Photography by Rosemary DePear

Engine

Infiniti’s mid-sized luxury SUV comes with a 3.5 litre V6 producing 295 horsepower and 270 lb-ft. of torque through their much improved CVT with power distributed to all four wheels through their intelligent all-wheel drive system.
Driving modes are Standard, Sport, Snow and Eco and most drivers will nestle into either Standard or Eco most of the time.
To keep the engine running, the QX60 takes up to 74 litres of recommended premium fuel, which is standard fare for this type of vehicle.
Fuel ratings come in at a respectable 12.2 city and 8.9 highway for L/100km meaning that while it’ll cost close to $100 to fill with today’s prices, you won’t fill up as often.

Appearance

Well, let’s start by saying it’s much more attractive than the QX80. This three-row crossover/SUV doesn’t have that bulky appearance its competitors have. Instead, there are flowing design lines, LED running lights and tail lights, svelte looking front and rear ends and the bulge in the hood gives a sporty look.
You won’t mistake this for anything else on the road as Infiniti offers recognizable styling and they’ve played (smartly) the conservative card design-wise. No need to reinvent the crossover wheel here.

Interior

Here’s where the QX60 shines. The well-appointed, cleanly laid out interior has always been a strength of Infiniti. The power seats up front are very comfortable and road-trip worthy, while the middle row is also good and the third row, well, it’s ok for pets and surly teenagers.
Interestingly, the second row of seats slides and tilts so accessing the third row is much easier. Oh, and the tri-zone temperature controls are a very nice touch for finicky passengers.
The soft touch materials give the car that definite luxurious feel and
The 8” colour touchscreen performs well and the rotary dial and surrounding buttons are minimalistic in design yet offer ease of use.
The two large dashboard dials make obtaining information also very easy and that purple hue is easy on the eyes.
Yes, it seats seven but it’s most comfortable with five and that’s not a shot at our Japanese friends. There’s no car company out there with a comfortable third row of seats.
Storage space in cubic feet behind the third row is 15.8, second row with third row folded 40.8, and 76.5 with rows two and three folded. 

Trim levels

Infiniti has played it smart here by offering but one trim level and letting customers choose from one of four option packages above the one and only MSRP of $47,890.
The $4,800 Tech package offers dual 8” monitors for second row passengers, lane departure, blind spot monitoring, forward collision warning and a few others.
The $2,400 Drivers Assistance package serves up blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, front/rear sonar sensors and  couple of other items.
The $5,000 Premium package sees a 13-speaker Bose audio system, remote starter, a CD player (odd but, well, ok) rain sensing wipers plus a bunch more.
Finally, the Deluxe Touring package for $4,700 sees 15 Bose speakers, heated second row seats, 20” wheels, a power lift gate a few more goodies. 
If you’re determined to get a package, my vote is for the Deluxe Touring to keep your passengers comfortable in winter, a better sound system and that power lift gate will certainly come in handy quite often.

On the road

The QX60 handles and feels like a mid-sized luxury SUV, meaning that there’s very little cabin noise at high speeds, the ride quality is high and smooth and you still can’t (well, shouldn’t) take corners too fast due to the high center of gravity. 
There’s a strong amount of pickup from a dead stop, the steering is responsive and with the length of the vehicle, there is a bit of sway (as in all vehicles of this length and class) if you swap lanes too quickly.
Overall, Infiniti stays the course with providing a high quality on-the-road factor, which will make both short and long trips enjoyable. Unless you’ve got a car full of screaming kids/adults. In that case, nothing can save you.

Safety

There’s plenty of active safety features here but it’ll cost you to get them.
Blind spot, lane keep, active cruise control, front/rear sonar, forward collision warning, around view monitor et all are option  or packaged based only.
If Toyota is offering lane departure alert with steering assist, auto high beams, radar cruise control and pedestrian detection/pre collision system on a Corolla, I think Infiniti should be ponying up some active safety features on a nearly $50K luxury vehicle.