Nissan-owned Infiniti recently began customer deliveries of the redesigned QX80. Unveiled with much fanfare in March 2024 for the 2025 model year, the newcomer is available to configure for $82,450 before shipping.
For the first handful of customers in the United States, the folks at Nissan North America decided to surprise them with memorable delivery experiences. For example, Warren Henry Infiniti arranged a meeting with Nissan Motor Corporation design chief Alfonso Albaisa, who shared design and technology highlights with the customer before handing over the full-size utility vehicle.
At the Infiniti City of Queens, the customer was also handed over the keys to his new Off-road and, wait for it, a birthday cake. In the accompanying press release, Infiniti also describes taking delivery of a QX80 in Denver, Colorado. While the dealership didn’t prepare any cake or VIPs for the McMichael family, Infiniti points out that said family had owned multiple Infiniti vehicles since their first in 2011. The luxury-oriented brand also points out that the McMichaels had previously owned three QX80s, a detail that might send the wrong message to some people.
On the one hand, the McMichael family may have leased rather than purchased the QX80 vehicles in question. On the other hand, boasting about three QX80s over a 13-year period could also be interpreted as poor reliability. In truth, the previous-generation QX80 is a relatively reliable vehicle with a proven engine and transmission.
It’s also far less complex than the 2025 model on the technology front, with the third-generation model sporting a push-button shifter, more than 300 LEDs for the full-width light bar and taillights, Google-integrated digital instruments, two touchscreens, and an optional Autograph-exclusive touchscreen for second-row passengers. But that’s just the beginning, because the nine-speed automatic and 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 are different beasts than the previous seven-speed unit and free-breathing 5.6-liter V8.
Photo: Infiniti
Looking at the bigger picture, you can’t blame Infiniti for taking the QX80 in this direction. The brand has struggled for ages to come up with a relevant product, and the QX80 needs this kind of complexity to compete with the likes of the V6-powered Lexus LX, the American-built Cadillac Escalade, and FoMoCo’s Lincoln Navigator. Going the V6 route was also necessary.
For starters, fuel economy regulations are starting to hurt large SUVs. That’s why Toyota decided to use a six-cylinder engine for the Lexus LX and the technically similar Sequoia, an engine shared with the 300-series Land Cruiser and third-generation Tundra pickup. Second, the VK-series V8 is a two-decade-old design that was badly in need of replacement.
While it’s true that a naturally aspirated V8 is more reliable than a turbocharged engine with two fewer cylinders, increasingly stringent fuel economy regulations have forced Nissan to scale back. On the glass half full side, a twin-turbo V6 delivers more torque at lower revs than a free-breathing V8.
The 2025 Infiniti QX80's Mercedes-based transmission is also smoother and better at saving fuel at highway speeds, with said nine-speed automatic closely related to the Stuttgart-based automaker's 9G-TRONIC. That said, the new QX80 returns up to 18 miles per gallon (13 liters per 100 kilometers) with RWD or 17 (13.9) with full-time All-wheel drivewhile the predecessor model had achieved 16 and 15 (14.7 and 15.7) points respectively in the combined test cycle.