expect to find in a modern luxury SUV. From the dual-screen display panel and an array of cameras to improve outward visibility to the advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and ProPilot Assist 2.1 hands-free highway driving tech, the feature list checks all the boxes. Unfortunately, the menu doesn't include much from the innovation department.

After an acclimation period, I found the 14.3-inch digital instrumentation display easy to use and helpful to reference. To its right, the 14.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system has Google built-in, making it simple to operate. You can configure the display to your preferences, and the Google Assistant voice recognition system performs almost flawlessly.

I had no trouble pairing my iPhone and running Apple CarPlay, and the Autograph's 24-speaker Klipsch audio system produced a slightly brassy sound but also clear, thunderous bass without a hint of distortion. The head-restraint speakers look cool, too.

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Regarding safety features, everything is standard except for ProPilot Assist 2.1. That upgrade equips the QX80 with adaptive cruise control, lane-centering assist, and lane-change assist, and it offers hands-free driving capability on selected highways. Unfortunately, the approved road network is less extensive than that of Infiniti's rivals.

I found the hands-free driving system helpful in some situations and aggravating in others. Consistently, I found the lane-keeping and lane-centering features too aggressive when overriding them. They relent eventually, but suddenly instead of gradually. At that moment, you're countersteering against the tech so much that when you succeed, you also overcorrect, causing the Infiniti to behave erratically.

That is bad on the narrow lanes of Southern California freeways, especially in a tall and tippy vehicle that already feels too wide. Also, the erratic driving resulting from the sudden handoff between the technology and the driver causes embarrassment, the last thing any luxury vehicle should do.

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Infiniti Struggles to Overcome the Laws of Physics

Three things tie the new QX80 to historical Infiniti models. One is the redesigned and illuminated Infiniti emblem on the grille. Another is the view of the bulging hood and swollen fenders from the driver's seat. The third is the 3.5-liter V6 engine under that hood.

Twin turbocharged, the V6 generates 450 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque when burning premium gas. A nine-speed automatic transmission turns the rear wheels with Pure and Luxe trim. The Sensory and Autograph have standard four-wheel drive, an option on the Pure and Luxe. Only the QX80 Pure does without 22-inch wheels and an adaptive air suspension.

Despite the Autograph's substantial 6,204-pound curb weight, the twin-turbo V6 urgently moves the SUV. The steering is agreeable and offers a thrum through the heated, leather-wrapped wheel, and the brakes can withstand repeated use on a hot day, which is vital in a vehicle designed to tow up to 8,500 pounds. On the highway, the QX80 is remarkably quiet, drawing attention to how loud the seat ventilation systems are.

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If you want a soft, plush-riding SUV, the Infiniti QX80 is not for you. I expected the traditional body-on-frame construction and heavy 22-inch wheels to challenge the adaptive air suspension, but the test vehicle's chattery and choppy ride quality disappointed me. In addition, the QX80 suffers excessive lateral and vertical ride motion on undulating road surfaces.

When driving in urban environments, the QX80 feels too big. Even with the exterior cameras featuring Invisible Hood View and Front Wide View, navigating the densely populated Hollywood and Los Feliz areas on a busy Saturday night made driving the QX80 uncomfortable.

Fuel economy is another reason you should skip the Infiniti QX80 unless you legitimately need its capabilities. The EPA says the QX80 Autograph will return 16/19/17 mpg in city/highway/combined driving. My test vehicle averaged 16.6 mpg on the evaluation loop.

Christian Wardlaw

Underdogs can only expect to win if they bring something new and innovative to the fight. The 2025 Infiniti QX80 has some unusual and helpful features, but there is nothing groundbreaking about the SUV. Why should you choose the QX80 over its rivals? After living with one for a week, I still don't know.

Christian Wardlaw

My first word was “car.” That’s what I’m told, anyway. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with them. The design. The engineering. The performance. And the purpose. I’m a car enthusiast who loves to drive, but I’m also most interested in the cars, trucks, and SUVs that people actually buy. Anybody can tell you that a sports car is fast. What you need to know is whether or not you should buy that new SUV, and why. My life purpose is to help you make that decision.